Midwest Academic Questions
Midwest Academic Questions
MAQ has decided to write non-Middle School stuff for the time being.
We would, however, like to send business to our buddy Charles Hang over at Olympia Questions. He writes good, pyramidal stuff.
You can find information about his new company here: http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=10734
We would, however, like to send business to our buddy Charles Hang over at Olympia Questions. He writes good, pyramidal stuff.
You can find information about his new company here: http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=10734
Last edited by Geringer on Wed Dec 15, 2010 10:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.
R. Jeffrey Geringer
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Will everything be geared towards Junior High, or will you produce High School sets as well?
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
As of right now, I'm making a bid to write the 2011 Fremd Tournament, but there has been no official confirmation on that.
I want to deliberately stay out of the Varsity questions business, although with a little bit of work, I'm sure that a "new to quiz bowl" JV set can be produced without much trouble.
I want to deliberately stay out of the Varsity questions business, although with a little bit of work, I'm sure that a "new to quiz bowl" JV set can be produced without much trouble.
R. Jeffrey Geringer
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
I also wanted to include a little bit about our question writing philosophy.
What exactly makes up a "pyramidal question" seems to be a nebulous concept to many players and coaches unfamiliar with this kind of quiz bowl. While pyramidal questions tend to be longer in length, they aren't necessarily six lines long and full of really hard clues. Borrowing from some recent discussion in the college circuit, first and second-line clues should be "buzzable," as in if I write a tossup on Rene Magritte, someone in my field should have seen a lot of his paintings and would be able to identify him. While only a few people will be able to get very early buzzes, a greater amount of people with slightly less knowledge will be able to identify him in the middle of the question. By the time the "for 10 points" rolls around, anyone who has seen any artwork by him should probably be able to identify him.
In essence, "pyramidal questions" just attempt to reward players with greater knowledge of a topic before players with less knowledge have a chance to buzz in. Especially at the junior high level, four lines should be sufficient to reward various levels of knowledge.
Furthermore, especially because most junior high players are very new to quizbowl, answer lines will be kept simple. I could write a tossup on the "ampullae of Lorenzini," but it will most likely go unanswered. At MAQ, we would much rather see a high conversion rate. On the same token, even our weakest teams should be averaging at least one part correct per bonus. While it isn't good to give away free points (and we won't be), enabling teams to score points and to walk away with a good feeling about quizbowl is undeniably important at this level of play.
Finally, as previously mentioned, we strive to make our answer lines as complete as possible. While other distributors look down on a player and might penalize them for answering "Samuel Clemens" on a "Mark Twain" tossup, we see these answers as identical and will include both. Math answer lines will be moderator-friendly as well and will attempt to include all possible answer forms.
We believe that by mimicking legitimate quiz bowl practices from the high school and college levels within our junior high sets, we will be encouraging a more academic game rather than glorified biography bowl with a quick buzzer race at the giveaway.
What exactly makes up a "pyramidal question" seems to be a nebulous concept to many players and coaches unfamiliar with this kind of quiz bowl. While pyramidal questions tend to be longer in length, they aren't necessarily six lines long and full of really hard clues. Borrowing from some recent discussion in the college circuit, first and second-line clues should be "buzzable," as in if I write a tossup on Rene Magritte, someone in my field should have seen a lot of his paintings and would be able to identify him. While only a few people will be able to get very early buzzes, a greater amount of people with slightly less knowledge will be able to identify him in the middle of the question. By the time the "for 10 points" rolls around, anyone who has seen any artwork by him should probably be able to identify him.
In essence, "pyramidal questions" just attempt to reward players with greater knowledge of a topic before players with less knowledge have a chance to buzz in. Especially at the junior high level, four lines should be sufficient to reward various levels of knowledge.
Furthermore, especially because most junior high players are very new to quizbowl, answer lines will be kept simple. I could write a tossup on the "ampullae of Lorenzini," but it will most likely go unanswered. At MAQ, we would much rather see a high conversion rate. On the same token, even our weakest teams should be averaging at least one part correct per bonus. While it isn't good to give away free points (and we won't be), enabling teams to score points and to walk away with a good feeling about quizbowl is undeniably important at this level of play.
