2022 Michigan Virtual High School Ethics Bowl Guidelines/Rules

The Virtual Bowl Overview: Pivoting As We Go. 

1. The 2022 Bowl returns to the Zoom video conference platform on the weekend of February 5 and 6th. Fourteen teams from 9 schools are participating for the annual Celebration of Philosophy and Young Philosophers in Michigan.

The Celebrated Bowl Schools: 
AA Greenhills
AA Huron
AA Pioneer
AA Skyline
Avondale
Saline
University Liggett
Wayne Memorial
Washtenaw International High School (WIHI)

The 2021 reigning champion is Washtenaw International High School (WIHI). The WIHI philosophers are the current holders of The Hemlock Cup. 

2. To determine the pairings for the Bowl opening 3 rounds, quarter and semifinal, a random draw is conducted on Zoom that requires the presence of participating school faculty coaches or a designated representative. 

Draw Dates and Times on Zoom
Opening Rounds 1-3: Wednesday, January 12, 2022 at 8pm.
Quarterfinal: Saturday, February 5, 2022, right after the quarterfinal teams are announced.
Semifinal: Sunday, February 6, 2022, right after the semifinal teams are announced.
All teams will participate in the Opening Rounds 1-3. All ending rounds are a single elimination competition.

3. In a match (which is the same as a Round), each team can seat a maximum of 5 students at the Zoom table and 2 alternates. The minimum number for teams is 3 members.   

4. For schools that have more than 7 students on a team, it is permissible to seat different students for each match, BUT participating schools with 2 teams cannot mix teams. For example, members of Avondale Team 1 are always members of Avondale Team 1.

5. Faculty coaches decide which students participate in each match. Faculty coaches must send a final roster to A2Ethics organizers of participating students (including alternates) by TEAM/MATCH...by midnight...Tuesday, January 25th.

6. Students on a team who are not on the final roster for a specific match, should not have an active "speaking" role at any time during a match. If they do take such a role, we will take umbrage at and be vexed by this practice, considering it similar to the penalty in other competitions known as "too many players on the field." Faculty coaches and team members are responsible for ensuring that there are only 5 active "speaking" students at the Zoom table in a match.  

7. The role of the alternates on the team is to be a "standby speaker" if one of the 5 active students on the team becomes ill or faces an emergency during the match. If this happens, team members have the option to determine whether the alternate takes a speaking seat at the Zoom table to fully participate with the team for the rest of the match. For more information on alternate guidelines, please go to the What Coaches and Students Must Know section and scroll down to The Alternate Student Role: https://www.a2ethics.org/2021-virtual-bowl-coaches-and-students-must-kn…

To reiterate, the final team roster by TEAM/MATCH must be sent to A2Ethics organizers by midnight Tuesday, January 25th.  

8. For the 2022 Bowl scoring criteria, judge score sheets and ranking and tiebreaker rules: https://www.a2ethics.org/virtual-bowl-scoring

The Zoom Code: Expectations for All Match Participants on Bowl Days

1. Basic Gear/Location:
a. Desktop computer or laptop with microphone, webcam, and speakers (headsets preferred). Tablets can be used, but laptops preferred.
b. Reliable high-speed internet connection.
c. While matches are in session, if there are other wifi users at the team's selected location not involved in the competition, they should be advised prior to the competition to limit their use of other streaming services, e.g., Netflix, YouTube, and downloading of large files or updates, e.g., movies, games.
d. Quiet space free from distractions during matches.  
e. Because the 2022 Bowl permits and assumes that prior to the competition, arrangements approved by the school allow student teams to be together in classrooms for all matches during Bowl weekend, the use of secondary communications (messaging/chat apps) is not permitted. If however, faculty and/or philosopher coaches are at other locations, they are permitted to use these tools ONLY before and after matches to communicate with their teams.

