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Odyssey of the Mind

Odyssey of the Mind is a worldwide creative problem-solving competition for students from Kindergarten through college. Students from most US states participate, along with students from Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Moldavia, Poland, Russia, Siberia, Singapore, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, and West Africa.

Students participating in the program develop their creativity, learn team work, and gain confidence. Dr. Sam Micklus, the founder, planted the seeds for the organization when he challenged his industrial design students at Rowan University in New Jersey to create vehicles and flotation devices. He evaluated the solutions not only on their success, but also on the creative risk-taking the teams demonstrated in the creation of the solution. Public interest in Dr. Micklus's courses resulted in the creation of a program that eventually became Odyssey of the Mind.

The following objectives are presented on the Odyssey of the Mind website:

Odyssey of the Mind students work in teams to solve complex engineering and dramatic/verbal problems and present their solutions in competition. NASA has sponsored one of the 2003 long-term problems, called "A Scene From Above." The problem synopsis reads:

The team's problem is to design, build and run three small vehicles to transport items from an Orbit Area to an Assembly Station. The items will be added to a three-dimensional representation of a scene of the Earth as viewed from space. As the items are added the scene will change. The scene may be real or imaginary and may be zoomed in to any degree. The team will present a humorous performance about the scene and its changes. The vehicles will be powered by different types of energy sources: one will have an internal power source that it carries while moving; the other two power sources will be external. (http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/materials/2003synopsis1.php)

Solutions for long-term problems take months to complete. Along with the long-term problems, students also develop their ability to solve engineering and verbal "spontaneous" problems given to them on the spot, during competition. Learning to "think on your feet" is a highly valued skill in the program. A spontaneous problem might be a verbal challenge such as "name types of keys." Students would be given about two minutes to name as many types of keys as possible. Creative answers such as "the Florida Keys" would earn more points than an answer such as "door key." Students learn "piggybacking" along with other brainstorming skills while playing these verbal games. Watching a team that has worked together for several years solve a problem like "name keys" is fascinating. A strong team might even develop a theme for their answers or weave a story into their responses. Or they might pull answers from science class and literature class and make connections between the answers. The spontaneous competition might also involve a hands-on problem such as building a device to transport an object a certain distance. Time limits are set for both verbal and hands-on spontaneous problems. For example, a hands-on problem might have a five-minute time limit. A team would be expected to brainstorm, plan a solution, build the solution, and present the solution to the judges within five minutes.

Some schools use Odyssey of the Mind materials for their gifted and talented programs. Other schools open the program to all students, sponsor the program financially, and help recruit volunteer coaches. Volunteer coaches (usually teachers or parents) guide students as they learn problem-solving and team work, but the coaches may not help the teams solve the problem. Coaches can teach students a skill, but may not assist students as they use the skill to create a solution. For example, a coach may teach team members how to sew, but the coach may not help team members sew costumes. Students learn to do things "by themselves." If students can not operate a piece of equipment (a power saw, for example) without adult help, they must figure out a way to accomplish the task without the equipment. For example, the students might decide to use cardboard rather than wood. Students of all ages will be creating solutions to the problem described above. Young elementary school students might build solutions from cardboard and other recyclable materials, using glue, tape, string, and other materials they can handle on their own, but will be just as ingenious and creative as those developed by college students.

Coaching an Odyssey of the Mind team of any age would be a rewarding project for a community college teacher. The time commitment made by coaches is difficult, but it pays off because coaching presents a living "lab" for studying learners as they construct meaning. I've coached Odyssey of the Mind teams of all ages, including second graders through high school seniors. I've had the pleasure of watching some of these OMERs, as Odyssey of the Mind participants are called, as they grew from elementary school students to high school seniors on their way off to college.

Another idea is to build the Odyssey of the Mind program into your course by purchasing a membership in the program and using the problem booklets and other materials. (Each long-term problem has a detailed problem booklet. In addition, coaching books include spontaneous problems that are very useful in the college classroom.) A capstone course in an engineering science program, for example, might take on one of the long-term engineering problems and present its solution to the college community. In addition, college teams can compete a the world level of the competition. Clarkson and Cornell are two New York institutions that field Odyssey of the Mind teams each year for the world competition. I've coached teams at the regional, state, and world level, and I'd be happy to share my experiences and advice with you. If you would like to ask questions about the Odyssey of the Mind program or my coaching experiences, please click here.

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