Finally, as previously mentioned, we strive to make our answer lines as complete as possible. While other distributors look down on a player and might penalize them for answering "Samuel Clemens" on a "Mark Twain" tossup, we see these answers as identical and will include both. Math answer lines will be moderator-friendly as well and will attempt to include all possible answer forms.
We believe that by mimicking legitimate quiz bowl practices from the high school and college levels within our junior high sets, we will be encouraging a more academic game rather than glorified biography bowl with a quick buzzer race at the giveaway.
R. Jeffrey Geringer
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
We're always looking for writers, but more importantly, if anyone has connections to junior highs or JV tournaments in your area and you want to see QG or QU gone, we will be more than happy to supply.Arsonists Get All the Girls wrote:If you need any freelance writing, I can help out.
R. Jeffrey Geringer
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
QG and QU are pretty nonexistant here as far as I know, and we don't have middle school teams though Pensacola is trying to fix that.Halakis wrote:We're always looking for writers, but more importantly, if anyone has connections to junior highs or JV tournaments in your area and you want to see QG or QU gone, we will be more than happy to supply.Arsonists Get All the Girls wrote:If you need any freelance writing, I can help out.
Kay, Chicago.
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Would you consider writing for official state tournaments?
Jason Loy
Missouri State '10
Harding '04-'08
Missouri State '10
Harding '04-'08
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Yeah, although the Illinois IESA tournament is apparently booked by QG through 2013. I assume you could be asking about Missouri, in which case I will say "Totally, dude. MO has given me great things like Hannibal, MO and the Greatest Show on Turf and I will be happy to pay them back."Jeremy Gibbs-Marangoni Effect wrote:Would you consider writing for official state tournaments?
R. Jeffrey Geringer
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Write to me about making an effective business model. The key is making questions reusable, so as to make each 20/20 set worthwhile in terms of how much you make.
Shawn Pickrell, HSAPQ CFO
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Missouri has no official MSHSAA state championship for middle school.I assume you could be asking about Missouri, in which case I will say "Totally, dude. MO has given me great things like Hannibal, MO and the Greatest Show on Turf and I will be happy to pay them back.
Charlie Dees, North Kansas City HS '08
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- majadirks
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Will you have a website? I'm trying to get schools to host middle school meets in the Seattle area, and being able to link to your company as a question source would make things easier.
Matthew Dirks - U Chicago
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My favorite non-pyramidal question:
"These real or imaginary people had unusual features with respect to what part of their bodies?
Erik in 'The Phantom of the Opera'; Severus Snape in the Harry Potter books; Socrates; Tycho Brahe; The Duke of Wellington; Cyrano de Bergerac"
Answer: nose(s)
-Washington Knowledge Bowl, State Tournament 2009 (But where, oh where, is Major Kovalev?)
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My favorite non-pyramidal question:
"These real or imaginary people had unusual features with respect to what part of their bodies?
Erik in 'The Phantom of the Opera'; Severus Snape in the Harry Potter books; Socrates; Tycho Brahe; The Duke of Wellington; Cyrano de Bergerac"
Answer: nose(s)
-Washington Knowledge Bowl, State Tournament 2009 (But where, oh where, is Major Kovalev?)
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Yes. Once I get through a rough week of school, I'm sitting down with my web design friend and ironing out a website.majadirks wrote:Will you have a website? I'm trying to get schools to host middle school meets in the Seattle area, and being able to link to your company as a question source would make things easier.
R. Jeffrey Geringer
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
If I were to convince some people to help me run a state-level tournament for JV High School teams in Kentucky, would you all be willing to write for us? Right now the only JV events in the state are quick recall events, most of which are even worse than normal quick recall.
