On 10 September 24 I attended a presentation entitled Transformative potential of challenge-based learning. The talk was a part of one of the last staff tutor meetings I will be attending (for the time being).
As soon as her presentation started, an immediate question came to mind, which was: “what is the difference between challenge-based learning and problem-based learning”. An accompanying thought was that perhaps a challenge could contain one or more problems? We were moved onto a definition; a challenge is to achieve something worthwhile or exceptional. A challenge could also be individual or collaborative. It could be a competition, or a race, or an event.
An important point is that a challenge can expands one’s own boundaries and capabilities. A challenge can be used to provoke learners and to develop skills. There is also an interesting link to the subject of professional development too, but I’m not going to dwell on that theme too much.
I made some notes of a mention of a framework which had three stages: engage, investigate, act.
I guess the difference between CBL and PBL is one of perspective and focus. Problem-based learning may be necessarily driven by teachers and tutors, whilst challenge-based learning may well be more open ended. The necessary educational glue of reflection can, of course, be applied to both problems and challenges (for both learners, and for educators).
A bit of digging…
After the event, I did a bit of digging. I found a site called ChallengeBasedLearning.org which offered a more fuller definition, which identifies it less of a pedagogy, more of a pedagogic framework, which is “collaborative and hands-on, asking all participants (students, teachers, families, and community members) to identify Big Ideas, ask good questions, identify and solve Challenges, gain in-depth subject area knowledge, develop life skills, and learn how to learn”.
Not too far from this page, there’s something called From something called the Challenge Institute. A few further clicks takes me to a literature review of Challenge Based Learning.
Whilst I was in the area, I remembered the universities regular Innovating Pedagogy reports. I found a reference to Challenge Based Learning in the Innovating Pedagogy 2023 report.
I’m noting all these links down so I can easily find them at some point.
Reflections
When introduced to the idea of CBL, and trying to understand its various definitions, I wondered whether this was yet another pedagogic buzzword? One of my roles is to tutor on an undergraduate computing module. An accompanying through was: perhaps project-based learning is already a version of challenge-based learning? After all, completing a significant project is also a significant challenge.
In some respects, I have once been a part of a challenge-based learning activity through an Interaction Design hackathon event, which established a theme about digital healthcare. It was an event that was certainly about challenges since students had to uncover their own problems.
A difficulty that I had with this particular event was how it directly related to module materials. There was no denying the creativity of the design of the event. It offered a great learning opportunity for those who attended, but it didn’t directly and easily integrate with the module materials. This leads to other questions: what are the practical implications on module design? Also, how are challenges assessed, especially if they are open-ended, decidedly personal, or specifically not well defined?
Problem-based learning is scaffolded. Lecturers offer help, guidance, and resources. A related question is: what support is needed for students who are carrying out challenges? The answer is: it depends on the learners, and it depends on the challenge.
In some respects, the OU is running its own challenge, for research focussed academics. It is called the Open Societal Challenges https://research.open.ac.uk/societal-challenges Support is given in terms of administrative support, and funding. I have had a go to set up a challenge all of my own. It is a challenge which relates to green computing and efficient software. I confess to not having made much progress, since I’ve recently had a number of personal challenges to deal with.
This links to an important point: if challenges are not clearly defined, things might not get done due to any number of barriers. Something that really helps me to overcome barriers is, of course, working with others. Being accountable to others is one way to get things done.