Recently, together with Prof. Di Cook, we wrote a paper that describes the educational benefits of conducting modelling competitions in class on performance, engagement and interest (under revision with Journal of Statistical Education)

Abstract

Kaggle is a data modeling competition service, where participants compete to build a model with lower predictive error than other participants. Several years ago they released a simplified service that is ideal for instructors to run competitions in a classroom setting. This paper describes the results of an experiment to determine if participating in a predictive modeling competition enhances learning. The evidence suggests it does. In addition, students were surveyed to examine if the competition improved engagement and interest in the class.

Working paper Video How to lunch your class competition - step by step (below)