Middle School Team, Coached by USU Educators, Heads to World Finals
Angie, a team member, plays the part of Pandora.
The Odyssey of the Mind competition fosters creative problem solving in students from kindergarten through college. But when the Mount Logan Pandora’s Box Division II team reflected on what it has done for them, it was all about teamwork.
“We made new friends,” said Kourtney, a participant whose wide smile was enhanced by bubble-gum-pink braces.
This year, four teams from Mount Logan Middle School placed in the state competition. This qualified them to participate in World Finals. One of the Mt. Logan teams, the Pandora’s Box group, is led by Sarah Brasiel, associate director of the Active Learning Lab in the Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Department at Utah State University. Her assistant coach is Jennifer Roark, an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology. She is also from USU.
The coaches know a lot about education, but Brasiel said their job is to let the students figure things out for themselves. The team members make all the decisions. Brasiel and Roark agree: staying out of their team’s learning is the hardest part.
Even holding tape for a student to cut is considered too much adult assistance. But while it’s been hard to stay out of the action, it has been rewarding to see what the team comes up with. “Middle school aged children are more creative and innovative than many adults realize,” Roark said. “It is amazing what the kids will do if you get out of their way.”
On a practice day in early May, the team was working on an eight-minute play that combined a classic tale with video game concepts. Their presentation was about Pandora’s box. The woes it had unleashed were running rampant through a video game.
The play’s set had already gone through the problem-solving process. The time it takes to assemble it is counted against the play’s eight-minute time limit. The team’s first structure was made of skinny PVC pipe with paper backdrops, but the pipes were too flimsy and the paper was too noisy. On a spring afternoon in Brasiel’s basement, they were painting fabric scenes that would hang on more robust — and more expensive — PVC pipe. They also had a price limit, so they considered the budget carefully before investing in thicker plastic.
“It was a real risk when the team decided to use PVC pipe to build their structure and they needed to use pipe cutter to cut the pipes on their own,” Brasiel said. “It was great to see them work as a team to get it done, with each student taking turns to cut a pipe. One team member had to use her feet to press the cutter around the pipe, since her hands weren’t strong enough.
“My hypothesis is that these types of activities generate the 21st century skills students will need for jobs that have not even been invented yet.”
The activities are teaching social skills, too.
“If someone’s just sitting down we try to get them involved,” said Judson, one of the team members. “We keep the spirit lively.”
The Odyssey of the Mind World Finals are held at Michigan State University May 20-23. Eleven of the 800 participating teams are from Utah.
Related links:
USU Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences
USU Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services
Contact: Sarah Brasiel, sarah.brasiel@aggiemail.usu.edu
Writer: JoLynne Lyon, 435-797-1463
Team members cut PVC pipe for the first set of their play.
Kourtney helps assemble the new, improved set.
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