2. Expectations:
a. Please close any unnecessary windows in browsers so there are no extra sounds/notifications.
b. Make sure audio and video are tested and working before each match.
c. Because students are gathered as teams in their classrooms or   school and team number appearing at the bottom of the screen. Example: bell hooks/Hopkinsville/Team 1.
d. Coaches should be prepared to enter a match with first and last name, school and role appearing at the bottom of the screen. Example: Nagarjuna/Nalanda University/Coach.
e. Be able to use the "mute" functions of Zoom. Students should be on mute all of the time unless speaking (Coaches have a listening role only during matches). In addition, all students, judges, producers and moderators should have their video on. 
f. Before Bowl match days, please be familiar with common difficulties in using Zoom. Some troubleshooting tips: https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/common-problems-with-zoom-and-ho...
g. While matches are taking place, they will be recorded. This allows a play-back option for match judges if there is no judge quorum, which means 3 judges did not hear the full match. The Virtual Bowl, however, is a private event and will not be streamed, circulated or published online.

While the in-person Bowl welcomes parents and community members to watch, listen and root for young people and their teams engaged in thinking of the highest caliber,  Zoom is not audience-friendly in the way that we would like spectators to experience the event. Further, gathering release forms from over 160 individuals, after consideration, would have been a full-time job in itself.

Even so, there are ways to remember the 2021 Bowl, and recognize the community spirit and philosophy and ethics "fandom" that it celebrates. Before and after the Bowl---students, parents, coaches, judges and A2Ethics organizers are welcome to publicize, share and promote their Bowl participation and experiences through their own communication tools and social media.   

The Virtual Ethics Bowl Honor Code: Expectations for Students and Faculty Coaches On Bowl Days
 
The Virtual Ethics Bowl requires several ethical habits, expectations and efforts by students and coaches—and everyone else involved--to give all teams and students a fair chance and opportunity to be and do their best during the competition. We are confident all students and coaches will exemplify ethical behavior and be true to these expectations:    

1. No use of outside notes. One exception: Students should have access to or a copy of all 8 case studies (without any notes) to refer to during matches.
2. No use of the internet or any other education/knowledge resource for information-gathering or fact-checking during matches. 
3. No use of other physical resources aside from blank paper and pen/pencil.
4. No communication with outside individuals/groups not admitted in matches or involved in the competition. 

Please remember your obligations to your community, to your team, to other teams, and to everyone affiliated with Ethics Bowl.   

Bowl Time Slots for Ending Rounds and Match Times

1. On Saturday, February 6, 2021 the Quarterfinal matches will begin and end at these intervals:
       • 1:30pm-2:45pm
       • 3:30pm-4:45pm

2. Student teams and judges will be required to check in 10 minutes before their match time to ensure that Zoom is working for them and that everyone has the correct identifying information to participate in a match. Each quarterfinal team will have 1 match on February 6th. The Semi and Final matches on Sunday, February 7, 2021 will begin and end at these intervals:

Semifinal
12:30pm-1:45pm

Final
2:30pm-3:45pm

The quarterfina match schedule is here: https://www.a2ethics.org/2021-michigan-virtual-ethics-bowl-team-match-sc...

At the beginning of the quarterfinal on Saturday, February 6th, there will be a brief welcome and get together for all teams. On Sunday, February 7th, after the announcement of the 2021 Michigan Ethics Bowl Champion and winner of The Hemlock Cup, there will be a short closing celebration. 

3. When the 3 match judges are accounted for by the producer and moderator, matches will start at the publicized time (EST zone) in the schedule. Late participants can get on the call when they are able, but the moderator will not wait for them to start the match.    

4. Conferring times have been extended for the Virtual Bowl. Zoom transitions require a few minutes more as student teams return from breakout rooms. In addition, both Team A and B will be moving to breakout rooms, where they can both confer. Judges will have their own breakout room with the moderators. 

Presentation, commentary and response segments are the same as in previous Bowls.  The timing for each VBowl segment is:

Presentation conferring by both Teams: 3 minutes​
Presentation: 5 minutes
Commentary conferring by both Teams: 2 minutes
Commentary: 3 minutes
Response conferring by both Teams: 2 minutes
Response: 3 minutes
Judge questions: 10 minutes

5. The timing and procedure for refereeing and managing the judge 10 minute question session, and subsequent responses by the presenting team to these questions, will be directed by the match moderator. Judges will decide their order for questions during their conferring times. When judge questions begin, teams should announce to the moderator whether they have decided to have one person fielding questions or whether any member of the team may answer judge questions. Whatever the decision, it will be necessary to decide on a visible and consistent signal to indicate which student wishes to respond to a judge question. Teams are allowed to coordinate their responses to judge questions using a secondary form of communication, such as messaging or a chat app.   

