Annual high school problem-solving competition
Imagine Tomorrow | WSU
Strategies for Success
Research Notes
Andrew Morozov
College of Education
University of Washington
January 2014
Objective
To share emerging (draft) findings and points to consider
for advising/coaching Imagine Tomorrow student teams
To promote reflection, conversation on issues around
participation in Imagine Tomorrow
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Questions
Concerns
Constraints
Lessons learned
Best practices
Scope
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major issues / decisions
“nuts and bolts”
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Study Background
Purpose
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Identify effective strategies for project completion in the context of the
Imagine Tomorrow competition
Question
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How does a project come together?
Long version: What conditions, approaches, and practices facilitate
successful project completion?
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Success = completion of a project of reasonably high quality, i.e. receiving average
or higher scores from judges at competition event
Project
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Foundation: sociocultural (Vygotsky), activity theory (Engeström)
Method: Case studies of two teams at different high schools (one team
per school), who worked on projects out of class.
Data
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Interviews with students and advisors, meeting observations, docs
Timeframe
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3
2011 competition year
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Outline
 Part
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Student challenges and mitigation strategies
for advisors
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2
Types of advisor support
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3
Points to consider
 Conclusion
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Part 1: Student Challenges
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Productive Failure
For first-time participants not
everything will go smoothly –
a good thing!
There is value in building on
success, and in learning from
mistakes.
IT is a low-stakes context for
messing up on something
“big.”
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How to Not Succeed
Time Management:
failing to integrate project work
with existing academic &
extracurricular commitments
(fail to arrange regular meetings
for collective project work)
Scope / Complexity:
underestimating
time/effort/knowledge required to
complete project
(get stuck in idea brainstorming)
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Teams procrastinate until
too late, then realize they
won’t make it in time, so
either drop out or pull
through with sub-par work
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(Avoidable) Negative Experiences
Stress, anxiety, and frustration caused by:
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Inefficient use of time / procrastination
Lack of familiarity w. judging criteria
Doubt about project’s merit relative to other projects
Lack of advance practice with presenting
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Challenge 1: Time management
Mitigation Strategies:
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Regular status checks w. team leaders
Providing opportunities to meet (time/place)
Helping with contacts/info resources
Setting expectations for time commitment by all team
members (but stay flexible)
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Challenge 2: Feasible scale/scope
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Mitigation Strategies:
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Consult with stakeholders about structural or resource
constraints, dependencies, etc. (budget, expertise, timeframe)
Consider a phased approach for project
development/implementation (high quality on small scale
better than the opposite; plan backwards from
goals/deadlines)
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Part 2: Types of Advisor Support
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Types of Advisor Support
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Trip logistics, competition rules:
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Paperwork – submit to WSU early; ensure parents are
informed in advance
Share key facts: presentation format, judging criteria, prizes, trip
logistics/timeframe, project examples (see website or request)
Encourage students to build a habit of consulting IT website
Participating in early idea brainstorming
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suggesting ideas, then letting go for students to adapt based
on interests
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Types of Advisor Support
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Networking with SMEs/community stakeholders
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Suggesting contacts, mentors, stakeholders to consult with;
facilitating/arranging meetings w. school staff (‘sponsorship'),
helping track down contact info
Providing meeting place/space, facilitating team
meetings (scheduling, reminding) – this achieves
multiple goals
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Helping team come together and discuss/work on project
Makes advisor available to team, to field q’s/give guidance (if
asked)
Opportunity for status-checking
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Types of Advisor Support
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Monitoring progress (status-checking)
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Planning for practice
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Helps ensure progress: asking about progress motivates students
to make progress; helps team leader stay accountable
Helps stay on top of changes and adjust registration info (project
name or category changes, team members joining/dropping out)
Arranging an opportunity for mock presentation / feedback /
revision cycle
Make the most of the trip
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Coach students to study other teams’ projects, what to look for:
best practices, relative advantages/shortcomings of own
presentation
Arrange additional activities for exposure to college environment
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Part 3: Points to Consider
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Points to Consider
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Kinds of students being tapped
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Certain grade levels, classes, or clubs; demographic groups,
etc.
Consider applying/interviewing for project spots/roles on
team
Number of teams
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Balance equity w. capacity, consider time demands per
team; other commitments
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Points to Consider
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For students, participation & team choice often based
on social connections
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Friendships, interests, skills/knowledge, common
schedules, membership in clubs organized by advisor, past
participation
Students are good at tasks that align w. their natural
abilities/inclinations; reluctance to do other assigned
tasks may lead to delays
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Preferably team members would have complementary
skills, to fill gaps in skills and increase chances of timely
task completion
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Points to Consider
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There is a qualitative difference between doing a project in vs.
out of class
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In class: more structure  more time on task  more progress 
higher quality outcome
Out of class: less structure  progress contingent on ability to selfmanage
Communicating goals, expectations, meaning of success
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For advisors: college exposure, teamwork, creative problem
solving experience – more formative, long-term outlook
For students: fun with friends, winning/recognition, making a
difference (or perceiving to be) – more proximal, overt focus
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Some students may feel let down when they get to the event with a
project that is “only average” – may feel advisor is not setting them up for
“success”
Communicating and practicing applying the scoring criteria in advance
helps to set expectations and enhances confidence
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Points to Consider
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Creating a support network at and outside of school
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Principal – support with transportation, student research at
school, recognition of participants
Other teachers from dept – chaperones, SMEs, mock
presentation judges; could help scale up into a course or club
Volunteer mentors – SMEs, community resources
After the event, have students write Thank You cards for
everyone who contributed time/expertise to project
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Points to Consider
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Balancing extent of hands-on support
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facilitating, enabling, supporting – but not doing a task for
the students
asking questions vs. giving answers – contributing while
making room for novel approaches and independent
decisions
Example: editing/sending a student-written email to
teachers in dept. to introduce a survey which the team
designed (but not designing the survey itself)
need to decide where to draw this line, where to hand-hold
and where to let go...
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Sample Quote
From post-competition interview with a student:
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Are you happy with how much the advisor helped with different
tasks, or the information that [the advisor] provided?
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I think so, yeah, at first I was kind of..'Ehh..' cause I felt like [the
advisor] wasn't really doing much, but now that I think about it, [the
advisor] did help us by not doing much. [laughs]
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What do you mean by that?
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Oh, we--we had to think farther inste--cause--hmm--it's...like we had
to think of a..ahh..hmm..like teachers usually think of a course, like a
lesson plan, and students follow, but this--with the project it was like
the students thought of the lesson plan and followed it ourselves,
and got the end result..um..and then so we learned that process, but
also learned about the environment and all that so..by [the advisor]
not..being there to try to guide us, we learned how to guide
ourselves..yeah.
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The Art of Letting Go
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For some students, the
amount of hands-on
assistance by advisor will
seem like too much, for some
like too little, and for others
like both, depending on when
you ask.
Striking the right balance will
take time and experience
from repeat participation.
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One More Resource
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http://competitionresearch.org
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Research-based advice on student competitions
Interviews with students and advisors
Bibliography of research on competitions
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Much of the fun of Imagine Tomorrow is an opportunity to…
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There is LOTS to explore!
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Thank You
amorozov@uw.edu
Related interview podcast:
http://teachingadventurelearningatmoss.wordpress.com/interviews/
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