• Overview

Rules: ThinkQuest Competition

 
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Throughout this document, "Competition" refers to the ThinkQuest Competition. "We" or "Foundation" refers to the Oracle Education Foundation. "You" or "your" refers to Competition participants.

Language Requirements

  • The Competition is conducted in English.
  • Entries must be written in English.

Schedule

  • Competition Opens: September 14, 2011
  • Entry Deadline: April 25, 2012 at 11:59:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time (PDT)
    No entry deadline extensions will be granted.
  • Winners Announced: June 20, 2012

Team Requirements

  1. Teams must include 1-6 students and one coach.
  2. Teams may include only one student who is a former ThinkQuest International Competition winner.
  3. Any individual who is resident in or a citizen of Cuba, Northern or Southern Sudan, Iran, North Korea, Syria, or any other sanctioned country designated by the United States Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (including but not limited to Specially Designated Nationals) or whose name appears on any U.S. government Denied Persons List may not participate in the Competition.

Coach Requirements

  1. You must be 21 years of age or older.
  2. You must be an employee of an eligible educational institution or, if participating in the Digital Media or Application Development event, an employee or student of an eligible educational institution. An "eligible educational institution" is:

    1. an accredited primary, or secondary school, college or university that is owned or operated by a government or local school board;
    2. an accredited, nonprofit, private school that is tax-exempt under U.S. Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3);
    3. the non-U.S. equivalent of a Section 501(c)(3) school; or
    4. a Foundation-approved nonprofit organization.
  3. We reserve the right to approve individuals from Foundation-approved nonprofit organizations to participate as coaches.
  4. You must register at http://www.thinkquest.org. We reserve the right to verify registration information. If your registration information cannot be verified, you and your team may not be eligible to participate in the Competition.
  5. You must ensure that your school or organization executes and timely submits the ThinkQuest Competition Agreement.
  6. You must abide by the Competition Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
  7. You must obtain a signed Parental Consent form for all team members who are minors. We reserve the right to audit Parental Consent forms.
  8. You must perform all tasks required of coaches per the instructions for your selected event (i.e., Instructions: ThinkQuest Projects Event; Instructions: Digital Media Event; Instructions: Application Development Event).
  9. You must ensure that entry content has not been plagiarized, used without the owner's written permission if required, or modified in any way after the entry deadline.
  10. You may not work on or produce any portion of your team's entry - this includes the critical thinking summary. You may, however, review and discuss the Guiding Questions document, the Scoring Rubric, SkillBuilders and the tutorial with students, and/or help them to locate resources and develop their project schedule.
  11. If your team chooses to use third party services to develop its entry, you must ensure that the service is appropriate for minors and allows unrestricted linking to and from http://www.thinkquest.org.
  12. You may coach one or more teams.
  13. You may participate as a judge but you may not judge entries in any event and age division in which you are enrolled.

Student Requirements

  1. You must meet the following age requirements for the Competition. A team's age division is determined by the age of the team's oldest student as of April 25, 2012.

    Event Age Divisions
    ThinkQuest Projects 12 and under
    16 and under
    19 and under
    Digital Media 12 and under
    16 and under
    19 and under
    Application Development 17 and under
    18-22
  2. You must be a student at an eligible educational institution (as defined above).
  3. We reserve the right to approve individuals from Foundation-approved nonprofit organizations to participate.
  4. You must be a ThinkQuest Projects member to participate in the ThinkQuest Projects event.
  5. You must abide by the Competition Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
  6. You must perform all tasks required of students per the instructions for your selected event (i.e., Instructions: ThinkQuest Projects Event; Instructions: Digital Media Event; Instructions: Application Development Event).
  7. You must significantly contribute to the creation of your team's entry. Your entry must be the exclusive work of you and your teammates. Coaches, family and friends may not work on any portion your entry.
  8. You may participate in only one event and on only one team.
  9. Your team will be eligible to receive additional points if all students on your team complete the "Roadmap to Success" tutorial and submit a completed survey.

Entry Requirements

  1. Entries must include all of the following components:

    Event Entry Requirements
    ThinkQuest Projects Event
    • A ThinkQuest Project.
    • A completed entry submission form that includes a Critical Thinking Summary.
    Digital Media Event
    • An online blog/journal, a stand-alone website, animation, public service announcement, photo essay, video, or some combination of these items uploaded to a server with a functional, public URL.
    • A completed entry submission form that includes a URL to your entry's home page and a Critical Thinking Summary.
    Application Development Event
    • An interactive application or game that meets our published Interactivity Requirements. Applications must be fully developed and functional. Ideas for an application, partially-developed applications or non-functional applications are not eligible.
    • A completed entry submission form that includes:
      • Your entry's source code commented for readability and zipped in a single .zip file or copied and pasted into a .txt file. (We will use your entry's source code only to judge your entry. We will not otherwise copy or share it with any third party.)
      • The URL to your application's home page, if you developed your entry in the OEF Hosted Environment or another hosted environment. Applications developed in the OEF Hosted Environment must adhere to the OEF Hosted Environment Requirements.
      • The URL to your entry's screencast. This screencast must demonstrate your entry and be 4-5 minutes in duration.
      • A Critical Thinking Summary.
  2. Entries cannot include plagiarized content. Plagiarism is defined as follows:

    1. Use of another person's work such that the entry is not substantially the original work of the team, regardless of whether the copied work is cited;
    2. Copying a significant amount of words or ideas from someone else without giving credit;
    3. If quoting content from a source, failing to put that quote within quotation marks; or
    4. Any other behavior that we determine to be plagiarism.
  3. If your entry includes content that isn't your original work, it must include proper citations and written permissions when required.
  4. Entries must include a complete and formatted reference list of all resourced used.
  5. Entries may not contain objectionable material, including but not limited to content that:

    1. is inappropriate, offensive, libelous, defamatory, pornographic, sexually explicit, or unlawful;
    2. a reasonable person could consider harassing, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, profane, obscene, excessively violent or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;
    3. violates or infringes upon any person's rights;
    4. promotes software or services that deliver unsolicited email; or
    5. disrupts or interferes with the Competition or services including the use of viruses, worms, corrupt files, Trojan horses or other components designed to limit or harm the functionality of a computer.
  6. By submitting an entry, you represent that it does not infringe upon or violate anyone's copyright or other proprietary or privacy rights and is not subject to any restriction under any law.
  7. Entries may not contain commercial content, including content that promotes the sale of a product or service, either directly via the entry or via hyperlinks to external sites, logos, brand names, advertising-related slogans or other commercial content.
  8. Entries must not contain student last names, student or coach email addresses, or any other personally identifiable information.
  9. Entries must function when using Internet Explorer 7+ and Firefox 3+ on a PC or Mac.
  10. If you use third party services to develop your entry, you must abide by all applicable terms and licenses.

Judging and Prizes

  1. Judges will evaluate entries according to the ThinkQuest Projects Event Scoring Rubric, Digital Media Event Scoring Rubric, and Application Development Event Scoring Rubric.
  2. Winners will be announced on http://www.thinkquest.org/ on June 20, 2012. Coaches of winning teams will be notified via email. All decisions made by us shall be final, binding, and not subject to review.
  3. 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes will be awarded for each age division in each event. 1st and 2nd place team members will receive a laptop computer and a trip to ThinkQuest Live. 3rd place team members will receive a laptop computer.
  4. Application Development finalists may be invited to present to a panel of judges.
  5. Teams that submit an entry are eligible to receive certificates of participation.
  6. Teams that finish in the top 10% of each age division are eligible to receive certificates of distinction. Students who are 18 and over and whose teams finish in the top 10% will be invited to apply for an internship with us.
  7. The ten schools or organizations that register the most Competition participants will receive $5,000 USD for educational purposes. The school or organization with which a 1st place team coach is affiliated will receive $5,000 USD for education purposes.

Prize Details and Requirements

  1. The ThinkQuest Live trip prize includes:

    1. round-trip economy class airfare from the major airport nearest the winner's residence to San Francisco International Airport, or round-trip ground transportation if the winner lives within 150 miles of Redwood City, California;
    2. approximately 5 nights double-occupancy hotel accommodation; and
    3. participation in ThinkQuest Live activities (including ground transportation to and from the hotel and airport, workshops, local excursions, meals, and attendance at the Awards Banquet).
  2. Each student winner who is a minor must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian as his/her chaperone). Other student winners may bring a chaperone. All chaperones will receive the trip prize items.
  3. The ThinkQuest Live trip prize is valued at approximately $2,783 USD per winner traveling alone, and $5,286 USD per winner traveling with a chaperone. Actual prize value depends on dates of travel and the airport of origin.
  4. You are solely responsible for all expenses not detailed herein (e.g., additional ground transportation, meals, food, beverages, taxes, gratuities, insurance).
  5. Winners and chaperones must travel on dates that permit attendance at ThinkQuest Live, or the trip prize may be forfeited. Additional restrictions may apply.
  6. The laptop computer prize (make and model to be determined by us) has an approximate retail value of $1,500 USD for 1st place, $1,200 USD for 2nd place, and $1,000 USD for 3rd place. Any difference between the actual and stated approximate value will not be awarded.
  7. Any prize won by a team member who has not reached the age of majority in his/her country/state may be awarded in the name of his/her parent or legal guardian.
  8. All prize details are at our sole discretion. We reserve the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value but no other substitution or transfer of a prize is permitted, including for winning eligible teams that do not attend ThinkQuest Live. If any portion of the trip is cancelled or postponed for any reason, the remainder of the prize will be awarded and we will have no obligation to award compensation in lieu thereof and no further obligation to winners.
  9. You are solely responsible for all applicable taxes. We make no representation as to the treatment of the prizes under United States Federal tax law or any other tax laws such as foreign, state, or local tax laws. Winners that are United States residents will receive a cash payment as follows for presumed United States tax liability. The actual value of the payment will vary depending on the actual retail value of the prize awarded. We make no representation as to the sufficiency of such amounts to satisfy any tax liability.

