Van den Beemt, A., van de Watering, G., & Bots, M. (2022). Conceptualising variety in challenge-based learning in higher education: the CBL-compass. European Journal of Engineering Education, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2022.2078181
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Servicio de Innovación Educativa. (2020). Guía de aprendizaje basado en retos. https://innovacioneducativa.upm.es/sites/default/files/guias/GUIA-ABR.pdf
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Servicio de Innovación Educativa. (2020). Guía de aprendizaje servicio (APS). https://innovacioneducativa.upm.es/sites/default/files/guias/Guia-APS-UPM.pdf
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Servicio de Innovación Educativa. (2020). Guía de aprendizaje orientado a proyectos. https://innovacioneducativa.upm.es/sites/default/files/guias/AP_PROYECTOS.pdf
School teams will work to pre-define three possible challenges and assess their viability. These challenges (or a fine-tuned conceptualisation of them) will be presented to students afterwards, so they can take part in the decision-making process to select the school challenge through a participatory process. The options are thus previously defined by the teachers, so a prefeasibility study of the opportunities and resources is taken into account. The selected challenge will be further developed in a later stage.
Brainstorming: finding four big challenges
Teachers will participate in a brainstorming dynamic to come up with challenges. They will be asked to think of up to four big challenges and hypothetical contributions to them. Possible challenges will be named as “Challenge 1”, "Challenge 2”, etc.
Testing our first ideas: Selection of two possible challenges
The selection will be based on a checklist for the design of challenge-based learning courses. This framework is inspired by the one by Van den Beemt et al. (2022) for analysing the variety of challenge-based learning characteristics within and between components in an academic curriculum. Questions have been defined based on the experience of the team in project-based learning and service-learning to achieve an adequate selection of pupil-led projects schools.
Teachers will score the four challenges (Challenge 1, Challenge 2, etc.) in Table 2 to obtain the two selected ones—i.e., the two that will be discussed by students so that they choose one—
Pre-design of one challenge
Teachers will define the basic elements for the Top-one challenge (the challenge that scored higher in Table 2), following the scheme:
The challenge (it can be helpful to formulate it as a question)
Target groups (beneficiaries)
Other actors
Final product(s)
Subjects involved
Curriculum content covered (if any; the project can be extracurricular. However, integrative the project as a curricular interdisciplinary project is recommended)
Competences covered
Pupils grouping and organization
Tasks to be done
Assessment plan
Necessary resources (materials, spaces, ICTs)
Diffusion and connections
This chapter provides practical guidance to begin preparing pupil-led projects in each school. In a dedicated workshop (as defined in Step 1 of this document), teacher teams will first diagnose their school contexts and opportunities (teachers involved, subjects, school ongoing projects, strategic lines, coordination requirements, etc.). Then, they will define and evaluate two possible challenges that will be presented to the pupils later (Step 2). Finally, the pupils will select the school challenge through a participatory process (as part of Step 3). During the workshop (Steps 1 and 2) teacher teams work through different templates in a collaborative whiteboard under the guidance of an expert teacher trainer. The results of this preparatory work seek to enhance coordination and participation of teachers and pupils, being the starting point for the next module.
Upon completion of steps 1 and 2, each school team will continue working on its own on the challenges, to prepare the required scenario for next academic year / module.
The following items can be of help in preparing the school for the challenge:
Pre-design of the rest of the challenges.
Session with the students: They will choose one challenge from the two/three options preselected by the teachers.
Motivation towards the context (engagement question, video, activity, etc.). For example, the teacher could start by asking the students: “Think about the neighbourhood or the school. How would you describe the environmental quality? Would you change anything?” At this point and so that the discussion does not extend beyond 5 minutes, collect the main ideas and tell them that there will be time to analyse the needs later.
Short video of students of similar age around the world working toward environment enhancement. Reinforce the idea that similar pupils are capable of diagnosing their surroundings needs and being critical.
Brainstorming of context needs: In teams, students will write down on post-it the problem/s that need to be tackled in the neighbourhood or at school. At this moment, it is important to motivate the students so that they can put all the ideas that they come up with on paper. Be very insistent that the more ideas there are, the better.
Once they have all the ideas written (in disorder), ask them to group the post-its (ideas) into categories or clouds, and they will put a title for each category.
Connect the pupils’ categories with the challenges predesigned by the teachers (probably the categories will include the challenges pre-selected by the teachers).
Challenges to deep understanding: It is important to get a deeper understanding of the challenges. A Problem Tree Analysis can be useful to think of the causes and effects, and also to reflect on the stakeholders to be potentially involved. A SWOT analysis or checklist could also be useful for scoring the different options.
Challenge selection: The pupils will vote on the challenge they want to work on.
Challenge connection with the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). A video to introduce the SDGs can be useful, as well as a short work in teams to define connections of the challenge and the SDGs.
Teamwork of teachers: Analyse how the different subjects can be incorporated into the chosen challenge. You can use the 5 Ws (and 1 H) questions:
What: contents of each subject (common topics, complementary topics)
When: timetable or planning (including time to meet and organise the tasks (it may be necessary to ask the school head for a common hour per week to coordinate the actions)
Where: school, streets, parks, etc.
How: organise the activities and resources.
Why: the purpose.
Who: responsible/coordinator(s).
The school teachers involved in the pupil–led projects will work in groups, one per school. Different group dynamics can be used to try to compose a first overview of each school context. School teachers will lead the process and may have the support of other local partners. Table 1 presents a guide to start reflecting on the school context.
Once this starting point phase is completed, each school team will have a better understanding of the opportunities and requirements that the design and implementation of the mapping projects will have.
