Constructive Competition
Competition in the Classroom: Not What You Think it is.
By: Robert Knurek, Valerie McCreadie, Hanna Worrall
ABSTRACT: This project focuses on the benefits constructive competition in the
classroom. We will address the misconceptions currently associated with competition in
education, and discuss strategies in which it can be implemented correctly. Constructive
competition can motivate and engage students in an interactive way to improve student
performance. We will also discuss the importance of reflection and discussion between
students following the competition.
Rationale: (Hanna)
When teachers hear the word competition, they usually will avoid any sort of
lesson or curriculum that features the creation of competition in the classroom. Many
teachers believe that creating competition in the classroom will cause unwanted issues
and tension among students. But if competition is facilitated properly and effectively by
the teacher, constructive competition is a great way to engage students in learning.
Constructive competition can motivate and engage students in an interactive way to
improve student performance. Teachers should want to create a curriculum that
engages their students in multiple ways through different learning styles in order to cater
to all students. Students want to be active in the classroom, therefore, the teacher
should create a plan to engage all students in a series of activities that creates
competition, that is fair and handled correctly through rules and standards.
Constructive competition is best displayed through sports or team activities that
motivate students to work together to succeed as a team or unit. Most students play a
sport when they are young, some continue for many years while others participate in
other activities. Regardless, kids are exposed to working together at a young age and
are expected to work together as a team. Competitive sports foster cooperation from all
participants. The players must work together to succeed and the players must work with
the coach to improve. If members of a team do not pull their weight, the whole team will
suffer. If players do not work hard to improve their personal abilities as well as their
teams, the team will not improve as a whole. Kids enjoy playing sports because they
make friends with others who have the same interests and who are looking to find
something that is personal to them. Kids feel a sense of community when they join a
sports team because they learn to trust those they are working with and they begin to
depend on others for the success of the whole unit.
When playing a sport or participating in a group activity, participants must
collectively work together to ensure their group is performing to the best of their abilities.
When a team does succeed, the individuals feel a sense of satisfaction because of their
contributions of the success of the whole. If the whole team does not succeed,
members will look to each other to find ways to improve and succeed in the future.
Losing is not always a bad thing because students can discover and analyze their
weaknesses. Competitive sports are also important to students because it appeals to
their individual interest. Students find something that they are good at and something
that helps them foster their personal interests. If students enjoy something like a sport
or activity, they will work hard to succeed and improve their skills.
Teachers should work hard to create activities that students can work to improve
over a period of time. Winning and succeeding does not come quickly, so students need
to learn that success takes time and they must work for their final goal. Creating a final
goal is also important because students will know in the beginning what they are
working toward and will continue to work until they reach that end goal. Students need a
goal to work towards in order to ensure their continued improvement and success.
Students may struggle to meet this goal but if they are given the proper tools and
positively encouraged by their coach (the teacher) they will be able to work hard to meet
their end goal. The end goal could be something as simple as learning a new skill or
something as big as making it the the championship.
Constructive competition is important in sports because it allows kids to work
together to succeed and work hard to achieve a goal, which they have set for
themselves. If we bring constructive competition into the classroom, students will learn
to contribute to the success of their group members when participating in a number of
learning activities.
Description: (Bobby)
While it may be difficult at first to picture what a curriculum would look
like with competition as an attribute, further investigation of the process of
implementing competition in the classroom will shed light on some of the
benefits in store for students. There are misconceptions about competition
in education that we think can be altered if done correctly. Some educators
believe that competition ‘takes away from instructional objectives’. If the
teacher effectively motivates students while facilitating learning, our
process can be a strong tool for student learning.
Our initial idea was to have students working together in a ‘team’.
Obviously in a classroom full of students with different personalities and
learning abilities, putting together teams could be a challenged. This
process should not be randomized. Teachers should choose teams based
on leadership abilities. True student leaders should be spread throughout
different teams. Students who struggle with responsibility should be placed
in groups with motivating students. Those who struggle with the knowledge
and content of the particular class should be grouped with student tutors.
There should be more than two or three teams in a class. For each task or
challenge, there will only be one ‘winner’, so having multiple teams ‘lose’
will soften the blow on team members.
Once teams are formed, students should have time to truly get to
know one another. The tasks and challenges that each team will have to
complete will prompt the students to designate roles for one another. Once
all the team members are truly successful at their roles, they will be
motivated by their effort and success. The teacher acts as leader, referee,
and a coach during these challenges. It is their responsibility to make sure
that team members are working well together and getting along. By acting
as a referee, the teacher should be the one to enforce consequences for
misbehavior. When there are rules for the competitions, the teacher is the
one who makes sure other teams don’t break the rules. In the long run, this
will prevent teams from finding loop holes and trying to cheat their way to
the top.
The competitions should be spread throughout the course of the
school year. The number of tasks or challenges can vary depending on
how much time the teacher can devote to the competitions. An ideal
amount would be 5-10 competitions. Teams will consist of the same
students throughout the year. Each task and challenge will teach students
the importance of working together and effectively collaborating. Teams will
grow together as they work toward similar goals. There should not be an
award given to the winning team after every single competition. In stead,
there should be one award given to the team with the most wins throughout
all the competitions at the end of the year. That way, students don’t
become unmotivated after every loss. This also motivates students to
reflect on their work as a team and try to make adjustments within their
system to improve for the next event. The reflection process is an effective
and constructive learning opportunity for students.
The assessment of the competitions lies on the shoulders of the
teacher. Giving a point to the winning team of each event and then giving
the award at the end of the year to the team with the most points may
cause students to slack off. For example, if one team is several points
away from the leader, why should they try to win the last event? Teachers
need to find an effective way to continually motivate students through
assessment. Teachers must be explicit when telling students how they will
be assessed. Rubrics are a good way for teachers to put all their
expectations of students down on paper.
