STEM Classroom Management: The Overly Competitive Challenger

Welcome back to the STEM Classroom Management Blog Series! If you missed anything we’ve covered so far on disruptive group dynamics during STEM time, you can catch up on all the behaviors we’ve covered so far here.

Today’s spotlight? The student who turns every challenge into a cutthroat competition.

Meet the Overly Competitive Challenger

This student might:

Treat STEM challenges like a race, even when speed isn’t a goal
Focus entirely on “winning” instead of learning
Boast, gloat, or put down others’ work
Sabotage other groups to get ahead (in subtle or not-so-subtle ways)

These students often bring tons of energy and ambition, but left unchecked, their behavior can:

Frustrate teammates and hurt peer relationships
Shift group focus from problem-solving to “beating everyone else”
Undermine the integrity of the design process

Why It Matters

STEM challenges should build resilience, creativity, and collaboration, not just declare a single “winner.”

While a healthy dose of motivation is great, when competition becomes the main driver, students may:

Resist risk-taking and stick to safe ideas to ensure success
Shut down emotionally when they don’t “win”
Disrupt the class culture by turning challenges into power struggles

Luckily, with some subtle shifts, we can help competitive students harness their drive while preserving a supportive, collaborative classroom climate.

What to Do Before, During & After a STEM Challenge

Here’s how to support students before, during, and after a challenge to support and redirect overly competitive students.

🧩 Before the Challenge: Set the Right Framework

1. Rethink what “winning” means
Frame success as: innovation, iteration, teamwork, or growth. Be explicit! Try:

“Today, success looks like trying at least two different designs.”

2. Use flexible success criteria
Highlight multiple forms of success. For example: Most stable, most creative, most improved, best teamwork. Let students know ahead of time that different groups may excel in different ways.

3. Normalize design failures
Show examples of famous failures that led to big breakthroughs. Talk about how important it is to test, fail, and improve.

4. Limit final rankings
Avoid public declarations of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. Instead, try rotating “spotlight” awards that focus on different strengths.

5. Establish positive norms
Use your class expectations to model how to cheer each other on and celebrate all types of effort, not just outcomes.

🛠️ During the Challenge: Redirect and Reinforce

1. Emphasize process
Check in frequently and ask:

“What are you learning so far?”

“How did you decide on that design?”

2. Address poor sportsmanship immediately
If a student mocks or dismisses others’ designs, gently but firmly remind them of class norms:

“We lift each other up here. Every design has value.”

3. Offer quiet competition alternatives
Let competitive students track their own progress. For example: “Can you beat your tower’s height from last round?”

4. Use team-based goals
Assign group metrics like:

“How well did your team share ideas?”

“What was your team’s best problem-solving moment?”

5. Pair with students who model collaboration
Strategic groupings can help ease intensity and demonstrate other styles of participation.

📘 After the Challenge: Reflect and Rebuild

1. Discuss what matters
Ask: “What’s more important: being first or learning something new?” Let students talk through what really made them proud.

2. Praise sportsmanship
Highlight moments when students encouraged others, admitted a misstep, or celebrated a teammate’s idea.

3. Reflect on improvement
Ask: “What would you do differently next time?” to encourage a growth mindset instead of win/loss thinking.

4. Keep criteria visible
If a student ignored the design criteria just to go fast, use that moment to reinforce why criteria matter and how they reflect real-world engineering.

5. Set goals beyond performance
Help competitive students identify personal process goals like “stay open to feedback” or “stay calm if things go wrong.”

🧠 Final Thought: Competition Should Lift Everyone

STEM time can absolutely be exciting and energizing, but it should never feel cutthroat. With a few adjustments, you can help competitive students channel their drive into meaningful, productive collaboration.

You’re not stifling their ambition; you’re helping them lead with integrity.

You’ve got this!

💡 Want a Free STEM Behaviors SEL Handbook?

I’ve put together a printable copy of these strategies, as well as navigating the other tricky STEM behaviors in this series. It’s perfect for keeping in your lesson planner or sharing at your next PLC or team meeting.