Challenge-based Learning Research Articles

The integration of research and university extension: the teaching of urban sociology and learning based on challenges

The purpose of this article is to present the results of challenge-based learning. These reflections are made within the framework of the urban sociology course taught at the National Autonomous University of Honduras. Urban sociology requires an educational praxis as a subject where the student is linked to the reality of cities. Challenge-based learning proposes as a methodology that the student immerses himself in the research process, but at the same time promotes the student to propose collaboratively the search for solutions to problems that affect communities. Therefore, it becomes a teaching methodology that integrates training, research and university extension. In such a way that the student is the subject and center of the educational action.

Challenge-Based Learning Strategies Using Technological Innovations in Industrial, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Programs

Challenge-Based Learning Strategies Using Technological Innovations in Industrial, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Programs

Shaping the entrepreneurial mindset - the cases of Social Entrepreneurship HUBs within higher education in Thailand and Myanmar

Background: The full potential of social entrepreneurship remains challenging to achieve, despite continuous efforts in various economies, including South-East Asia. Several obstacles need to be addressed, such as the scarcity of skilled employees, limited business understanding among founders, difficulties accessing funding and infrastructure, and the absence of proper social impact measurement. Higher education institutions (HEIs) often face constraints in engaging and supporting early entrepreneurial activities, exacerbating the imbalance in the social entrepreneurship landscape. This imbalance has been observed in both Thailand and Myanmar.
 Research objectives: The Erasmus+ funded project, STEPup, running from 2020 to 2023, recognized an opportunity to foster innovative social entrepreneurship practices tailored for disruptive business settings in these two countries. By applying the challenge-based learning approach through interactive case challenge proceedings involving social entrepreneurs, faculty mentors and students, the development of the entrepreneurial mindset of the latter group was studied.
 Research design and methods: To accomplish this, a multi-method research design was chosen, which involved a case-challenge experience within the framework of 6 universities, a questionnaire-based survey conducted among the student population which took part in the case-challenge experience and desk research.
 Results: The study revealed the necessity for a self-organizing and organic support system for social entrepreneurship. The objective of this paper is to present recommendations and strategic guidelines to enhance access and opportunities for existing social enterprises and social entrepreneurs seeking to establish and sustain a social enterprise ecosystem. The proposed framework leverages the support, expertise, and structure of existing higher education institutions.
 Conclusions: Higher Education Institutions can serve as excellent cases demonstrating how to design and develop resource hubs for social enterprise practitioners and engage stakeholders from all sectors to address social issues and promote awareness.

The Rasch Analysis of Students’ Characteristics in Physics Concept Understanding Improvement through Challenge-Based Learning

Concept mastery is one of the main goals in the learning process. This study aimed to analyze the improvement of students’ physics concept mastery by implementing challenge-based learning with Edmodo-assisted learning. This study used mixed methods with an embedded experimental model research design. The research sample was 10th-grade students in a public vocational school’s food crops and horticulture agribusiness program. Data analysis employed the Rasch model with the help of ministeps software version 4.1.1. The results of this study indicate a significant increase in students’ conceptual mastery of +3.44 logit. The average logit value of students’ abilities is higher than the average logit value of the item difficulty level. Students’ physics concept mastery can be improved through the challenge-based learning model assisted by Edmodo.

The Multidimensional Exploration Methodology for Architectural Design Studio Education: An Innovative Teaching Methodology Proposal

In this paper, we discuss the next phase of architectural design, and concerning the requirements of this point of view, we propose a new learning approach that includes digital-design thinking (by the approach) and design-driven innovation (as outcomes). The paper aims to reflect an architectural understanding shaped by current global facts and developing technologies. Moreover, we discuss this understanding from the academic perspective, which is compatible with the globally evolving socio-cultural, environmental, and economic norms. Therefore, under the title, The Multidimensional Exploration Methodology, we present a new education scheme and a learning methodology that transfers this aligned view to the architectural design studio education model and trains new designers accordingly. The learning method is developed by taking references from existing methods and blending them into each other in a way compatible with architectural design. While addressing the student as a professional, this method challenges them via real problems through challenge-based learning and adopts the new architectural understanding through the cognitive learning method. Furthermore, it aims to develop designers’ perceptions and approaches that align with the digital world through design-science research methodology within the framework of a new understanding. Consequently, it develops practical skills with the learning-by-doing model. This new architectural concept has emerged, backed up by the power of data and shaped by users’ roles and responsibilities in the digital age. This understanding, which is not only limited to Form and Function but also consists of ‘Form + Function + Interaction’, should be covered by design schools as a progression for the human-centred design approach.

