Collaborative Competition? A Great Way to Teach and Motivate

In my physics classes, I strive to motivate my students to do their very best work and inspire them to work harder than they have ever been asked to before. To reach that level, I find that my students need an outside motivation. They need to have someone from outside of their education community judge their skills and efforts. I have found that participation in team competitions provides students with the motivation to excel and also has the benefits of teaching students to work in a team setting. Thanks to several science-oriented organizations, there are a number of what I like to call “collaborative competitions” just begging for our students to enter, compete, and yes, even win! In this paper, I will describe some of the competitions my students have participated in and provide some tips for other teachers who may want to do likewise.