Senior High 4-H Consumer Decision-Making Contest Objectives: As a result of participating in the Consumer Decision Making Contest, contestants will…

OBJECTIVES As a result of participating in the Consumer Decision Making Contest, contestants will… Demonstrate skills in making decisions based on facts Apply knowledge and experience in consumer education by analyzing consumer situations Experience making choices among selected marketplace options Develop and strengthen their reasoning ability in consumer skills Demonstrate their ability to organize thoughts and express them orally in a clear, confident manner.

Life Skills which can be applied… Ethical Decision-making Communicating Achieving Goals Responsibility Teamwork Healthy Lifestyle Choices

4-H Project Connections Consumer Education Communications Nutrition, Health and Fitness Food Science Engineering and Safety Science Personal Development Computers and Technology Line and Design Clothing and Textiles Photography Leadership Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries

Who May Participate? Any 4-H members who were in grades 9 through 12 on January 1, current year of Regional Contest A team consists of three or four persons (three scores will be used for a team) Incomplete teams can compete for individual awards. Each County can enter up to 3 teams in the Regional Contest. Each Region can send 4 teams to the State Contest

State Winner State Runner-Up Represents Tennessee in the Western National Roundup Consumer Decision Making Judging - January 2018 State Runner-Up Represents Tennessee in the Western National Roundup Family & Consumer Science Bowl - January 2018

Eligibility for National Contest Contestant must already have passed his or her 14th birthday, and may not have reached his or her 19th birthday, as of January 1 of the year in which the next National 4-H Competitive Event is held. January, 2018 in Denver, CO

What does the contest involve? Part I-Place or Ranking (Hormel Slide) A Situation or Problem is presented Four Articles or Options of one kind will made available to help solve the situation/problem Students will rank the four given items according to which best meets the need Each class will count 50 points per participant. 10 minutes allowed per class**

Part II Oral Reasons Each participant will give oral reasons. 4-H’ers will explain to a judge why they decided on a certain placing. Each class of reasons will represent 50 points Reasons Classes will be designated Blank note cards provided 10 minutes allowed for studying** 2 minutes maximum to present oral reasons

Part III Group Think In an area with a judge(s), each team will be given a situation to evaluate as a group to determine and present a consensus answer. The team must make a decision on how to solve the problem The team is scored based on team participation and the team process 10 minutes total time**

Suggested Use of Time for Group Think 3 minutes read and think through 3 minutes to discuss 2 minutes to come to consensus and plan presentation 2 minutes to present A flip chart or dry erase board will be provided as a tool for the team. It’s use is optional.

Group Think Score Sheet Team Participation 40%–Participation Reading Discussing Summarizing Team Process 60%–Alternatives Criteria Solution Participation

Total Scores 50 points for each placing 50 points for oral reasons 100 points for regional group think 200 points for state/national group think Three scores count for each placing and for oral reasons – so if there are 4 team members, the lowest score is dropped.

(State may only require one set oral reasons due to time constraints) State/National Regional 4 placing classes 1 set oral reasons 1 Group Think 6 placing classes 2 sets oral reasons 1 Group Think (State may only require one set oral reasons due to time constraints)

2017 Regional Study Topics Western Region Wearable Technology Family Cruises Bicycles Backpacks Central Region Cleaning Products Fast Foods Toys Selecting Healthy Snacks Eastern Region Jeans Checking Accounts Formal Wear Disaster Preparedness

Suggested Training Focus study on regional categories, Use photos, real objects, product labels, or text to “show” options. Use resource information available on Central Region website Team members can help develop scenarios. Build notebook of classes for future use.

Tools for creating classes Search amazon, wal-mart, etc. for items for your class. Go to local stores to actually see the item – take photos Use the hormel website to determine scores based on your placing and cuts http://www.worldaccessnet.com/~normans/hormel.html Three pairs in each class – top pair, middle pair and bottom pair. Establish a ”Cut” between each pair. CUTS range from 1 to 7 in value. The cuts represent the level of difference between each choice. A cut of 7 is a world-class difference, a cut of 1 is barely any difference.

Oral Reasons There is no absolute set of reasons for any class. Even when a class is placed differently from a perfect score, the reasons given can still garner the participant a good score. Guidelines for a good set of reasons is to include: opening statement comparison of each pair (the why) identify faults/allow grants closing statement

Resources Central Region Internal Webpage: https://utia.tennessee.edu/ext/central/SitePages/4-H%20and%20Youth%20Development.aspx State FCS Internal Resources Webpage: https://utia.tennessee.edu/fcs/AgentResources/SitePages/ConsumerEconomics/YouthConsumerEducation/CE-ConsumerDecisionMaking.aspx Western Regional Roundup 2017 Consumer Decision Making Contest: http://www.westernnationalroundup.org/contests-fcs.aspx Minnesota 4-H CDM Webpage: http://www.extension.umn.edu/youth/mn4-H/events/ConsumerDecMaking/