Challenge Based Learning: Innovative Pedagogy for Sustainability through e-Learning in Higher Education
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- The general idea: There is a topic presented to students with importance to society.
- The essential question: The general idea starts with a problem that reflects the interest of the students and the needs of the community.
- The challenge: Students must create a solution to the problem posed in the essential question.
- Questions, activities, and guide resources: Students identify elements that are convenient for developing innovative solutions to problems.
- The solution: Each challenge permits a variety of solutions. These must be concrete and feasible to implement in the community.
- Implementation: Students test the solution in a real environment.
- The evaluation or assessment is carried out through the challenge process, which confirms the learning results and supports the decisions made during the implementation.
- Documentation and publication: Students find ways to publish their ideas, blogs, videos, and other tools.
- Reflection and dialogue that consider the content and the students’ learning and experiences.
- Q1. How to implement CBL to strengthen education for sustainable development in an e-learning course in the study context?
- Q2. What was the perception of the enrolled students in the e-learning course about the contribution they can make to resolving local, national, or global problems?
- Q3. What elements of CBL contribute to providing solutions to local problems through an e-learning course?
2. Method
2.1. Participants
2.2. Procedure
- To clearly explain the objectives of the study, telling the participants that the course was a research project.
- To allow researchers to personally visit the class and explain the work to be done, answer any questions, and explain the time involved and procedures to be followed during the research.
- To emphasize that participation was voluntary, and that all data would remain confidential.
- To explain to the participants that they could decide not to participate in the research at any time. An online form was sent to them with the terms requesting their acceptance in the study.
2.3. Instruments
2.4. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Forum Content Analysis
- Opinion on entrepreneurship: Students related entrepreneurship to economic growth and job creation, as well as to the achievement of skills and capacities and personal development. Student comments from the forum included, “for me, entrepreneurship is focusing on a problem that you consider important to solve”, “to improve people’s opportunities and quality of life”, and “improvement of culture and way of thinking of society”.
- Difficulties: Studnets expressed their concerns about how they could contribute to solving social problems, improve peoples’ qualities of life, and how, through their careers, they could generate ideas and propose businesses that could solve these problems. They indicated that they did not know how to undertake these things or if they had the skills. Also, they responded that entrepreneurship was not highlighted in their fields of study, that socially responsible production is a “pending” task in companies, and that they were not clear which businesses to start. They identified a delay in the country in developing ventures. Their comments included, “I am not clear which business to start; I must know its advantages and disadvantages. I feel that I have not developed the abilities needed for entrepreneurship”, “I think it is necessary to know more about the subject in-depth and how to develop these skills in us better”, and “socially responsible production is a pending task in companies”.
- Interests: The students expressed great interest in undertaking social projects and interest in solving social problems. They mentioned issues such as pollution, the use of polluting materials in industrial applications, the insertion of older people into the workforce, the development of the best sustainable practices, and avoiding food waste and water and air pollution, among other issues. Their comments included, “I want to undertake a social project whose objective is the reintegration of seniors into the work environment; I encourage that companies obtain a special badge that qualifies them as socially responsible companies”, “I want to create an environmental consultancy and an environmental remediation company in contaminated places”, and “I am interested in this course because, in the future, I want to launch a startup”.
3.2. Participation in the Challenge
- A social enterprise that honors companies that adopt senior mentoring programs, that trains young people, and in which lack of experience is not an impediment for new employees.
- A platform to support the commercialization of products through employing young people remotely, and the digitalization of government information for greater transparency.
- A proposal to eradicate the extreme poverty of food in the state of Nuevo León and facilitate access to health services.
- A proposal to decrease carbon dioxide in the companies that emit it.
- A proposal for an environmental consulting agency that gives incentives to companies that reduce their emissions.
- A proposal to use plants to reduce air pollution.
- Projects resolving problems related to the students’ careers, theoretical research, and statistics they collected to establish the magnitudes of the problems, as well as analyses of the impacts of the solutions.
- Research on the problems using interviews and the applications of the business model canvas to determine the people affected.
- Consultations with people affected by the problems and feasibility analysis of each solution’s implementation.
- Presentation of a proposal defining a product or service, the benefits of the solution proposed for the priority area, data related to the impact of the solution, and a value proposition.