Nicholas C
KQBA member
KQBA member
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
I will have a mid-level JV set available next year and will be looking for mirrors. I'd have to do some work on the bonuses and the distro, but its much easier to go from IHSA to ACF than the other way around. Anyways, I'm totally up for this.Gerd Bockmann wrote:If I were to convince some people to help me run a state-level tournament for JV High School teams in Kentucky, would you all be willing to write for us? Right now the only JV events in the state are quick recall events, most of which are even worse than normal quick recall.
R. Jeffrey Geringer
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
On a scale of 1-10, how interested would you guys be in writing/collaborating on a national championship set(for next year)?
Dallin Kelson
Chipola '11, UF '13
Chipola '11, UF '13
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
I'm banking on very interested. We're currently producing a set for an April tournament this year as a kind of test run, and we should be producing stuff by next fall in full force.Kwang the Ninja wrote:On a scale of 1-10, how interested would you guys be in writing/collaborating on a national championship set(for next year)?
EDIT: I'm talking junior high
R. Jeffrey Geringer
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Well MAQ officially exists. I've just emailed a "sample set" [5 packets that will eventually become the first 5 packets in our first middle school ACF set ("MS-01") next fall] to Mike Laudermith for use at Leyden's middle school tournament on April 8th. When he receives them/uses them, he will hopefully post here and tell the world how good they are.
MS-01 will eventually consist of 10 packets of 16/16 each. 4/4 Lit (includes myth); 4/4 science (includes non-comp math); 4/4 social studies; 2/2 fine arts; 2/2 trash. The sample set, regrettably, includes comp math.
Jeff is currently editing what will become our IESA-01, a small (4 packets, I believe) set in the IESA format (4-part bonuses, comp math) that might be expanded to include more packets by some combination of writing new questions and melding it with MS-01.
MS-01 will eventually consist of 10 packets of 16/16 each. 4/4 Lit (includes myth); 4/4 science (includes non-comp math); 4/4 social studies; 2/2 fine arts; 2/2 trash. The sample set, regrettably, includes comp math.
Jeff is currently editing what will become our IESA-01, a small (4 packets, I believe) set in the IESA format (4-part bonuses, comp math) that might be expanded to include more packets by some combination of writing new questions and melding it with MS-01.
Dan Donohue, Saint Viator ('10), Northwestern ('14), NAQT
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
I have some questions about this:Dan-Don wrote:MS-01 will eventually consist of 10 packets of 16/16 each. 4/4 Lit (includes myth); 4/4 science (includes non-comp math); 4/4 social studies; 2/2 fine arts; 2/2 trash. The sample set, regrettably, includes comp math.
*Is your tournament really one eighth trash or is there something mistyped by you and/or misunderstood by me here?
*What's in the mystery "social studies" distribution? Are all the traditional quizbowl categories missing from the posted breakdown included there, and in what ratio if so?
*What is the literature/myth ratio within the 4/4? How many middle-school-appropriate literature questions do you plan to include in each round?
*Are these arithmetic questions bonuses only or both tossups and bonuses?
Matt Weiner
Advisor to Quizbowl at Virginia Commonwealth University / Founder of hsquizbowl.org
Advisor to Quizbowl at Virginia Commonwealth University / Founder of hsquizbowl.org
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Let me elaborate on distribution.Matt Weiner wrote:I have some questions about this:Dan-Don wrote:MS-01 will eventually consist of 10 packets of 16/16 each. 4/4 Lit (includes myth); 4/4 science (includes non-comp math); 4/4 social studies; 2/2 fine arts; 2/2 trash. The sample set, regrettably, includes comp math.
*Is your tournament really one eighth trash or is there something mistyped by you and/or misunderstood by me here?
*What's in the mystery "social studies" distribution? Are all the traditional quizbowl categories missing from the posted breakdown included there, and in what ratio if so?
*What is the literature/myth ratio within the 4/4? How many middle-school-appropriate literature questions do you plan to include in each round?
*Are these arithmetic questions bonuses only or both tossups and bonuses?
