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Best Practices
- Ask if the team has a few minutes for the interview. If the team has an upcoming match that may interfere with the interview, tell them you will come back at a better time. Do not keep the students from heading to a match and make them late for their competition round.
- Ask if all team members are present. Try to include all team members in the interview.
- Ask a quick “icebreaker” question such as, “That’s a really great team logo! Who designed it?” or “How is your team doing so far today?”
- Being a Judge gives you a unique opportunity to impact students through positive reinforcement. Just a few words of encouragement can make their day.
- Try not to ask yes or no questions. Encourage teams to elaborate on their answers.
- Be prepared to rephrase your questions. Be mindful of differences in communication styles.
- Be mindful of students who do not speak the language that you are using as their first language.
- Be aware of different age levels. Approach students in an age-appropriate way, especially when talking to younger students.
- Be attentive to students. Do not engage in side conversations/phone use during interviews.
- It is acceptable to take a picture of each team with their robot so the license plate is visible. This will help you identify teams and robots later during deliberations.
- If you are having trouble finding a team, wait for them at the field for their next match.
Sample Questions
- Is this a good time for an interview? Are all of your team members here?
- What does your robot do and how does it score points?
- How did you develop this robot design?
- Which team members built the robot?
- What part of your robot are you most proud of? Why?
- Were there any other robots that inspired your robot design? How?
- What changes did you make to improve your design during the season?
- What was the most difficult challenge your team has overcome so far?
- Did you use any sensors? What are they used for? How do they operate in your autonomous mode? How do they operate in your driver-controlled mode?
- What problems did you have in working on your robot? How did your team solve them?
- If you had one more week to work on your robot, how would you improve it?
- Has your game strategy been effective? How and why?
- Tell us about your robot’s programming – who was the primary programmer?
- What were the challenges of this year’s game that you considered before designing your robot? How did you design your robot to meet those challenges?
- What are your goals for Driver and Autonomous Coding Skills scores? What are your average scores?