Break Out! The Virtual Bowl Features Several Opportunities

1. The Zoom breakout room feature is used when student teams and judges need to confer with each other to prepare their discussions or questions. When a conferring time is announced, both Teams A and B as well as judges and moderator will be teleported to their respective breakout rooms for the allotted time (3 minutes). To monitor time, student teams, judges and moderators can use the timer at the upper right corner of their screens. And just a reminder, before any match takes place, team members should make sure that everyone on their team has gone over and respects The Virtual Ethics Bowl Honor Code:  https://www.a2ethics.org/virtual-bowl-what-coaches-and-students-must-kno...

The Two “Tees”– Technology and Training

1. Zoom is the videoconferencing platform for 2022 Michigan Virtual Ethics Bowl.

2. Basic Zoom training is the responsibility of the individuals volunteering and participating in the Bowl. The organizers are not able to provide tutorials. The Zoom corporation offers instruction in the use of its services at this link: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206618765-Zoom-video-tutorial…;

There is a Zoom Code that all participants must know and remember in order to ensure that technical snafus and difficulties are minimized. The Zoom Code is here: https://www.a2ethics.org/2021-virtual-bowl-coaches-and-students-must-kn…

3. Prior to the Bowl, moderators and judges will need to be familiar with and able to perform their Bowl-specific roles on Zoom. 
a. All Bowl judges will be required to complete a short pre-match training video, with special attention accorded to the electronic scoring system. The scoring criteria and the score sheet have not changed and are the same for the Virtual Bowl. There are, however, several online and electronic features for judges to know about and how to use them before judging their matches. The VBowl Judge Training Video is here: https://www.a2ethics.org/virtual-bowl-instruction-videos-judges-and-mode...
b. Likewise, moderators will receive training in delivering the Moderator Script, modified to conform to Bowl rules, including the requirements and features of Zoom relevant to their moderating role. 

The Virtual Bowl’s End

To say this academic year is at once anomalous, unparalleled, unsettled, and a first in our lifetimes, is too obvious. So, we have said it.

We truly hope that everyone affiliated with the Michigan High School Ethics Bowl has not lost family and friends to COVID.

We wish that we could all be together to celebrate philosophy and ethics for the Michigan Bowl’s 8th season. And to celebrate each student's talents and as members of a special community committed to learning about public ethics in a democracy.

Over the years, we have established several fun traditions unique to the Michigan Bowl: an opening ceremony and introduction of the teams; prizes for the best team name; team photos; and the swag of the season. The winner of our annual Michigan Bowl is the state champion and holder of The Hemlock Cup. The Michigan Ethics Bowl champions are treasured ambassadors, representing Michigan in the annual National Bowl in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The 2021 National Bowl is on schedule and online. It will take place on April 10-11, 2021.

We will all be cheering on the 2021 Michigan Ethics Bowl champions!

Even if most of our traditions are on hold, we have put in place a Plan B for this year:

1. Instead of making up a creative team name that is philosophical or a play on philosopher names, we have invited each team to decide on a special theme song that represents their team. The main requirement: the song has an ethical twist, presents an ethics idea or principle, or includes a topic with ethical implications. A best theme song prize, including $150 to the winning team, was announced at the end of the Opening Rounds. The winners of the first-ever "Michigan Ethics Bowl Best Theme Song" contest: the Ypsilanti Youth team for their original song: Stuck in the Crib. For a playlist of all team songs: https://www.a2ethics.org/2021-virtual-bowl-team-theme-songs

2. Each student in the 2020-21 Michigan High School Ethics Bowl received a certificate affirming their participation in the first ever--Virtual One. We hope the 2020-21 Bowl…is the only one.

We have learned a lot from each other this anomalous, unparalleled, unsettled, and a first in our lifetimes year. And together,we have kept the legacy alive.    

Philosophy For All. Philosophy Forever. 

 

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