    Item(s) Payment
    Winner Trip plus laptop computer $1,890 USD
    Winner Trip $1,310 USD
    Winner Laptop computer $580 USD
    Winner and Chaperone Trip plus laptop computer $3,068 USD
    Winner and Chaperone Trip $2,488 USD
  10. In order to receive any prize, all team members must sign and have notarized (and, if applicable, confirmed by an apostille) the Winner's Affidavit of Eligibility and Release, Chaperone Designation (if applicable), Consent for Medical Treatment of a Minor (if applicable) and Guest Release (if applicable). Coaches must also complete and have notarized or confirmed by an apostille the Affidavit of School Eligibility and Release.

ThinkQuest Library

Winning entries may be published in whole or in part in the ThinkQuest Library. We may edit or remove any portion of an entry in our sole discretion.

Competition Resources

  1. We may provide certain resources to help teams develop their entries. We are not responsible, however, for any issues associated with a team's access to or use of these resources. Resources are provided by us "as is" and may include restrictions and limitations.
  2. If a team chooses to use these resources, coaches must:

    1. ensure that their team does so in accordance with these Rules;
    2. comply with specific terms accompanying the resources, including any applicable software license terms or terms of use; and
    3. ensure removal of resources from computer systems upon completion of the Competition and/or termination of their team's participation in the Competition.
  3. Unless otherwise specified in writing by us or our suppliers, resources may be used only for activities directly related to a team's participation in the Competition. Your team will be removed from the Competition if any team member uses resources in a manner inconsistent with their terms or these Rules.

Other Conditions

Employees of the Foundation, Oracle America, Inc. and its subsidiaries and their immediate family members are not eligible to participate in the Competition.

We are not responsible and disclaim liability for (a) late, lost, stolen, damaged, garbled, incomplete, incorrect or misdirected entries, (b) errors, omissions, interruptions, deletions, defects, or delays in operations or transmission of information (including but not limited to entries), in each case whether arising by way of technical or other failures or malfunctions of computer hardware, software, mobile or other communications devices, or transmission lines, (c) data corruption, theft, destruction, unauthorized access to or alteration of entries or other Competition materials, loss or otherwise, (d) damage to any computer system resulting from participation in, or accessing or downloading information in connection with, the Competition, including but not limited to the installation or use of any third party software or (e) electronic communications or emails that are undeliverable as a result of any form of active or passive filtering of any kind, or insufficient space in any email account to receive email messages.

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to remove any team member or coach from the Competition or any other promotion conducted now or in the future by the Foundation or any of its affiliates if his/her fraud or misconduct affects the integrity of the Competition. A team also may be removed from the Competition (a) for any violation of any portion of these Rules or the Competition Terms of Use, (b) if any member of the team is found to be acting in an inappropriate, disruptive or unsportsmanlike manner or with the intent to abuse, threaten, or harass any other person or (c) if any member of the team deliberately damages, or attempts or is suspected of attempting to deliberately damage, any entry or undermine the legitimate operation of the Competition. Removal decisions are at our sole discretion and are not subject to review.

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify, cancel, terminate or suspend the Competition should any virus, bug, technical failure, unauthorized human intervention or other cause beyond our reasonable control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the Competition. In such an event, a notice will be posted at http://www.thinkquest.org/ and the winners will be selected from among all eligible entries received prior to such time. WE ALSO RESERVE THE RIGHT TO RESTRICT ENTRIES IF WE DETERMINE IN OUR SOLE DISCRETION THAT WE ARE UNABLE TO VERIFY ANY REGISTRATION OR OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT ENTRANTS.

The Foundation reserves the right to correct clerical, typographical or other errors in Competition materials.

By participating in the Competition, each entrant accepts all conditions in these Rules and agrees to release the Foundation and its directors, employees, officers and agents from any and all liability or damages arising from or in connection with participation in this Competition, the awarding, receipt and/or use or misuse of prizes or participation in any prize-related activity.

In the event of any conflict between or among these Terms of Use, the Competition Privacy Policy and the Competition Rules, they have the following order of priority: the Terms of Use, the Competition Rules and the Competition Privacy Policy.

LAST UPDATED: April 20, 2012