Challenges in Using African Languages as the Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) for Mathematics in Rural Schools: Foundation Phase Teachers’ Perspectives

The South African Language in Education Policy (LiEP) advocates using African languages in the Foundation Phase (FP) which is the first phase of formal schooling in South Africa. This paper seeks to identify the challenges in implementing the language provisions prescribed in the LiEP in South Africa and within the region. Using the challenge-based learning (CBL) approach, this paper provides a glimpse into the challenges that 50 FP teachers based in six rural schools in South Africa face when using African languages as LoLT when teaching mathematics. Data collected through questionnaires, focus-group interviews, and observations in mathematics classrooms were used to illuminate these challenges. The results indicate that teachers experienced three main challenges: multilingual learners and learners who were taught in English in pre-school, English scripted lesson plans, and teacher training that was only provided in English. Importantly this paper identified a language disjuncture between policy and practice where the policy requires teachers to teach in African languages while the teaching material is written in English.

Exploring multidisciplinary teamwork of applied physics and engineering students in a challenge-based learning course

ABSTRACT Background In responding to the global problems facing humankind, there is great value in equipping science and engineering students with skills to function well in multidisciplinary teams. Little attention has been paid into the factors that influence multidisciplinary collaboration and teamwork of science and engineering students. Purpose This research describes multidisciplinary teamwork of applied physics and mechanical engineering students in a challenge-based learning (CBL) course. The study aimed to: a) identify the facilitators and barriers to multidisciplinary teamwork and b) explore learning outcomes connected to working in multidisciplinary teams. Sample 30 students registered to the course, two teachers, and three tutors participated in this research. Design and Methods An instrumental case study was conducted in the context of a pilot CBL course. Data included interviews, reflection reports, observations, and design posters. Transcribed video recordings were searched in an attempt to demonstrate the codes revealed with the qualitative content analysis of interview transcripts and reflection reports. Results The results indicated knowledge acquisition, application, and an awareness of other disciplinary approaches as the learning outcomes with some differences for engineering and physics students. The findings also yielded individual (e.g. knowledge of control theory), team (e.g. disciplinary perspectives), and course factors (e.g. disciplinary connections to the challenge) that influenced multidisciplinary teamwork. Conclusion Multidisciplinary teamwork is supported by the unique ways of thinking and approaching problems of the two disciplines. Implications contribute to future research and thinking for similar learning environments while improving student learning in multidisciplinary teams.

A Living Lab Approach to Prepare Students to Be Confident Innovators

This article examines the development of a living innovation lab to support university students in becoming confident innovators. Given the effervescence of the Quebec innovation field and the Canadian ambitions to develop a nation of innovators, universities must teach innovation approaches and bridge the gap between the skills developed in university and those expected by the job market. Accordingly, we have created an Innovation Lab at Concordia University, including student interdisciplinarity, mentors, and partners. We have adopted challenge-based learning and a systemic design approach to help students develop innovation skills. We describe the Innovation Lab initiative and share reflections on the essential elements, including the need for flexibility, creating a failure-positive environment for students, proactively attending to teamwork, and contextual limits on creativity.