In a 16/16 set:
4/4 Literature (which does not contain any kiddie lit, unlike the CMST)
- 1/1 U.S. Lit
- 1/1 Brit Lit
- 1/1 World Lit
- 1/1 R&M
4/4 Science
- 1/1 bio
- 2/2 some combination of astro, physics, chem, and earth
- 1/1 non-comp math
4/4 Social Studies
- 1/1 U.S. History
- 2/2 World History
- 1/1 "other" social studies (this can be geo, current events, basic social sciences)
2/2 Fine Arts
- 1/1 Music (this occasionally includes opera and musical theatre but avoids "name these instruments"-type stuff)
- 1/1 visual arts
2/2 Trash
Yes, I'd love to give 1/1 back to fine arts. But the fine arts canon is so small, I don't believe we can manage it. This may change.
EDIT: Oh, I don't know for certain that the IESA set that is being edited contains computational tossups and bonuses. But it likely does.
Dan Donohue, Saint Viator ('10), Northwestern ('14), NAQT
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
How is this possible for a middle school audience?Dan-Don wrote: - 1/1 World Lit
Mr. Andrew Chrzanowski
Caesar Rodney High School
Camden, Delaware
CRHS '97-'01
University of Delaware '01-'05
CRHS quizbowl coach '06-'12
http://crquizbowl.edublogs.org
Caesar Rodney High School
Camden, Delaware
CRHS '97-'01
University of Delaware '01-'05
CRHS quizbowl coach '06-'12
http://crquizbowl.edublogs.org
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
The CMST did it. If I'm not mistaken, their distro was:Carangoides ciliarius wrote:How is this possible for a middle school audience?Dan-Don wrote: - 1/1 World Lit
-1/1 US
-1/1 Brit
-1/1 World
-1/1 Kiddie
So it's certainly possible.
Dan Donohue, Saint Viator ('10), Northwestern ('14), NAQT
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
You can't put that 1/1 trash to any better uses? Not even a 2/2 "Other" Social Studies?
Mike Cheyne
Formerly U of Minnesota
"You killed HSAPQ"--Matt Bollinger
Formerly U of Minnesota
"You killed HSAPQ"--Matt Bollinger
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
I could see that happening. All of this distribution stuff may change as we write this over the summer.Cheynem wrote:You can't put that 1/1 trash to any better uses? Not even a 2/2 "Other" Social Studies?
Dan Donohue, Saint Viator ('10), Northwestern ('14), NAQT
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
I hope you're planning to write european literature into this subdistro!Dan-Don wrote:-1/1 World
Auroni Gupta (she/her)
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Note that this division is "American lit," "British lit," "everything else." So the "world lit" category would include continental Europe. (At least, that's what the CMST distribution did.)Carangoides ciliarius wrote:How is this possible for a middle school audience?Dan-Don wrote: - 1/1 World Lit
Jeff Hoppes
President, Northern California Quiz Bowl Alliance
former HSQB Chief Admin (2012-13)
VP for Communication and history subject editor, NAQT
Editor emeritus, ACF
"I wish to make some kind of joke about Jeff's love of birds, but I always fear he'll turn them on me Hitchcock-style." -Fred
President, Northern California Quiz Bowl Alliance
former HSQB Chief Admin (2012-13)
VP for Communication and history subject editor, NAQT
Editor emeritus, ACF
"I wish to make some kind of joke about Jeff's love of birds, but I always fear he'll turn them on me Hitchcock-style." -Fred
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Yes. In this case, World includes European.Ice Warrior wrote:I hope you're planning to write european literature into this subdistro!Dan-Don wrote:-1/1 World
Dan Donohue, Saint Viator ('10), Northwestern ('14), NAQT
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Okay, well, that's a little better. That will still be a very very tough category for middle school students. I can count on one hand the number of authors i knew as a seventh grader from outside England or the United States who wrote legitimate literature, but maybe i just went to a crappy Catholic school or something.Dan-Don wrote:Yes. In this case, World includes European.Ice Warrior wrote:I hope you're planning to write european literature into this subdistro!Dan-Don wrote:-1/1 World
Mr. Andrew Chrzanowski
Caesar Rodney High School
Camden, Delaware
CRHS '97-'01
University of Delaware '01-'05
CRHS quizbowl coach '06-'12
http://crquizbowl.edublogs.org
Caesar Rodney High School
Camden, Delaware
CRHS '97-'01
University of Delaware '01-'05
CRHS quizbowl coach '06-'12
http://crquizbowl.edublogs.org
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Is this tournament solely for Leyden's feeder schools? Or can any school apply for entry? [asks the coach whose MS team's scheduled number of tournaments went from 5 to 2, through no choice of their own]Dan-Don wrote: ...Leyden's middle school tournament on April 8th.
