FLL Judging Glossary

Award

Special recognition for achievement determined subjectively by judges, using data gathered in judging sessions, and other observations throughout a tournament.

Call-Back

An opportunity for judges to gather additional information about a team. Can be formal presentations, informal interviews in the pit area, or through observations on the competition field. Call-backs are often used to learn more about teams nominated for awards, to allow judges to review a team’s accomplishments. They may also be used for any other reason, for example if the judges feel additional accommodation is appropriate due to translation or other issues.

Deliberations

The period when judges discuss team achievements and determine which teams are most deserving of receiving FLL awards.

Evaluation

Judge determination of knowledge, skills, and abilities learned, demonstrated and articulated to judges during a judging session.

Feedback

Results of an evaluation plus additional judge comments provided to a team after the tournament is completed.

Judging Pair

FLL requires a minimum of two judges to participate in any team judging session. We refer to these judges who will assess a team as the judging pair; note that at some events this judging "pair" may actually include an additional judge(s).

Judging Lane

A Judging Lane is composed of 3 Judging Pairs, with one pair assigned to a Core Values session, one pair assigned to the Project session and one pair assigned to the Robot Design session. A Judging Lane may physically be in one large room separated by sound/curtain barriers or occupy three separate rooms.

Judging Session

A set period of time during each tournament for each team to present information to the judges in the Project, Robot Design and Core Values categories. The format could be any combination of the following: formal presentation, a formal or informal question and answer session, or through observation while completing an activity. FLL Judging sessions must be a minimum of 10 minutes each.

Project Judging

A judging session where a panel of judges evaluates each team to learn their findings concerning the challenge project assignment. Teams have five minutes for a formal presentation followed by an additional set period of time for questions and answers. Teams should present the following information:

data they have gathered concerning a real-world problem related to the challenge assignment
a team-developed solution to overcoming the problem they researched
how and with whom in their community they shared their research

Information should be as specific as possible, and should be presented in a manner that is creative, yet conveys the message to the target audience. This is mostly analogous to a scientific conference presentation, with additional attention paid to marketing and delivery of a product.

Research Judging

See also Project Judging, which is the preferred term for this type of judging.

Robot Design Judging

A judging session where a panel of judges evaluates each team to learn about:

the robot they designed and built
the programs they wrote to control the robot
the strategy they employ to perform the missions
the process they used to arrive at their final product

Information should be as specific as possible. This is analogous to an engineering design review in the professional world.

Rubric

A rubric is a chart composed of evaluation criteria and defined levels of fulfillment of those criteria. It is also a description of expectations for what teams will learn or the behaviors that teams will demonstrate over the course of a season. A rubric allows for standardized evaluation according to specified criteria.

Teamwork Activity

A short, defined task used to help evaluate a team’s level of achievement in Teamwork. The selected task should help demonstrate how well the team works together as a group. Teams should expect to involve each member of the team in the activity in some way. FLL encourages events to contribute successful teamwork activities to our teamwork activity library.

Core Values Judging

A judging session where a panel of judges evaluates each team to assess their understanding of FLL Core Values, Teamwork and Gracious Professionalism. This separate session can include:

judge review of a teamwork activity
judge interviews; fomal and informal question and answer
judge review of a Core Values poster presentation

Technical Judging

See also Robot Design Judging, which is the preferred term for this type of judging.