Physics competition to inspire learning and improve soft skills: a case of the Chain Experiment

Abstract

AbstractThe Chain Experiment competition has been held successfully for 6 years in Poland and is attracting growing interest. The competition provides participants with a task that involves designing and constructing a contraption that is an element in a chain of events that are based on various physical phenomena. The contraptions are then linked together in a chain and made to run consecutively. The operation of a contraption starts when it receives a ball from the preceding contraption and ends when it releases another ball to the next contraption. The process of constructing the contraptions includes elements of design education. This paper examines whether participating in the competition has a positive impact on the soft skills, social abilities and motivation of the participants, as well as their learning performance, mainly in physics. Questionnaires completed after the fifth running of the competition suggest that active participation in the Chain Experiment could have a positive impact on participants’ soft skills and their abilities to solve problems, and it might also increase scientific knowledge, general interest in physics and science and motivation to be involved in similar challenges. The claim is that the format of the competition can stimulate versatile development of the participants and is a good way to arouse students’ interests in physics and engineering, even in the very early stages of their education.