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Session 2325

TOGA PARTY - Developing a Tradition

George Staab, Scott Evans / Sue Godez / Eric Engdahl The Ohio State University / Grandview Heights High School / American Electric Power

FIRST is a national competition intended to stimulate high school students to become interested and involved with science and technology. Each year the process begins when teams obtain boxes of components, and a description of the objectives for the competition. Once the materials are received, each team has six weeks to construct a robot which is capable of playing a sport. The components which can be used and the sport which to be played by the robot changes from year to year. In addition to building a robot, teams also compete for the Chairman's award (presented to the team judged to have best exemplified the spirit of FIRST) and an animation award.

TOGA PARTY (Team OSU Grandview Heights American Electric Power Preparing And Readying Today's Youth) was a unique blend of abilities, personalities, and talent. Our partnership involved four engineers from American Electric Power, twenty-six high school students from Grandview Heights High School, thirteen university students from The Ohio State University, one high school and one university faculty advisor. The high school and university students had diverse backgrounds, interests, and educational objectives. High school students were all currently taking physics, but not all were interested in technology or engineering. The OSU students were from the colleges of engineering, business, and arts and science. The AEP (American Electric Power) engineers were from different divisions, and had diverse backgrounds and work experiences. This combination led to a tightly knit partnership which provided everyone with a positive learning experience. The enthusiasm, excitement and support of the community, AEP engineers, and students makes it easy to claim that TOGA PARTY is developing a tradition.

One of the unique aspects of this partnership was that each partner contributed equally to the project deliverables. Principal product teams were formed for robot design and construction, animation, and the Chairman's award. Additional teams for course construction, image building, resources, leadership, reliability, strategy, steering, and selection were also formed. Each team worked with suggestions and personnel from all three partners. Nobody had preconceived ideas which were unchangeable. Cross-team interaction was common, with design team members

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Godez, S., & Evans, S., & Staab, G. H., & Engdahl, E. (1997, June), Toga Party Developing A Tradition Paper presented at 1997 Annual Conference, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 10.18260/1-2--6837