Background Information
In the bachelor course 5XWF0 – CBL Wireless Energy Transfer, students work in teams on an open-ended challenge centred on the real-world application of Wireless Energy Transfer (WET). Within this scenario, they are asked to design, build, and demonstrate a system that delivers energy wirelessly from a sustainable source — such as solar or wind — to a meaningful load. Students define their own challenge context and approach, reflecting on what makes the application relevant and feasible with sustainability in mind. This setup encourages creativity, technical depth, and critical thinking, all while placing students in the lead of their learning. It fully embraces the principles of Challenge-Based Learning (CBL), where the focus is not only on technical implementation but also on purposeful design, teamwork, sustainability, and real-world relevance.
To support this learning environment, the project introduces a gamified, token-based decision layer that mimics financial decision-making as it might occur in a real company. Students will earn and spend physical tokens to access additional resources, expert guidance, design retries, or access to upgraded components. These tokens simulate engineering trade-offs — such as cost, time, and quality — and reflect typical business challenges like budget limits, inflation, savings, or investment. In this way, the layer serves both as a gamification mechanism (through token hunting, bonus access, and optional competition) and as a light introduction to financial reasoning within the context of engineering design.
The system is grounded in well-established educational theory, such as Self-Determination Theory and self-regulated learning, aiming to enhance motivation, ownership, and engagement without compromising the openness of the CBL framework. Participation is formative and entirely optional — students may complete the course without interacting with the token system. However, the layer is designed to encourage participation and may offer bonus rewards in specific aspects of the grading scheme. All rules and outcomes will be clearly documented in the study guide to ensure transparency.
The pilot will use physical tokens for clarity and flexibility, with validation devices integrated at key points in the course. This approach brings decision-making into the physical world, reinforces student interaction, and allows instructors to adjust the system dynamically during implementation. The concept is designed to be low-overhead, scalable, and adaptable to other CBL courses across TU/e.
Aim of the project
The main goal of this project is to strengthen student engagement, ownership, and strategic thinking by introducing a gamified, financially inspired decision layer within the CBL course 5XWF0. The token system is designed to complement the challenge, not replace or restructure it. It gives students a clearer framework to make deliberate decisions, simulate real-world trade-offs, and reflect on their priorities as a team, all within a safe and formative learning environment.
Throughout the course, student teams will earn tokens through performance, initiative, or solving secondary tasks. They will then decide how to use these tokens, whether to access more advanced components, request coaching, unlock design feedback opportunities, or revisit previous decisions. Each token transaction becomes a visible, strategic choice. This reinforces critical engineering skills such as planning, negotiation, system-level thinking, and accountability. At the same time, the mechanic offers a light introduction to financial decision-making, echoing real-world engineering contexts where technical progress is tightly linked to cost, risk, and resource allocation.
The token system is designed as a formative, optional layer. It does not affect grading, and students are free to ignore it if they wish. However, bonus rewards may be granted for creative or impactful use, and the system is designed to increase intrinsic motivation. If successful, this model could be adapted to other team-based or project-oriented courses at TU/e and beyond. The long-term aim is to offer a reusable, modular framework that enhances Challenge-Based Learning by introducing structure, without limiting freedom.
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