CIS Tournament Of Minds Team

What is the Tournament of Minds?

Tournament of Minds is a problem-solving program for teams of students from both primary and secondary schools. They are required to solve demanding, open-ended problems from one of the following disciplines: Language-Literature, Math- Engineering, and Social Sciences. Tournament of Minds is an opportunity for students with a passion for learning and problem solving to demonstrate their skills and talents in an exciting, vibrant, and public way. Tournament of Minds is Australian in origin but has been exported to various countries for International Schools to participate in. It provides for the ever-increasing demand for sophisticated educational opportunities for the benefit of youth. The rapidly increasing and widespread involvement of thousands of participants throughout Australia and the world demonstrates that Tournament of Minds is a worthwhile activity for students to take part in.

What happens with Tournament of Minds? Well, teams are required to work together on a Long Term Problem for six weeks without assistance from teachers, parents or peers. They are encouraged to explore possibilities and experiment with ideas as they endeavour to produce their best possible solution. They develop a creative and original way to communicate this solution to others, working within predefined parameters such as limited materials, complex problem criteria and the deadline of Tournament Day. Students present the product of their ideas - their problem solution - to a panel of judges and an audience on Tournament Day. They have ten minutes in which to present and must do so within a 3 metre by 3 metre performance area. The teams must also participate in an unseen, Spontaneous Problem on Tournament Day. This problem requires rapid interchange of ideas, the ability to think creatively, and well developed group cooperation skills. Judges for both the Long Term and the Spontaneous Problems are professionals chosen from all areas of education, the arts and industry. They are thoroughly trained to enable them to assess the creative performance and technical aspects of the presentation. For further information, please visit the Tournament of Minds web site at: http://www.tom.edu.au

TOM is a yearly activity at CIS that usually begins in late January or early February and runs until the end of the school year. CIS teams spend time in the early part of the season practicing and getting use to TOM activities. The Long Term Problem is delivered 6 weeks prior to the regional Tournament. Students can work on this as much as they want during these 6 weeks. Set meeting dates usually occur at least twice per week during this time. Students who want to participate need to come to the early organization and practice sessions. Students who want to participate should have abilities in effective problem solving, be able to work in a team to reach a goal, be knowledgeable in the Social Sciences, Language/Literature, and/or Science/Mathematics, and have the ability to make a group presentation.