Choosing Challenges in Challenge-Based Courses

Challenge-based learning (CBL) is increasingly on the higher education agenda. In many universities of technology in the Netherlands, CBL is being implemented in engineering education programmes to prepare students to work on authentic, complex, societal challenges, provided by partners from outside of the university. Making societal impact is an important driver the introduction of CBL, however, on a more pedagogical level, little is known about the motivational aspects of student learning in these challenge-based transdisciplinary courses. In CBL, self-regulation has a prominent role. In many instances, students are asked to make motivated decisions about their development trajectory within the CBL process. One of the first decisions students have to make in these type of learning configurations is what challenge they will work on. The structure of CBL courses often involves several partners that all present their own challenge to the students. Students then have to opt for one of these challenges during the course. In this research, we aimed to get a more detailed understanding of what students consider to be important reasons to choose a particular challenge at the start of a CBL Course. In this research, we investigated the argumentation students used in the process of applying for a challenge in two different CBL courses. The results showed five categories of choice arguments: Content of the challenge, challenge characteristics, personal goals, personal background and collaboration. With a better understanding of student argumentation, expectation and motivation in CBL education, we contribute to the further advancement of transdisciplinary engineering education.