Development of education for sustainable fashion design using a challenge-based learning approach

ABSTRACT This study proposes a model for sustainable education in fashion design through the development, implementation, and assessment of a specific curriculum. It employed the challenge-based learning (CBL) approach to facilitate the learning of concepts involving sustainability and sustainable fashion design, using a postgraduate course in South Korea as an illustrative case study. Qualitative research was undertaken, including observational evidence for describing students’ learning experiences and outcomes and assessing the effects on students’ sustainability competencies using a grounded theory-based interview analysis. The results demonstrate that CBL provides learners with sequential and organised design thinking procedures, compared to the traditional method in which defining each step of a design process is not crucial. CBL promotes the development of competencies in sustainability involving metacognition and metadisciplinary studies from students’ genuine experiences, contributing to creative and problem-solving skills. This study provides concrete evidence for CBL’s potential as a pedagogical model for sustainable fashion design.

Educational model transition: Student evaluation of teaching amid the COVID-19 pandemic

The Education 4.0 Framework calls for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to innovate their curriculum for developing the competencies of the future. Tecnologico de Monterrey started a transition from an active-learning educational model to Tec21, a challenge-based learning educational model focused on competency development. After one semester of this transition, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education worldwide, causing most universities to adapt to online education. We found the opportunity to analyze the institutional Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) survey at different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, prior to the outbreak, in the transition to online learning, and after the transition to fully online course delivery. We performed this analysis separately for the two coexisting educational models and each of the schools at the university. We also compared the SET scores for the spring semester of 2021, when the two educational models had a comparable number of students. We found that SET scores were not negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic hinting toward positive implications about the institutional response to the pandemic. Another finding is that the Tec21 educational model has received higher SET scores, which implies a positive perception by students. There were a few exceptions to these results, which we address explicitly; for instance, the COVID-19 pandemic might have affected SET scores in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Further research is necessary to evaluate the implementation of the Tec21 model comprehensively.

Towards Active Evidence-Based Learning in Engineering Education: A Systematic Literature Review of PBL, PjBL, and CBL

Implementing active learning methods in engineering education is becoming the new norm and is seen as a prerequisite to prepare future engineers not only for their professional life, but also to tackle global issues. Teachers at higher education institutions are expected and encouraged to introduce their students to active learning experiences, such as problem-, project-, and more recently, challenge-based learning. Teachers have to shift from more traditional teacher-centered education to becoming instructional designers of student-centered education. However, instructional designers (especially novice) often interpret and adapt even well-established methods, such as problem-based learning and project-based learning, such that the intended value thereof risks being weakened. When it comes to more recent educational settings or frameworks, such as challenge-based learning, the practices are not well established yet, so there might be even more experimentation with implementation, especially drawing inspiration from other active learning methods. By conducting a systematic literature analysis of research on problem-based learning, project-based learning, and challenge-based learning, the present paper aims to shed more light on the different steps of instructional design in implementing the three methods. Based on the analysis and synthesis of empirical findings, the paper explores the instructional design stages according to the ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation) model and provides recommendations for teacher practitioners.

Triple-based teaching approach: ‘student as manager’ model in business studies (evaluation and result)

The triple-based teaching approach is a student-center learning process that is implemented for undergraduate business studies. It is mixed with the game, problem, and challenge-based learning strategy that aims to prepare business students to manage unexpected and complex global or industrial issues in the 21st century. It encourages an active and reliable learning environment that requires students' creative input, collaboration, and industrial involvement. The action research method applied for this Triple-based teaching approach which implements the ‘Student as Manager’ model with a relevant task for undergraduate business students at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI). Therefore, for the pilot test the Strategic Management subject (PPB3073) A191 semester selected to implement this teaching approach. Overall result Course Learning Outcome (CLO) shows that 75.1 percent and this subject overall performance was 95.46 percent. This teaching approach beneficial for undergraduate students to getting know about industrial phenomena with 21st learning skills (collaborative, creative, critical thinking, and communication).