Jeff Price
Barrington High School Coach (2021 & 2023 HSNCT Champions, 2023 PACE Champions, 2023 Illinois Masonic Bowl Class 3A State Champions)
Barrington Station Middle School Coach (2013 MSNCT Champions, 2013 & 2017 Illinois Class AA State Champions)
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Barrington High School Coach (2021 & 2023 HSNCT Champions, 2023 PACE Champions, 2023 Illinois Masonic Bowl Class 3A State Champions)
Barrington Station Middle School Coach (2013 MSNCT Champions, 2013 & 2017 Illinois Class AA State Champions)
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
I'm not exactly sure. I'm inclined to think it is only feeder schools. You're more than welcome to try and enter, but remember that you then cannot play MS-01 next season at a full-day tournament.Moving Day wrote:Is this tournament solely for Leyden's feeder schools? Or can any school apply for entry? [asks the coach whose MS team's scheduled number of tournaments went from 5 to 2, through no choice of their own]Dan-Don wrote: ...Leyden's middle school tournament on April 8th.
Dan Donohue, Saint Viator ('10), Northwestern ('14), NAQT
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
I advocated replacing 1/1 trash with any of the following alternatives:
1/1 religion & myth (retaining 4/4 lit consisting of 1/1 each of American, English/European, world, and 1/1 more from one of those three)
1/1 geography/current events (and retaining 4/4 social studies consisting of 1/1 American history, 1/1 European history, 1/1 world history, and 1/1 from other social studies or one of those three)
1/1 non-computational math (and retaining 4/4 science consisting of 1/1 each of bio, chem, physics, and 1/1 astronomy/earth science)
1/1 religion & myth (retaining 4/4 lit consisting of 1/1 each of American, English/European, world, and 1/1 more from one of those three)
1/1 geography/current events (and retaining 4/4 social studies consisting of 1/1 American history, 1/1 European history, 1/1 world history, and 1/1 from other social studies or one of those three)
1/1 non-computational math (and retaining 4/4 science consisting of 1/1 each of bio, chem, physics, and 1/1 astronomy/earth science)
Nathan Hollinsaid
Coach, St. Anthony Streator (2004-2007)
IHSSBCA Performance & Test-Certified Moderator
Coach, St. Anthony Streator (2004-2007)
IHSSBCA Performance & Test-Certified Moderator
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
what about replacing 1/1 trash with 1/1 "any of the above," as long as the "any of the above" questions aren't on the same category and aren't the same categories in every packet?
Auroni Gupta (she/her)
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Dear suburban Illinois high schools,Moving Day wrote:Is this tournament solely for Leyden's feeder schools? Or can any school apply for entry? [asks the coach whose MS team's scheduled number of tournaments went from 5 to 2, through no choice of their own]Dan-Don wrote: ...Leyden's middle school tournament on April 8th.
Please stop hosting super-secret middle school tournaments exclusively for your feeder schools and oftentimes out-of-season (for IESA scholastic bowl). While it's certainly within your rights, you would attract much bigger and more competitive fields by opening up your tournaments to the rest of Illinois. Plus, with the downfall of Northwestern's Junior Wildcat, there are very few good tournaments for suburban middle school teams to attend.
