Group-based competitions in peer instruction method: New insights on student performance, group cooperation, class size and use of clickers

Abstract

Competition and group cooperation are two driving forces that affect student performance in a class. Here, we investigate the effect of between-group competition on within-group cooperation and on student performance in various settings (small/large classes; using clickers). We demonstrate that in a competition-driven class, the average performance of students is significantly higher compared to a no-motivation condition. The standard deviation of second assessment scores of students within a group is also low for competition-driven interaction indicating group cohesiveness and cooperation. Furthermore, the effectiveness of group-based competition is independent of the number of competing groups in a class. It also works even with the use of clickers.