The Role of STEM Competitions, Robotics Challenges, and Coding Hackathons in Enhancing Student Motivation, Teamwork, and Innovation Skills in Higher Education

Abstract

In this paper, the authors will discuss how attending an event around STEM, robotics, or computing, and hackathons helps to develop higher education students’ services around soft skills like teamwork, leadership, creativity, and problem-solving. By use of a mix parenthesis, both the quantitative survey method as well as the qualitative reviews, the research intends to explore and conclude about the role such extracurricular activities play in supporting the development of the student technical strengths, in addition, to fostering, the growth of the critically interpersonal skills. As the results of the research of 200 participants among the students prove, all four soft skills increased significantly, and it is only natural that teamwork and problem-solving skills have been found to improve the most. The study is also concerned with the differences in the development or learning of soft skills in the various cohorts of people following gender, discipline of education or field, and frequency of the participation. The findings demonstrate the importance of encouraging STEM competitions in curricula of higher learning institutions so as to enable learners to develop skills that can guide them in their institutions and places of work. Such measures also not only provide students with technical know-how hence training them to work in a current labor force where teamwork, creativity and leadership are highly appreciated.