Concept Map: (Val)
Example: (Val)
The uses, benefits and implementation of constructive competition in the classroom will
vary according to subject area. In order to illustrate how interactive and engaging this
instructional method can be, we have created a comprehensive example, which illustrates the
use of constructive competition in a high school physics classroom. While this example is
hypothetical, its purpose is to demonstrate the extent to which this method can be used and
provide a general framework for future replication.
Our example of constructive competition takes place in a high school physics classroom.
The teacher, at the beginning of the semester has divided her students into three, four or five
groups, depending on the size of the class. Students will work with the groups throughout the
semester on all of the five physics competitions. The teacher has developed the competitions
according to the curriculum. The tasks chosen will also challenge the student’s skills, illicit group
cooperation, allow for creativity and provide an opportunity for hands on learning. The five
competitions are as follows:
1. Aerodynamics
o The task: Each group will design and create an aerodynamic paper plane.
o Winning team: The winning team’s plane has the most aerodynamic design and therefore
flew the farthest.
2. Projectile Motion
o The task: Each group will design and build a ramp that they will use to launch a marble into a
predetermined target created by the teacher. Each group will have to calculate the angle of the
ramp and the speed of the marble required to land the marble in the target.
o Winning team: The winning team correctly planned and calculated the projectile motion of
the marble and successfully launched it into the target.
3. Popsicle Stick Bridges
o The task: Each team will design and build a bridge connecting two classroom tables.
Weights will be piled on each teams bridge until it reaches its limit and breaks.
o Winning team: The winning team’s bridge was the most structurally sound and was able to
hold the most weight.
4. Circuits
o The task: Each team will be met with a challenging circuit problem that will require the use of
the online simulation program. The simulation program is from PHET Interactive Simulations:
http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/capacitor-lab
o Winning team: The winning team was the first to correctly solve the problem using the
simulator (all work must be shown).
5. Egg Drop
o The task: Each team will design and build a compartment that will protect an egg from a one
to three story drop. Each team will be given an equal amount of supplies (popsicle sticks, plastic
bags, string, and other household/craft items) to build their egg protector. If more than one
teams device successfully protects the egg from a one-story drop, the competition will move to
the second floor and so on.
o Winning team: The winning team designed and executed the most effective egg protector.
Before each task, the teacher must be sure they have thoroughly covered the content
and unit associated with the challenge. Once the students have learned the material, the
teacher must explain the task and how it relates to, and illustrates the unit they have just
covered. One the teacher has explained the challenge and the requirements the winning team
must meet, he or she will give the students the necessary materials so they may begin. One the
students begin working, the teacher will circulate the room and offer critique and helpful advice
to each team, ensuring his or her time and advice is spread evenly. The teacher will also ensure
all team members are participating, cooperating and contributing to the effort. Reminding the
students of the rules, requirements of the task, and time left will help keep them on track and
ensure no foul play occurs. During the actual competition, the teacher must be sure to cheer
and encourage each team, showing no favor in the process.
Following the competition, the teacher must carry out a post-competition reflection and
discussion. In the case of the egg drop task for example, and one team’s product has resulted in
a win, it is essential that the teacher address the class. The tactics, design and construction
methods that allowed the winning team’s egg to remain intact will be shared with the entire
class, so that everyone can learn and benefit. The teacher will also prompt reflection in each
group, asking them what aspects of their design were least effective and if given a second
chance how might they improve their egg protector. The discussion and reflection following the
task is essential in order to ensure that all groups, whether they won or lost, benefited from the
outcome of the competition. The reflection and discussion will also motivate students, allowing
each team to address the areas in which they succeeded and where they can improve. A focus
on improvement in the post-competition discussion will allow each team to better approach the
next task.
Assessment: (1 page) Hanna
- Did the student learn anything about the content?
-What conflicts did the group experience, and how did you work through them?
-What contributions did you make to the project and the outcome of the project?
The assessment that goes along with the constructive competition curriculum is
designed to allow students to reflect in a number of ways. The assessment will be
based on the content learned as well as cooperation in the group. We want the students
to reflect as a class first. After the students have finished the challenges, we think that
they should reflect on the different outcomes of the challenging. The winning group
should discuss the parts of the challenge that worked for them as well as parts where
they could improve. Students should not only talk about the actual challenge but they
should discuss working in teams and cooperating together to achieve a goal. Students
should also explain what content and information they learned through the challenge. All
of the challenges were designed to create competition but also to teach the students
content from the specific subject. The students will also comment on the element of
competition and if it made them work harder or had no effect on their participation.
Next, students will discuss the challenge in their group. Students will talk about
the things that went well and the things they could improve on. Students will discuss
whether or not they felt like their group worked together to achieve the end result. They
will be expected to write down at least two things that worked well during the challenge
and two things they could improve on for the next challenge. The teacher will keep
these comments to show the groups before their next challenge to remind them of the
areas they wanted to improve. If the students are reminded of their failures, they will
work harder to achieve success as the challenges continue.
Lastly, students will reflect on their own. After a challenge is completed, students
will be assigned a task for homework. They will be expected to write a page reflection
on the experience they had in class that day. In this reflection, students will analyze the
experience of working in a group to succeed as a whole. Working in groups can be
challenging because students cannot figure out how to work effectively. Students will
answer the following questions: “What conflicts did the group experience, and how did
you work through them?” and “What contributions did you make to the project and the
outcome of the project?” These questions allow students to reflect on the group
experience as well as their individual contributions to the success of the group. This
assessment was created to allow students to reflection on the use of constructive
competition in the classroom and the benefits of working with others to succeed.