Nathan Hollinsaid
Coach, St. Anthony Streator (2004-2007)
IHSSBCA Performance & Test-Certified Moderator
Coach, St. Anthony Streator (2004-2007)
IHSSBCA Performance & Test-Certified Moderator
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Well obviously I can't speak for NU's program yet, but if I get permission my intention is to resurrect Jr. Wildcat with MS-01.Stephen Colbert wrote:Dear suburban Illinois high schools,Moving Day wrote:Is this tournament solely for Leyden's feeder schools? Or can any school apply for entry? [asks the coach whose MS team's scheduled number of tournaments went from 5 to 2, through no choice of their own]Dan-Don wrote: ...Leyden's middle school tournament on April 8th.
Please stop hosting super-secret middle school tournaments exclusively for your feeder schools and oftentimes out-of-season (for IESA scholastic bowl). While it's certainly within your rights, you would attract much bigger and more competitive fields by opening up your tournaments to the rest of Illinois. Plus, with the downfall of Northwestern's Junior Wildcat, there are very few good tournaments for suburban middle school teams to attend.
Dan Donohue, Saint Viator ('10), Northwestern ('14), NAQT
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
I'll also be at NU in the fall and will do whatever I can to help this happen.Dan-Don wrote:Well obviously I can't speak for NU's program yet, but if I get permission my intention is to resurrect Jr. Wildcat with MS-01.
Nathan Hollinsaid
Coach, St. Anthony Streator (2004-2007)
IHSSBCA Performance & Test-Certified Moderator
Coach, St. Anthony Streator (2004-2007)
IHSSBCA Performance & Test-Certified Moderator
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Go on...Stephen Colbert wrote:I'll also be at NU in the fall
Jonah Greenthal
National Academic Quiz Tournaments
National Academic Quiz Tournaments
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
As it's looking like right now, we might be turning that 1/1 World Lit category into a 1/1 World Lit and Myth and adding a 1/1 Religion category. To my knowledge, this is pretty uncharted territory, and unlike high school, I've seen very few "fraud" buzzes that I've come to expect from high school teams. There isn't a real codified canon for this stuff and, admittedly, it'll be an experiment as we go along.
R. Jeffrey Geringer
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
I'm transferring there, hopefully graduating in less than two years, and if I can successfully get into one, going to med school.jonah wrote:Go on...Stephen Colbert wrote:I'll also be at NU in the fall
Nathan Hollinsaid
Coach, St. Anthony Streator (2004-2007)
IHSSBCA Performance & Test-Certified Moderator
Coach, St. Anthony Streator (2004-2007)
IHSSBCA Performance & Test-Certified Moderator
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Re: Midwest Academic Questions
The middle school mythology canon is surprisingly expansive. It's sort of a niche category at the middle school level, but there are some players with some seriously deep myth knowledge. I don't know if the middle school canon is extensive enough to support 1/1 religion in the long term, especially when it comes to non-Western religions.KHAAAAN please wrote:As it's looking like right now, we might be turning that 1/1 World Lit category into a 1/1 World Lit and Myth and adding a 1/1 Religion category. To my knowledge, this is pretty uncharted territory, and unlike high school, I've seen very few "fraud" buzzes that I've come to expect from high school teams. There isn't a real codified canon for this stuff and, admittedly, it'll be an experiment as we go along.
Nathan Hollinsaid
Coach, St. Anthony Streator (2004-2007)
IHSSBCA Performance & Test-Certified Moderator
Coach, St. Anthony Streator (2004-2007)
IHSSBCA Performance & Test-Certified Moderator
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
For myth, you can ask about Greco-Roman, Norse, Egyptian, and even a bit of Arthurian.
For religion, you have to keep it Judeo-Christian heavy.
For religion, you have to keep it Judeo-Christian heavy.
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Nathan and Dan,
It's great that you are both going to be at NU next year. I will be back in the fall as well and would be willing to pitch in as much as I am able (which may not be much). The NU team did have interest in running the Jr. Wildcat again this year and I'm pretty sure it's still on the radar for next year, but it's rather complicated logistically. With some more dedicated folks, I imagine you could work around those difficulties.
