Odyssey of the Mind

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Odyssey of the Mind
Image:OdysseyOfTheMindLogo.jpg
Founder Dr. C. Samuel Micklus
Type Creative Problem Solving Competition
Founded 1978
Area served USA and 24+ other countries
Focus Creativity
Website http://www.odysseyofthemind.com


Odyssey of the Mind often called OM,is a creative problem-solving competition involving students from kindergarten though college. Team members work together at length to solve a predefined problem (the Long Term problem); and present their solution to the problem at a competition. They must also generate spontaneous answers to a problem they have not seen before; this is the spontaneous competition.

Odyssey of the Mind is administered by Creative Competitions, Inc.

Contents

[edit] History

The Odyssey of the Mind program was started in 1978 by Dr. C. Samuel Micklus, a professor at Rowan University in New Jersey. That first competition, known as "Olympics of the Mind", involved teams from 28 New Jersey schools. The program is now international, with teams from Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Siberia, Singapore, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, and West Africa regularly competing in addition to those from the United States.[1]

In 1999, a rift in the Odyssey board of directors over the profit status of the organization led to the formation of a separate organization, Destination Imagination, a non-profit that runs a program similar to Odyssey of the Mind.[citation needed]

[edit] Organization

Odyssey of the Mind teams are divided into four divisions: Division I, roughly corresponding to elementary school ages, Division II for middle school, Division III for high school, and Division IV for college. The requirements are structured so that students may compete at higher levels than they typically would, with the exception of Division IV which has more specific requirements. They may not, however, participate in a lower levels; for example, a student of the right age for Division II could compete in Divisions II, III, but not Division I. Division IV is specifically for college students and therefore requires a high school diploma or GED and enrollment in at least one college class.

There is also a non-competitive primary division; this is for young children, who are given a simplified problem and fewer constraints than the higher divisions. They present and are given feedback at the first level tournament and cannot advance.

In the United States, each participating state has its own Odyssey association. Most states are further broken down into regions. Teams compete at the regional level first and then, if they win, progress to the state level. In the USA, there is no national level. State-winning teams go directly to the World Finals, which have always been held in the USA, usually near the end of May. The World Finals for the 2006–07 school year will be held from May 23–26, 2007, at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.

[edit] Long-term Problems

The long-term problem solutions are presented as skits of no more than eight minutes. During these skits, some team members will generally be "backstage" controlling the technical aspects of the skit, while others will be acting. The Long Term presentations take 3-5 months to produce.

[edit] Problem Categories

Each year, six problems are released. While the specifics of each problem change from year to year, they always correspond to six general categories:

  1. The vehicle problem focuses on the design and construction of a vehicle used to solve a designated problem, with a lesser emphasis on the performance accompanying the solution. The problems alternate between team-driven vehicles sized to carry a person and independent self-propelled vehicles. The vehicle problem for 2006-07 is called "Tag 'em" and will involve one or more small vehicles making trips through a designated course and being labeled ("tagged")without using some remote mechanism.
  2. The technical performance problem is mainly focused on a technical solution involving building machinery, and like the vehicle problem, places secondary emphasis on the performance. The technical problem for 2006-07 is called "The Large and Small of It" and is focused on a story-book that incorporates visual special effects, along with three large-scale pages from the book. Previous technical problems have included robot building, sound production and others.
  3. The Classics... problem involves a performance tied to some area or aspect of human achievement or culture (art, literature, music, etc.). The problems typically focus on the performance itself, without substantial technical requirements. They have included in the past topics from Shakespeare interpretation to art analysis, great human achievements, and other "Classical" themes. The problem for 2006-07 focuses on travel and geography and is called "Around the World in 8 Minutes".
  4. The structure (or balsa) problem involves building a structure out of 1/8 inch (Actually 0.33 cm for international compatibility. [2] ) balsa wood and glue. The task is always to make the structure hold as much weight as possible; each year, there is a different requirement as to how the structure must be built. There is little emphasis on acting and on the script in this problem, but the skit must include the structure in it. The 2006-07 problem requires that the structure be able (by disassembly or some other means) to fit inside a box smaller than the finished size of the structure and is called "Out of the Box Balsa".
  5. The performance problem is heavily focused on acting and on the script, with the major challenges involving the incorporation of required elements in the performance. Past problems have covered topics such as idioms and animation. The 2006-07 problem requires a humorous performance including a self-centered character who repeatedly takes advantage of others.
  6. The primary problem is designed for younger participants in grades K-2, and contains simple requirements for a problem that can easily challenge the youngest minds. Teams who solve this problem do not officially compete and are not scored, though some regions encourage them to exhibit their problems to an audience. The primary problem for 2006-2007 is called "Time Capsule".

There is a lot of overlap in these categories; acting problems can make use of technical solutions, and technical problems can emphasize their skits. Many aspects of scoring emphasize creativity and ingenuity rather than technical or acting skill; in addition, special awards are sometimes given to teams whose solutions may not be successful, but which demonstrate exemplary "out-of-the-box" thinking.

