A framework for capturing student learning in challenge-based learning

Responding to calls for more future-oriented teaching and learning, an increasing number of institutions of higher education have recently implemented challenge-based learning (CBL). Through work on open-ended and real-life challenges, CBL aims to stimulate students to take the lead in their own learning, acquire and apply knowledge relevant for responding to the challenge and developing disciplinary and transdisciplinary skills. Prior research on student learning has suggested multiple advantages of such active involvement of students in their learning, which calls for integrating these insights into emerging CBL research. This paper therefore presents a framework for capturing the conditions, process and outcomes of student learning in challenge-based learning, paying specific attention to the distinct levels (microlevel or course context, mesolevel or institutional context and macrolevel or university, societal, local, national or international context) and content (social, physical, and formal) of the context in which CBL takes place. Use of the proposed framework is investigated with data from interviews with eight teachers experimenting with CBL in their courses. The analyses show that the framework is useful for capturing all aspects teachers consider and mention as relevant in implementing CBL courses. The data furthermore suggest interactions between some parts of the framework that need to be examined in future research.