Scioly Summer Study Session 2016

[bernard]

I heard that an early draft of the rules will be released in late July, is this true? And if so, any idea where to find it?

Yes, they are made available only to attendees of the coaches clinics in Arizona and California. Tentative details may leak by word of mouth but they will not be posted anywhere.

Can students attend coach clinics?
More importantly, There's a coach clinic in California? How do I get in on this, and where is it located?

The SoCal Science Olympiad Summer Workshop is run a Caltech (http://socalscioly.org/?tab=event). All attendees must be at least 18 years old.

[raxu]

For Astronomy, what are the DSO for the next year? Without that it's quite hard to write a good test...

EDIT: I will be using the 2012 Astronomy DSO list because that year had the same topics. Is that ok?

[Adi1008]

For Astronomy, what are the DSO for the next year? Without that it's quite hard to write a good test...

I think they'd be fine if you just included the concepts/theory stuff (imagine the second half of the nationals test), and maybe a few well known DSOs that fit the topic very well. That's personally what I'm planning on doing

[syo_astro]

I'm glad about the excitement! To respond to a few questions (while not officially a mod currently, I have helped out with SSSS since its inception, so hopefully this helps regardless):

-What rules do I use?
Use any past rules available, along with the wiki/test exchange/old event pages on soinc.org as a guide. If there's a lot of trouble doing that, please ask.

-What do we accept?
In the past, it was pretty much just up to the mod in charge. Everyone would submit a first try and usually have to resubmit fixing up parts. I know that sounds relatively inconsistent, and I'm not going to make excuses, but the past years have typically been more dominated by logistical issues of how to actually get together all the files, share properly, getting mods, etc...which hopefully now shouldn't be as troublesome. Whenever the mods get picked for this year, if there are going to be specific criteria I guess we'll try to release some doc on that, but I won't make guarantees on that right now.
So what to do? I recommend in addition to look at past tests, my rule of thumb is that (1) the submission should have a decent balance of easy, medium, and hard (though, not mostly hard/mega-intense work unless the submission starts off that way in which case...I might just accept it since it's obviously more than enough work) questions or general quality (2) the length should be long enough (eg. actually take the time allotted for an event, fulfill our length requirement for notes) (3) no copying (I mean like if I literally take what you typed or an image and see it was copied word for word from something on the wiki or on google) (4) few to no typos/formatted okay (eg. name of event, place to write name, etc)

-For Astronomy, you know the topic in hand, so please pick REALLY famous DSOs and NOTE the list at the start of your test. Like Kepler's SNR is super famous and that was a DSO in the past, correct? That would be a great example, and there are other famous ones you can think of (if you don't know where to look, just google around or look on the news about Type Ia SNe and whatnot, though apod and chandra have lots of fantastic examples). You don't necessarily have to ask in depth DSO questions, but you can ask a few specific ones and make the majority concept-focused (like using an HR diagram somehow) about a(many) DSO(s), which is what the nats supervisors I think try to push for anyway (so it's good practice). I can post more on the astro topic if you're still confused/need tips that others might need (idk if anyone is gonna use it...but this is a good use of it!)

[mnstrviola]

Thanks for the applications, guys! These are the events for which not many people have applied, so far:

Bottle Rocket B
Electric Vehicle C
Hovercraft B
Robot Arm C
Scrambler B
Sounds of Music C

If you are capable of evaluating submissions in these build events, PLEASE consider applying to be a part of our mod team this year

Also, what syo said in his above post about how we review submissions is correct. This year we will additionally provide mods with more concrete guidelines to hopefully make the process simpler and more consistent.

Also also, we've already received two resource submissions - Wow!!

[syo_astro]

Thanks for the applications, guys! These are the events for which not many people have applied, so far:

Bottle Rocket B
Electric Vehicle C
Hovercraft B
Robot Arm C
Scrambler B
Sounds of Music C

If you are capable of evaluating submissions in these build events, PLEASE consider applying to be a part of our mod team this year

On another note, we've already received two resource submissions - Wow!!

On that note...people really shouldn't be sending in submissions quiteee yet as there's no mods yet -> nobody to check your submissions yet >.>

[foreverphysics]

I'm just gonna jump in for a quick second here.

How are the tests graded? Like how do you decide if it is Scioly-worthy or does not meet standards? Actually, what are the standards?

Last year we had some, uh, issues with inconsistency among quality of tests. Since it is largely up the mod who looks at it to decide whether it passes or fails, the decision is quite subjective, as you can imagine. However, we do have some general policies in place.
1) Is this a test you would expect to find at a Regionals/State level?
2) Would this test take 50 minutes to complete reasonably?
3) Are there any errors in the questions/answers?
4) Can syo nitpick you to death yet?
But yes, more concrete guidelines are coming. Trust me. I have to write them (and mnstr too).

Side note: usually at least two mods look over the test in some fashion to make sure it's up to par. I personally do look at every submission (though I may not be the one that emails you), and a few of our other mods are very dedicated to helping out wherever they can.

Thanks for the applications, guys! These are the events for which not many people have applied, so far:

Bottle Rocket B
Electric Vehicle C
Hovercraft B
Robot Arm C
Scrambler B
Sounds of Music C

If you are capable of evaluating submissions in these build events, PLEASE consider applying to be a part of our mod team this year

Also, what syo said in his above post about how we review submissions is correct. This year we will additionally provide mods with more concrete guidelines to hopefully make the process simpler and more consistent.

Also also, we've already received two resource submissions - Wow!!

Yeah, definitely go and apply to be a mod. Can't hurt to try.
As far as the submitting things goes...please guys, I don't even know what events who's doing yet. Good on ya for getting a headstart, but I can't promise anyone will look at it until the first, since there are actually no mods as of right now.

Oh, one more thing about being a mod: You have to submit a resource. No resource-->no access to other resources. Cheers.

On that note, email me if you like, PM me if you like, facebook, hangouts, whatever. I'm happy to discuss this with you.

[Fluorine]

Thanks for the applications, guys! These are the events for which not many people have applied, so far:

Bottle Rocket B
Electric Vehicle C
Hovercraft B
Robot Arm C
Scrambler B
Sounds of Music C

If you are capable of evaluating submissions in these build events, PLEASE consider applying to be a part of our mod team this year

Assuming with the new info from chalker POST HERE you'll have to change the SSSS list removing Sound of Music C and then adding Hovercraft C.

[sciolyFTW_aku]

When do we start submitting tests?

[syo_astro]

When do we start submitting tests?

Good question, this was answered in forever's first post:
"SSSS will begin on June 1st, 2016"