Competition in the Classroom

Recently, I prepared a review activity for my Algebra 2 students in the form of the game Bingo. The purpose of the activity was for the students to prepare for a test on exponential and logarithmic functions. I organized the desks in pairs so that students could collaborate on 25 review problems. My mentor and I walked around the room to help individual pairs of students. The students were motivated to complete these review problems in a timely manner because they would need these answers to fill out their bingo card. Every pair of students had a different bingo card with the numbers 1 -25 pre-written in different locations in the 5 X 5 grid. Students were instructed to place their answers to the problems in the corresponding grid cell for that problem number. At the end of class, I called out the answers to the 25 problems in random order. The students crossed out answers on their bingo card as they were called. Approximately 4 pairs won bingo and I gave out candy as a prize.

The activity went very well. The majority of the student pairs were having rich conversations about the mathematics. I witnessed many “aha moments” when a student understood a concept after their partner explained it to him or her. I also witnessed student pairs constructing meaning and figuring out problems together. I believe that many of the students would not have done so well on the worksheet if it were not for the collective scaffolding that this activity provided. I also provided assistance to many student pairs. I was careful not to give the answer but to guide the students' thinking.

In this case, my competitive activity (Bingo) motivated my students and worked well.

What do you think about competition in the classroom? What are some important features of competitive activities that foster learning without undermining the teacher's efforts to build a safe learning community?