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CBL Pedagogy

Challenges are a powerful tool for education and a strong experience for students’ engagement. They provide an incentive to dive in a vertical issue, enhancing 21st century skills.

What is CBL?

It’s a pedagogical approach through which learners are actively involved in identifying, analyzing and designing a solution that solves a challenge on current problems and real issues.

Businesswoman in a meeting
Companies and institutions

Propose challenges that are relevant to their organizations.

Propose your challenge

Students working together
Student and professionals

Define the problems, manage their teamwork and acquire the knowledge and skills needed to solve the challenge.

Apply for the next open challenges

Professor in class
Professors and researchers

Are guides rather than experts and facilitate the learning process.

Learn how to apply CBL in your class

The learning experience is multidisciplinary and engages teams composed different stakeholders and their perspectives.

In the CBL perspective, all these stakeholders are equally learners, in the sense that they build a knowledge community and are aligned in the quadruple helix approach where university, industry, institutions and civil society collaborate for the innovation.

Student-centered approach

Challenges are co-designed with learners (students and challenge providers) considering:

  • The learning process for all
  • The learning outcomes for students
  • The challenge providers’ needs
  • Innovative methods and tools
  • Formats (hackathons, competitions, design projects, formal course, etc.)
  • Number of credits
     

3 sizes of challenges

Challenges offered by ECIU University and School of Innovation, can be Nano, Mini or Standard and differ in four key dimensions:

 Duration and workload


 Level of engagement icon   Level of engagement that is the starting when student teams enter challenge


Level of action icon  Level of action that is the way to open the findings for society


 Level of investigation that is the level of research and variety of activities to find a solution

 

NANO Specific content, area or skill

nano

Duration and workload
1 ECTS
1-2 days


 Level of engagement icon Level of engagement
part of a) Challenge


Level of action icon Level of action
Solution
Idea for further Steps


Level of investigation
Guiding questions
Guiding activities and resources
Analisys

MINI + gain in depth subject area knowledge

mini

Duration and workload
3 ECTS
1-4 weeks


 Level of engagement icon   Level of engagement
Essential questions
(part of a) Challenge


Level of action icon Level of action
Solution
Implementation


Level of investigation
Guiding questions
Guiding activities and resources
Analisys

STANDARD + collaboration in all phases

standard

Duration and workload
6 ECTS
3-6 months


 Level of engagement icon   Level of engagement
Big idea
Essential questions
Challenge


Level of action icon Level of action
Solution
Implementation
Evaluation and Publishing


Level of investigation
Guiding questions
Guiding activities and resources
Analisys

Informative videos about Challenge-Based Learning