As for the question format, I don't think having 1/1 trash is any great travesty. Writing pyramidal questions on subjects from popular culture helps emphasize that all questions a better when written that way and shows that depth of knowledge can be rewarded for all subjects. The pop culture questions by the usual middle school providers are some of the absolute worst offenders of bad quizbowl. If part of the goal is to improve standard middle school quizbowl questions, writing good trash questions helps.
If you want to add more academia, however, I'd suggest adding it to the US lit or history distribution. Those subjects can go quite a bit deeper than their world or European counterparts at the middle school level.
It's great that you are both going to be at NU next year. I will be back in the fall as well and would be willing to pitch in as much as I am able (which may not be much). The NU team did have interest in running the Jr. Wildcat again this year and I'm pretty sure it's still on the radar for next year, but it's rather complicated logistically. With some more dedicated folks, I imagine you could work around those difficulties.
As for the question format, I don't think having 1/1 trash is any great travesty. Writing pyramidal questions on subjects from popular culture helps emphasize that all questions a better when written that way and shows that depth of knowledge can be rewarded for all subjects. The pop culture questions by the usual middle school providers are some of the absolute worst offenders of bad quizbowl. If part of the goal is to improve standard middle school quizbowl questions, writing good trash questions helps.
If you want to add more academia, however, I'd suggest adding it to the US lit or history distribution. Those subjects can go quite a bit deeper than their world or European counterparts at the middle school level.
Andy Wehrman
(formerly of Arkansas and Northwestern)
(formerly of Arkansas and Northwestern)
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Actually, in the middle school tournament I moderated, I noticed a pretty large representation of foreign students, some of whom I assume would be practicing Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Sikhs, etc. While I don't think I could be asking about too much in-depth stuff, basic canon from those religions would definitely be fair game.
R. Jeffrey Geringer
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
You're extrapolating a single sample to a larger population about which you have little to no information. Try again.KHAAAAN please wrote:Actually, in the middle school tournament I moderated, I noticed a pretty large representation of foreign students, some of whom I assume would be practicing Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Sikhs, etc. While I don't think I could be asking about too much in-depth stuff, basic canon from those religions would definitely be fair game.
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
I'm comfortable writing this stuff because last year I took a class that was a basic survey of all these religions (and more) so we'll have to see how his shakes out. If he myth canon is as large as Donald says, then we could think about 1/1 myth and 1/1 world lit/relgion. Still thinking about what to do with the trash. We'll hopefully have a distro by the fall that is accepted by most.KHAAAAN please wrote:Actually, in the middle school tournament I moderated, I noticed a pretty large representation of foreign students, some of whom I assume would be practicing Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Sikhs, etc. While I don't think I could be asking about too much in-depth stuff, basic canon from those religions would definitely be fair game.
Dan Donohue, Saint Viator ('10), Northwestern ('14), NAQT
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Well, I'm also extrapolating based on the kids I played in high school, too. More and more students are playing junior high quizbowl, so therefore it would make sense that more and more practitioners of non-western religions would be playing in junior high. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if these topics were in a junior high curriculum. I know my schools had this stuff covered in junior high.dtaylor4 wrote:You're extrapolating a single sample to a larger population about which you have little to no information. Try again.KHAAAAN please wrote:Actually, in the middle school tournament I moderated, I noticed a pretty large representation of foreign students, some of whom I assume would be practicing Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Sikhs, etc. While I don't think I could be asking about too much in-depth stuff, basic canon from those religions would definitely be fair game.
R. Jeffrey Geringer
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
Saint Viator '09
Illinois '13, '14
- the return of AHAN
- Auron
- Posts: 1988
- Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:40 pm
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
Fixed.KHAAAAN please wrote: I know my $16000/year private school had this stuff covered in junior high.
