Cooperation not competition engineering education

摘要

The authors are discovering in their engineering laboratories thatcompetition and engineering education are not necessarily compatible foroptimum learning. In fact, it appears that cooperation among studentsfor some tasks actually fosters higher achievement than the normativecompetition between students. The authors have determined throughanalysis of two senior-level engineering laboratories that, after theinitial shock of being forced to divulge one's knowledge and skills forthe good of the group, the students will discover that the group wasactually able to accomplish more than what could be accomplished throughindividual efforts. It is stressed that the above results were achievedonly when the tasks were sufficiently complex. A side benefit was thereduction of stress and the increase of group spirit