Elementary students judging science research? Co-organizers of Virginia Tech’s ‘Flip the Fair’ science engagement community event explain

In my conversation with Gates Palissery and Megan Evans, co-organizers of Virginia Tech’s Flip the Fair, I asked how their event connects graduate researchers with elementary school students, what they are learning from participants, and what it takes to keep the program going.

The problem

Palissery described participating fifth graders from Title I schools with limited opportunities to meet scientists and see their work. “They don’t have access to the types of programming that might otherwise expose them to scientists and work that scientists are doing,” she said.

She recalled children using a microscope for the first time and meeting scientists who look like them. Evans described the range of research represented at the fair, from wildlife to neuroscience: “Scientists look different, and there’s lots of different types of scientists.”

Evans also discussed graduate students’ need to communicate beyond academic audiences. “We go to conferences and present our research,” she said, adding that she also wanted to reach broader audiences, including children.

The response

Flip the Fair allows graduate students to practice that communication with children. Palissery explained: “We have graduate students presenting their research on these trifold poster boards.” The elementary school students then judge the presentations.

Evans walked me through the visit. Volunteers greet children on their buses, explain the activity, and guide small groups through four or five posters over approximately an hour. Graduate students give short presentations, followed by questions. Children complete an evaluation form together, considering “if it was presented well, if it was clear, if it made sense.”

Palissery said the evaluation questions draw on the science fair rubric used by fifth graders, including how researchers explain their methods and why their research matters.

Presenters also receive preparation. Evans described a half-day workshop addressing accessibility, diversity, equity, inclusion, and science communication, including exercises on making research more digestible.

I also asked about support from Virginia Tech’s Center for Communicating Science. “They help support us in ways that we don’t necessarily have the expertise,” Evans said. She explained that the workshops prepare graduate students who cannot take the full communicating science course for the fair.

The evidence

I asked what the organizers were hearing from participants and partners. Palissery described teachers preparing their classes for the visit and using the event to support classroom teaching. She also pointed to continued partner interest: “Our community partners in the library and the schools continue to ask us to participate in this with them.”

Palissery shared an account from a library partner who met a fifth grader excited about the visit. “It’s educational, but they’re still really into it,” Palissery said, referring to the children’s enthusiasm.

Turning to graduate presenters, Palissery said, “It’s a lot of fun to take their research and break it down in this new way for kids, not just for the typical scientific audience.” Evans, who presented during the first year, described it as “a great experience for graduate students” and recalled being interested in the questions children asked. She also said graduate students return to present in subsequent years.

The organizers collect feedback from graduate participants. “We do get like kind of survey information for them afterwards, just to help us refine every year,” Evans said. She said the event was well received, though we did not discuss quantitative survey findings.

When I asked about following children over time, Evans explained, “We don’t see the same kids twice.” The event serves fifth graders, with a new cohort attending each year. She said returning teachers provide feedback about bringing their classes.

The lessons learned

The organizers described changes made across the fair’s first three iterations. Palissery explained that the first event was open to the public: “Any parents and children could come in and participate.” After Roanoke City Public Schools became involved, the event became a field trip, with the schools busing fifth graders to participate as judges.

Evans said operating that format helped them determine how many children they could accommodate: “We were able to kind of use the flip the field trip model to see kind of how many students we could realistically kind of bring in, and we found that we could take on some more.”

For the upcoming iteration discussed in our conversation, Evans said they would keep the structure while increasing participation with more volunteers and graduate students. Palissery said they expected approximately 300 children and roughly 20 posters, including demonstrations.

The challenges

Accommodating participants also requires recruiting researchers who can spend a day away from campus. Palissery explained that the main campus in Blacksburg is approximately a 45-minute to an hour’s drive from Roanoke, where the event’s partners are based. For graduate presenters, “they don’t have the opportunity to go check on an experiment in the middle of the day or anything like that.”

Evans described balancing doctoral work with event planning. When I asked what would help most, she answered, “Time, probably.” Although funding was available, she said scheduling and organizing competed with lab time. She also noted that support for outreach varies across advisors and programs.

We discussed how the event might continue after the organizers graduate. Evans described recruiting through the Virginia Tech Carilion student outreach program and involving younger graduate students in organizing activities. She said university science communication partners were also helping retain documents and recruit participants through their classes.

Evans said continued university support would help the program carry on after she and Palissery graduate.

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Fanuel J. Muindi

Fanuel Muindi is a former neuroscientist turned civic science archivist and documentarian. He is a professor of the practice in the Department of Communication Studies within the College of Arts, Media, and Design at Northeastern University, where he leads the Civic Science Media Lab. Dr. Muindi received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology and PhD in Organismal Biology from Morehouse College and Stanford University, respectively. He completed his postdoctoral training at MIT.