![Very Happy :grin:](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Jeff Price
Barrington High School Coach (2021 & 2023 HSNCT Champions, 2023 PACE Champions, 2023 Illinois Masonic Bowl Class 3A State Champions)
Barrington Station Middle School Coach (2013 MSNCT Champions, 2013 & 2017 Illinois Class AA State Champions)
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Barrington High School Coach (2021 & 2023 HSNCT Champions, 2023 PACE Champions, 2023 Illinois Masonic Bowl Class 3A State Champions)
Barrington Station Middle School Coach (2013 MSNCT Champions, 2013 & 2017 Illinois Class AA State Champions)
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- Mechanical Beasts
- Banned Cheater
- Posts: 5673
- Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:50 pm
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
One of the problems with writing at the middle school level is that outside of a few subjects (American history, basic life science) there is pretty much no curricular canon, and to my knowledge no one before the CMST has actually tried to have a good, pyramidal middle school set mirrored at sites across the nation. Therefore it is difficult if not impossible to reach a consensus on what is actually taught in schools and what intellectually curious middle school students should be learning on their own, and accordingly to get a sense of the canon for a middle school set.
Without getting into too much detail (since there are still mirrors to be played), the #1 comment that we've gotten from the 2 so-far-successful mirrors is that we had a factual error in one of the questions (this will be fixed in time for the next iteration of tournaments); #2 is various forms of "the literature was too hard." I would think very long and very hard about not including books that students often read in 5th-8th grades.
Without getting into too much detail (since there are still mirrors to be played), the #1 comment that we've gotten from the 2 so-far-successful mirrors is that we had a factual error in one of the questions (this will be fixed in time for the next iteration of tournaments); #2 is various forms of "the literature was too hard." I would think very long and very hard about not including books that students often read in 5th-8th grades.
Dwight Wynne
socalquizbowl.org
UC Irvine 2008-2013; UCLA 2004-2007; Capistrano Valley High School 2000-2003
"It's a competition, but it's not a sport. On a scale, if football is a 10, then rowing would be a two. One would be Quiz Bowl." --Matt Birk on rowing, SI On Campus, 10/21/03
"If you were my teammate, I would have tossed your ass out the door so fast you'd be emitting Cerenkov radiation, but I'm not classy like Dwight." --Jerry
socalquizbowl.org
UC Irvine 2008-2013; UCLA 2004-2007; Capistrano Valley High School 2000-2003
"It's a competition, but it's not a sport. On a scale, if football is a 10, then rowing would be a two. One would be Quiz Bowl." --Matt Birk on rowing, SI On Campus, 10/21/03
"If you were my teammate, I would have tossed your ass out the door so fast you'd be emitting Cerenkov radiation, but I'm not classy like Dwight." --Jerry
- Papa's in the House
- Tidus
- Posts: 594
- Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2009 7:43 pm
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
This day is gradually becoming the best day I've had on Spring Break... not.
I hope all goes well with this venture and that a distribution consensus can be reached (I'm sure Jeff will inform me promptly when these things occur).
I hope all goes well with this venture and that a distribution consensus can be reached (I'm sure Jeff will inform me promptly when these things occur).
Last edited by Papa's in the House on Tue Mar 23, 2010 8:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Charles Martin Jr.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Academic Buzzer Team | President
B.S. in Accountancy, August 2011
B.S. in Finance, August 2011
MAS Program, Class of 2012
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Academic Buzzer Team | President
B.S. in Accountancy, August 2011
B.S. in Finance, August 2011
MAS Program, Class of 2012
- Boeing X-20, Please!
- Rikku
- Posts: 406
- Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2009 2:40 pm
- Location: Evanston, IL
Re: Midwest Academic Questions
If my 6th grade history class is at all representative it is in fact pretty large, although we definitely did LOTS more Arthurian than Norse.Dan-Don wrote:If he myth canon is as large as Donald says, then we could think about 1/1 myth and 1/1 world lit/relgion. Still thinking about what to do with the trash. We'll hopefully have a distro by the fall that is accepted by most.
Nolan Winkler
Loyola Academy '12
UChicago '16
Loyola Academy '12
UChicago '16