[edit] Cost Limit

There is a "cost" limit on the value of all materials used in the presentation of the long-term solution. This limit is typically US$125–150. As of the 2006-2007 rules update,[3] some materials have a set "assigned value". Some examples include computers and most audio-visual equipment (projectors, radios, televisions, music players, etc.). Still other materials are simply "exempt" from cost. This includes batteries and power cords, footwear, tables and chairs. All of these materials, even the exempt, must be listed on the "cost form". The judges check this list to make sure that the team is within the cost limit and following the appropriate assigned values and exemptions.

[edit] Style

Style is a component of long-term where teams are judged on specific elements of their skit. There are five elements scored in syle. Often, two of these elements are specified in the problem, the other two are then "free choice of team" elements, and the fifth is a score of how well the other elements contribute to the performance. The pre-specified elements are related to the problem in some way; they are typically something to do with the appearance of a vehicle, costume, or prop. The free choice items may be anything the team wishes as long as they are not already scored as part of the long-term solution. Each element is scored from 1-10, accounting for 50 points of the overall score.

[edit] Spontaneous problems

The Spontaneous problems (commonly known to participants as"spont") are the part of the competition that encourage quick, off-the-top-of-your-head thinking. While up all team members may enter the spontaneous room, only five team members can actually participate in spontaneous.[4] Spontaneous problems fall into three categories:

  • Verbal problems involve responses to a question, statement, or picture; team members' responses are graded on wittiness and creativity (With common responses receiving one point and creative or humorous responses receiving greater amounts, depending on the problem.). Usually, team members have one or two minutes to think of responses and then two or three minutes to give the responses. The order of responses is often random or sequential. Recent problems have also involved a limit to the total number of responses. (Each team member is given a set of colored cards and must turn in a card when they give a response. When they are out of cards, they are out of chances to respond.)
  • Verbal hands-on problems are similar to verbal problems, but they usually involve manipulating a physical object in some way. This may include using an object as a prop, or taking clay or aluminum foil and making characters, which then participate in a story made up by the team members. Scoring is based on team work and creativity of responses.
  • Hands-on problems rely almost entirely on the manipulation of physical objects; these problems usually take longer than verbal problems, and team members may sometimes only be able to communicate non-verbally. Scoring is based on team work, creativity, and problem-specific goals.

Although an Odyssey team can consist of up to seven members, only five can participate in the Spontaneous problem. Team members that do not participate must either leave the competition room or stay in the room without communicating with the rest of the team in any way. The team members usually decide in advance who will participate in the different types of Spont problems; after the judge announces which of the three types a team will be given, the other teammates will leave or stay as the case may be.

[edit] Scoring

Each team is given a score out of 350 points: 200 from Long-term, 100 from Spontaneous, and 50 from Style. Style is scored from 1-10 in each of the five categories, and the Long-term and Spontaneous problems are scored according to each problem's individual rules. The scores awarded are then scaled within each problem and division based upon the highest score achieved by any team in each of the three scoring categories. So, for instance, the team scoring highest in Long-term in a particular problem and division receives 200 points, and the scores for the other teams in that problem and division are scaled proportionately. A team ranking first in its problem and division in all three elements of the competition would thus receive a "perfect" score of 350 points, regardless of the actual raw scores assigned by the judges.

[edit] Awards for Creativity

  • OMER's Award - This award, named for the mascot of Odyssey of the Mind, is given to an individual, team, coach, parent or official for outstanding sportsmanship, behavior or talent. Anyone may nominate a potential award recipient. Generally, a handful of these awards are given out at each competition.[5]
  • Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award - This award is given to an individual or team for excessive creativity, regardless of the success or failure of the solution. Judges nominate competitors at their discretion. Rarely are these awards given out at a competition, if at all. Teams that earn this award at the state/province/country level are eligible to advance to world finals.[6] The name comes from the insect Ranatra fusca which can walk on water and served as the inspiration for a particularly creative, but unsuccessful, solution to a problem in the early days of the program.[7]

[edit] Naming

  • Though the program is often called "OM," this use has been discouraged as the result of a trademark-related lawsuit. An agreement with Destination ImagiNation's founding body and former Odyssey of the Mind associate, the OM Association, was reached that prohibits the use of the acronym "OM." As a result, participants are encouraged not to use the designation "OM" and all official works use the acronym "OotM" instead. The use of the acronym "OM" may result in a penalty, depending upon the rules of the particular regional or state Odyssey organization in question.
  • When founded, the program was known as "Olympics of the Mind." In the late 1980s, the International Olympic Committee enforced violations of its trademarked "Olympic" name, and forced the program to change its name. The new name selected was "Odyssey of the Mind" to fit the "OM" acronym in use at the time.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Learn More link on the Odyssey of the Mind website. [1]
  2. ^ Problem 4 Rules - Note that link is not available because problem rules are copyrighted material.
  3. ^ Odyssey of the Mind Program Guide, p 46 (p 48 of PDF) [2]
  4. ^ Odyssey of the Mind Program Guide, p 32 (p 34 of PDF) [3]
  5. ^ Odyssey of the Mind Program Guide, p 34 (p 36 of PDF) [4]
  6. ^ Odyssey of the Mind Program Guide, p 35 (p 37 of PDF) [5]
  7. ^ Pennsylvania State Association Website [6]

[edit] External links

[edit] Associations for Countries

[edit] Associations for US States

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