Integrating Industry 4.0 in Higher Education Using Challenge-Based Learning: An Intervention in Operations Management

Industry 4.0 is predicted to significantly transform the jobs and skill profiles of workers. Implications for higher education may involve dramatic changes in the demand for knowledge and skills. In response to this, a Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) intervention was designed with the aim of developing working skills for the future of work on undergraduate students by embedding the Industry 4.0 theme in the Operations Management curricula. The CBL intervention was implemented in two different academic terms at a UK university, and views from 302 undergraduate business students were captured using document analysis. The benefits are reported in terms of knowledge acquisition and the application and development of key desirable working abilities for the future. The results suggest that CBL increases students’ understanding of Industry 4.0 issues in real-life settings. It also provides an environment for soft-skills training for skills, including collaboration, communication, planning and problem-solving. This study provides a blueprint for the implementation of CBL in the Operations Management curricula. The study validates existing findings obtained from the application of CBL in other disciplines. Whilst the proposed CBL intervention might be easily replicated in business schools in the UK, the findings on students’ experiences might not be directly generalized to other contexts or disciplines.

Gamification for the Development of Competencies in Tec21 Based on Mixed Reality

Currently, university students expect to obtain not only valuable knowledge about their majors, but they also want to develop different skills that will allow them to develop and stand out in the highly competitive world of work in which we find ourselves. To achieve this, Tecnologico de Monterrey implemented the Tec21 model, a challenge-based learning system focused on the development of both disciplinary and transversal competencies. Among the innovative tools used to promote these competencies we can find, after our research, the gamification: a technique that uses the resources of a game to promote student learning in an unconventional way, resulting in an excellent means for the development of the competencies. At the beginning of the pandemic, educational institutions reinvented themselves through innovation to make distance learning efficient. At Tecnologico de Monterrey, we have sought to develop problem-solving competencies through the implementation of two gamification strategies: an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) simulator that emulates the processes of a scale car model manufacturing line and a role-playing game in which students solve problems through a scenario. Three important factors were considered for gamification: engagement, academic rigor, and the development of competencies, all this has been enhanced with the use of emerging technologies such as immersive, augmented, and virtual reality, which allow students to have access to Laboratories at a distance and at any time. The theoretical concepts used, the situations or problems selected, the dynamics of the game, and the use of technological elements such as augmented reality and the use of the Tec Virtual Campus, have made this project an enrichment experience for the users, since the students spent an average of 32 hours of practice per week, improved their confidence in the application of problem-solving methodologies and developed teamwork, problem-solving, and information analysis skills. One of the greatest achievements, additional to the academic aspect, was the increased emotional stability of the students, which had been affected by episodes of depression derived from the confinement.

The intended and unintended impacts on student ownership when realising CBL in mechanical engineering

ABSTRACT To increase students’ sense of ownership, the present study incorporated elements of Challenge-based learning (CBL) into a mechanical engineering course. CBL is a desirable pedagogy adopted by many universities of technology. Although the boundaries and constraints of a regular course hinder the application of CBL, some of its benefits can be retained. In this paper, we investigate a second-year mechanical engineering course which aimed to give students autonomy in choosing their modelling projects, to facilitate students’ ownership of their learning processes. The mixed-methods analysis of the intervention reveals no particular benefits of the intervention on pilot students’ ownership, compared to a control group. The qualitative analysis suggests that implicit and explicit factors constrain ownership development, namely the anticipated difficulty level and official constraints for selecting projects. Our findings suggest that, currently, there could be too simple assumptions about how providing students with autonomy in selecting their projects allows for student ownership.

Experiences and perspectives regarding challenge-based learning in online sustainability education

In this opinion article, the authors share their experiences with and perspectives on course design requirements and barriers when applying challenge-based learning (CBL) in an online sustainability education setting. CBL is an established learning approach for (higher) sustainability education. It enables teachers to engage students with open, real-life grand challenges through inter-/transdisciplinary student team collaboration. However, empirical research is scarce and mainly based on face-to-face CBL case studies. Thus far, the opportunities to apply CBL in online educational settings are also underinvestigated. Using the TPACK framework, the authors address technological, pedagogical and content knowledge related to CBL and online sustainability education. The integration of the different components is discussed, providing teachers and course designers insight into design requirements and barriers. This paper supports the promising future of online CBL for sustainability education, especially in the context of inter-/national inter-university collaboration, yet emphasizes the need for deliberate use of online collaboration and teaching tools.

