LearnHub

Hello I am passionate in my belief that students need opportunity to work with others in environments that support discussion and debate. But like the authors mentioned in the article from the Journal of Teaching and Learning, I believe in a balance between cooperation and competitive learning. “Tauer and Harackiewicz (2004) found that by combining cooperative group learning with inter-group competition intrinsic motivation of participants consistently improved. The findings suggest that a combination of cooperation and competition facilitates motivation, enjoyment, and performance of participants. The implications for professional preparation indicate the student benefits of combining cooperative team learning strategies structured in an inter-group competition.” So does a balance between the two or a combination of the two lead to a richer learning experience?

What we have experienced here in Vietnam is that integrating the two in a learning process, can be realized and adds to the joy and quality of learning. I’ld be happy to share details with you on our work, but most of the “products” (i.e. lesson plans and videos) are in Vietnamese.

Hi Toon,

Can you explain what you do? What kind of lessons do you develop that encourage both competition and cooperation?

Thank you.

Hi Nellie, We develop teacher training programs that aim at buidling capacity for teachers to bring enviornmental education and at the same time promote a more learner centered approach. Our competition brought together teachers who work in similar contexts (level of students and/or subjects) and promoted sharing through “teaching competitions”. I don’t know whether this is the right place to explain all details, but from what I observed, competition can promote sharing.

In our case, teachers were invited to share in working groups that brought them together with other teachers who “compete” in the same “category”. The competitive element motivated teachers to ask their peers more detailed questions on contents, methodology, materials, evaluation, aims… The focus was not so much on who is “best” but on who “excelled”. OK?