I read in The First Days of School, about how grading on a curve is
not the best method. It pits the students against each other, and
makes more of the focus on the grade verse learning.
But then I thought about how competition can be a powerful motivator.
I started think about ways to use competition in learning to increase
and help.
I came up with these ideas
1. class verses class – assign a project that will be judged
impartially with a prize for the best class
2. outside competition – if you are teaching graphic design, have
students each submit a design to threadless
3. competition that doesn’t affect grades – have students compete on
fastest time to reach book, or best score on a test but don’t have it
affect grades.