Therefore, although the opening and closing sessions are valuable for setting the tone of the day and bringing the day to a conclusion, these sessions are best when the speakers are dynamic, use visual aids effectively, and limit their presentations to half an hour. The heart of the day is the hands-on workshops, in which the students explore topics in small group settings. Whenever lectures or panel discussions of careers have been offered, the students have overwhelmingly preferred the hands-on activities. The workshops are designed and conducted by a variety of volunteers. They include high school students, teachers from Montgomery County Public Schools, college professors, and professionals from the Washington, D.C. area.
Any possible contact is pursued.
Because of the importance of science and technology in everyday life, all girls in the seventh and eighth grades should be invited to F.I.S.T., but unfortunately, the available space precludes this. Four factors are used to determine the number of students invited the optimum size of a hands-on workshop, the number of workshops offered, the percentage of students who register but do not show, and the percentage of students who are invited but decline to register. Student feedback shows that small workshops are preferred, so 15 to 20 is the usual number of participants. The number of workshops offered is determined by the physical facilities and the availability of presenters. Historically, there has been a fifteen percent no-show rate, and approximately forty percent of the invited students have actually registered.