Academics Guidelines

RADIO PROGRAM

1. All items must be judged on merits of compliance with the Student Convention Guidelines. Check the Contestant Guidelines for qualifying specifications.

2. Do not assume fraud just because a work is good. Give the contestant the benefit of the doubt unless there is a general consensus among the judges that the student’s sponsor should be consulted for further inquiry. Do not base a decision on rumors. Check it out.

3. Do not allow contestants, sponsors, or guests to be in the judging areas while judging is in progress.

4. Be cautious not to allow biased sponsors or friends of contestants to attempt to influence your decision regarding the entries. CREATIVE COMPOSITION

Themes for essays, short stories, and poetry may be evangelistic, inspirational, Biblical, Christian growth, patriotic, or historical. Please write the theme of the essay, short story, or poetry on the judge’s forms where indicated.

Hints for the Writing Judges

1. All items must be judged on merits of compliance with the Student Convention Guidelines. Check the Contestant Guidelines for qualifying specifications.

2. All entries must be typed (computer or typewriter), double-spaced on plain white paper; one full inch margin on all sides. On a computer, use 10- to 12-point type and a letter‑quality printer. Recommended fonts: Times New Roman, Helvetica, or Arial. No heavy, bold, or fancy fonts. On a typewriter, a 50-space line equals 10 words, 60-space line equals 12 words.

3. Outlines should be submitted with entries.

4. Do not assume fraud just because a work is good. Give the contestant the benefit of the doubt unless there is a general consensus among the judges that the student’s sponsor should be consulted for further inquiry. Do not base a decision on rumors. Check it out.

5. Do not allow contestants, sponsors, or guests to be in the judging areas while judging is in progress.

6. Be cautious not to allow biased sponsors or friends of contestants to attempt to influence your decision regarding the entries.

7. All Scripture references must be King James Version (not New King James).

8. Details count. Mark technical errors of any sort (misplaced comma, misspelled word, etc.).

9. Watch for pronoun/antecedent agreement, wordiness and redundancies, parallelism, and point of view shifts.

10. Give helpful suggestions on improving the entry for International Student Convention.

WEB SITE DESIGN/POWERPOINT GENERAL INFORMATION

1. All items must be judged on merits of compliance with the Student Convention Guidelines. Check the Contestant Guidelines for qualifying specifications.

2. Any Scripture reference must be from the King James Version.

3. All subject matter must meet the A.C.E. dress and appearance guidelines (photos, background music, etc.).

4. Do not assume fraud just because a work is good. Give the contestant the benefit of the doubt unless there is a general consensus among the judges that the student’s sponsor should be consulted for further inquiry. Do not base a decision on rumors. Check it out.

5. Do not allow contestants, sponsors, or guests to be in the judging areas while judging is in progress.

6. Be cautious not to allow biased sponsors or friends of contestants to attempt to influence your decision regarding the entries.

7. Web sites must be fully functioning sites.

WEB SITE

Structure

Navigation of Site—The site should be easy to use and navigate. User should know where he is and have the ability to get to another location in the site with ease.

Creative Approach—The site will be evaluated for creativity in the areas of uniqueness, content, approach to the material, and the method of engagement.

Logical Connections—The site must be logical and make sense to specific users. What may be logical to one user may leave another totally lost. For example, a site developed for teens would be very different from one for retirees, just as one for travel is very different from one on finance.

Engaging Appearance—The site should be attractive, pleasing, interesting, and beneficial. The time an average user will give a site is a matter of seconds unless it engages the viewer visually and mentally.

Elements (Variety and Appropriateness)—The site should contain enough variety to hold interest while maintaining an overall consistency that reflects the purpose and desired image of the site. It should conform to the Biblical values and overall Student Convention Guidelines regarding appropriateness of subject matter, substance, graphics, etc.

Browser-friendly―The site should be fully functional on multiple browsers and viewable on as many computers as possible. Several browsers are in wide use; however, the older the browser is that can access your site, the less robust the elements are and the more limited the creativity can be.

Graphic Design—The site should follow generally accepted Internet standards regarding presentation. Some of these regard font style, spacing, overlay, and other aspects of the presentation. There are helpful sites on the Web to learn about these items.

Content

Clear—For the site to be effective, the content must be clear in its presentation, navigation, functionality, and purpose.

Appropriate—The content of the site should meet the Student Convention Guidelines and standards and be appropriate for its intended purpose. Any Scripture reference listed must be from the King James Version. All subject matter (photos) must meet the A.C.E. dress and appearance guidelines.

Accomplishes Goals—The user should be able to understand and receive benefit from the purpose of the site as intended by the developer. If this doesn’t happen, the user will probably leave quickly and products will not be sold, information will not be imparted, and ideas will not be communicated.

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

Types of Entries

1. Linear—Presentation begins and runs through to an end. In a linear presentation there is a set sequence to the presentation, starting at the beginning and continuing to the conclusion. No navigation is required.

2. Nonlinear—User is given navigational control and can wander through the content at will. In a nonlinear presentation the user can pick and choose, using a random route through the presentation.

Criteria

Navigation of Site (applicable to nonlinear presentations)—The presentation should be easy to use and navigate.

Creative Approach—The presentation will be evaluated for creativity in the areas of uniqueness, content, approach to the material, and method of engagement.

Connectivity—Each step in the process must successfully relate the user to where he has been and where he is going. The user should understand throughout the presentation the relationship of the parts to the whole.

Engaging Appearance—The presentation is visually attractive and interesting. It creates interest and effectively conveys information to the user in a memorable fashion.

Elements—The presentation should contain enough variety to hold the interest of the user while following Student Convention Guidelines and standards of appropriateness. All the elements contribute to the presentation’s effectiveness in meeting its objective. Presentations may include copied folders from Web sites (live Internet links are not acceptable), video clips, sound bites, photographs, etc.

Please note: All elements of PowerPoint presentations must meet A.C.E. standards.

Graphic Design―The project should follow generally accepted media standards regarding presentation. Some of these regard font styles, spacing, overlay, and other aspects of the presentation.

Content

Clear—If the content is not clear, the presentation is ineffective. It should be clear in its presentation, navigation, and purpose. Since this is a user-directed presentation, clarity is indispensable.

Appropriate—The presentation should fit the StudentConvention Guidelines and standards and be appropriate for its intended purpose.

Useful—The presentation should be designed to serve a useful purpose.

Accomplishes Goals—The presentation should have a clearly stated goal so the user is able to understand what the developer intended.