Experiences and perspectives regarding challenge-based learning in online sustainability education

In this opinion article, the authors share their experiences with and perspectives on course design requirements and barriers when applying challenge-based learning (CBL) in an online sustainability education setting. CBL is an established learning approach for (higher) sustainability education. It enables teachers to engage students with open, real-life grand challenges through inter-/transdisciplinary student team collaboration. However, empirical research is scarce and mainly based on face-to-face CBL case studies. Thus far, the opportunities to apply CBL in online educational settings are also underinvestigated. Using the TPACK framework, the authors address technological, pedagogical and content knowledge related to CBL and online sustainability education. The integration of the different components is discussed, providing teachers and course designers insight into design requirements and barriers. This paper supports the promising future of online CBL for sustainability education, especially in the context of inter-/national inter-university collaboration, yet emphasizes the need for deliberate use of online collaboration and teaching tools.

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AS A METHODOLOGY TO ENGAGE EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES TO OPERATIONAL PROBLEMATICS IN MICRO COMPANIES

One of the largest gaps about the superior educational system in Bolivia has been that undergraduate students enter the job market unready to face the complex reality and dynamic environment that companies have. Traditional methodologies in classroom establishes roles where the professor gives the student specific content to be learnt in the class and later applied in a fictional scenario. However, students may not see clearly how to take the content from lectures to a real context. Therefore, it is important to implement methodologies that bring students and teachers out of their comfort zone and allow them to analyse real companies’ problems, proposing solutions and developing competences that are relevant to reality. On the other hand, from big to small companies, face different concerns daily: Efficiency, productivity, customer service, among others. Many of those issues may be trivial, however, routine usually blind the decision-maker to identify and seek for solutions. With the help of a fresh perspective provided by higher education students, companies would be able to identify, display resources and attention to small routinary problems. The implementation of experiential learning methods, such as Challenge-based learning, is an important alternative for both universities and companies due it offers a win-win relationship between them with direct and clear benefits and advantages. This paper gives special attention to micro companies, which are often beyond the scope of industrial and educational innovation activities, due to lack of interest, knowledge, or the preconception that because of having simpler processes, these businesses should not be given attention to.

Challenge-Based Learning in Higher Education

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have a pivotal role in fulfilling the social dimension of sustainability and contributing to a complex changing society. To meet these challenges, Malmö University has in interdisciplinary groups researched the role of challenge-based learning (CBL) in relation to staff, students, disciplines, and stakeholders. This position paper is based on that work. Malmö University argues that with a CBL approach, HEIs will actively contribute to the building of a sustainable learning society through collaboration in education, research, and innovation. This paper theoretically explores the CBL approach as a collaborative learning exchange within HEIs and society at large. CBL is defined through eight key elements, clustered as entities of three domains: diversity and inclusion, co-creation and collaboration, and change agents and contextual challenges. These are discussed and empirically exemplified with the purpose to support designing, planning, and accomplishing CBL in teaching and learning in HE for a global learning society.

Challenges with Complex Situations in the Teaching and Learning of Social Sciences in Initial Teacher Education

This article not only presents a paradigm shift as a methodological model for teaching heritage and social sciences (SSCC), but also offers a methodological foundation for the challenge-based learning (CBL) methodology. We present various educational innovations in social science teaching and cultural heritage education based on the use of CBL during initial teacher training at the University of Andorra. These methodological proposals take into account the TPACK model (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) based on the interrelation of three types of knowledge: pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), technological content knowledge (TCK), and technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK). This set of best practices requires students to respond to a complex social challenge by designing and creating specific educational proposals for tackling content and learning through gamification. Students work on the various dimensions of the SSCC, thereby developing spatial competency, teaching competency, and competency in democratic citizenship. ICTs are included throughout in order to develop students’ digital competency. As a result, students feel empowered through having acquired the different competencies and developed an awareness of the value of cultural heritage as a cornerstone of democratic citizenship.