In this trek, you will review how competition, socialization, and sportsmanship affect the game and how you, as an instructor, can share your experience and knowledge to help players refine their playing style. Completing the sportsmanship course demonstrates that you are equipped to guide your students in understanding the importance of fair play, adaptability, and respect, helping them become more confident and well-rounded players.
Each Mahj Life Merit Program trek is self-paced and practical, designed to help you learn, apply, and prove your knowledge. All exams and assignments are open-book—intentionally structured to support real-world learning, especially for adults returning to study. The focus is not memorization but building confidence, understanding, and applying what you’ve learned. Earning the microbadge means you’ve demonstrated true proficiency, not just passed a test.
Here are the trek objectives:
- Recognize good sportsmanship (multiple-choice)
- Identify positive and negative sportsmanship (multiple-choice)
- Seek ways to promote good sportsmanship (essay)
- Demonstrate good sportsmanship concepts to students (mock lesson)
The formats may include multiple-choice (e.g., terminology using wiki glossary, gameplay scenarios; passing grade 80%), and an extended-response essay question (e.g., sportsmanship; two to three paragraphs; grade per an analytic rubric passing score 40+). Exams source Mahj Life content created by Michele Frizzell, who has over 50 years of experience playing several versions of mah jongg and other mind-sport games.
The trek will conclude with a final exam that will consist of a one-page syllabus and a lesson plan for a virtual lesson (syllabus rubric passing score 40+) so that you can conduct a 1-hour virtual mock lesson with another instructor roleplaying as a student and the student who will need to complete a lesson evaluation (passing score 4+).
There will be monthly Q&A sessions that you can attend as needed until you take your assessments.
Prerequisites
Participants must be enrolled in the Merit Program for Instructors.
Curriculum
- 3 Sections
- 6 Lessons
- Lifetime
- Leg 1 AMJ Quest Sportsmanship Trek PreparationLeg 1 of this trek will help you prepare for the exams.2
- Leg 2 AMJ Quest Sportsmanship Trek ExamsLeg 2 of this trek walks you through two exams and an essay that will give insight into information you've retained, demonstrate your proficiency, and ensure that you can communicate the concepts in lessons. The passing score for each exam is 80%.3
- Leg 3 AMJ Quest Sportsmanship Trek Final Mock LessonLeg 3 of this trek guides you through the final exam where you conduct a 1-hour one-on-one virtual strategy lesson.1
