Lecturers from technical universities across Europe gathered at TU/e yesterday, virtually and in person, to exchange experiences on Challenge-Based Learning (CBL). The interactive session, organized by the Academy for Learning and Teaching, offered lots of inspiration, from creative metaphors to practical advice.
Challenge-Based Learning, or CBL, is a form of education that involves students working on practice-based challenges in multidisciplinary teams. These challenges are often taken from industry or society and push students to come up with innovative solutions. In the process, students not only gain subject-specific knowledge, but also develop soft skills such as problem-solving, presenting and collaborating.
Although CBL bridges the gap between theory and practice and offers many advantages, this educational method also presents challenges. How do you find suitable partners? How do you create assignments that both educate and inspire? And how do you ensure strong team dynamics?
The lunch lecture gave lecturers the opportunity to discuss these challenges, but also to share good practices and tips. The participants, from both within and outside the country, were primarily EuroTeQ lecturers. This European collaboration project between technical universities, companies and other partners is aimed at renewing technical education and promoting interdisciplinary learning, with a focus on sustainability, innovation and societal challenges.
Read an article that summarises the discussion and highlights the insights on expectation management, interdisciplinary team workk and tramsition from conceptual thinkign to problem solving in the article by TU/e Cursor