3.3. Solution Proposals
3.4. Responses to the Questionnaires
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Total Students | Men | Women | Average Age | Career |
---|---|---|---|---|
20 | 8 | 12 | 23 years old | |
12 6 1 1 | 40% 5 2 1 0 | 60% 7 4 0 1 | Engineering Business administration Industrial design Clinical psychology |
Learning Objectives | Week | Activities | Assessment |
---|---|---|---|
To describe concepts related to entrepreneurship and innovation for use in solving problems in their environment. | 1. Introduction to the course | Forum: What do you think is the importance of entrepreneurship and innovation in our country? | Participate in the forum and comment on at least two interactions by partners. Checklist. |
To analyze problematic situations in the local environment that can be resolved through innovative and entrepreneurial proposals. | 2.Presentation of the challenge | Presentation of the challenge: individually, students reviewed the challenge, and one of the priority areas to be solved was chosen. | Participate in the team forum by choosing a topic and proposing a possible solution to the problem. Checklist. |
To propose innovative solutions to problems collaboratively and with the help of a mentor. | 3. Preparation of solution proposals | Brainstorming forum to coordinate the group work and define a solution proposal collaboratively. Meet with partners to solve the challenge (through videoconference/chat/forum). | Participate in the group forum to coordinate the activity and propose the solution. Checklist. |
To prepare a pitch to publicize the proposed solution | 4. Final pitch | Present the final pitch following the instructions of the evaluation rubric. | Present a pitch that includes the problem to be solved, the proposed solution, and a conclusion. Rubric. |
5. Final evaluation | Final Reflection: Write a personal story by answering questions about the experience. | Publish your entrepreneurship story on your blog. Checklist. |
Priority Areas | Relationship to SDG |
---|---|
Eradicating extreme poverty with particular emphasis on nutrition | Objectives 1 and 2: End of poverty and zero hunger |
Ensuring coverage and effective access of the population to healthcare for priority health conditions | Objective 3: Health and well-being |
Ensuring the employability of young people in the productive sector | Objective 8: Decent work and economic growth |
Generate training programs in reading, written culture, and development of artistic skills | Objective 4: Quality education |
Encouraging physical activity and sports | Objective 3: Health and well-being |
Improving air quality | Objective 11: Sustainable cities and communities |
Facilitating the opening and operation of businesses | Objective 8: Decent work and economic growth |
Identifying and eliminating causes, conditions, and factors of corruption | Objective 16: Peace, justice, and strong institutions. |
Promoting energy security and a transition to lower-impact fuels | Objective 7: Affordable, non-polluting energy |
Strengthening and promoting community and neighborhood cultures to generate social cohesion and citizen coexistence | Objective 16: Peace, justice, and strong institutions |
Name of the Product or Service | Score (1–5) |
---|---|
Teamwork | |
Included research on the subject | |
Included statistics on the problem | |
Defined the number of users | |
Validated the idea with potential users | |
Elaborated a final pitch | |
Presented interesting data or information | |
Presented the benefits of the product or service | |
Presentation of the pitch | |
Points earned |
Problem | The solution that Addresses the Problem |
---|---|
Promoting energy security and a transition to low-impact fuels | Biodigestor to produce biogas |
Eradicating extreme poverty and ensuring priority health coverage | An educational program focused on healthy alimentation |
Facilitating the opening and formation of businesses | Various mentors |
Improving the quality of the air. | Vertical gardens |
Identifying and eliminating the causes and conditions of corruption | The final proposal not presented. |
Improving the quality of the air | The capture of contaminants in chimneys by a microalgae biofilter |
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Portuguez Castro, M.; Gómez Zermeño, M.G. Challenge Based Learning: Innovative Pedagogy for Sustainability through e-Learning in Higher Education. Sustainability 2020, 12, 4063. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104063
Portuguez Castro M, Gómez Zermeño MG. Challenge Based Learning: Innovative Pedagogy for Sustainability through e-Learning in Higher Education. Sustainability. 2020; 12(10):4063. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104063
Chicago/Turabian StylePortuguez Castro, May, and Marcela Georgina Gómez Zermeño. 2020. "Challenge Based Learning: Innovative Pedagogy for Sustainability through e-Learning in Higher Education" Sustainability 12, no. 10: 4063. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104063