Challenge Based Learning

Volume 1 issue 1 Current and Future Trends in Ed Tech Winter 2013

America: failing our youth

own real life. We need to probe their curiosity and instill a love of learning, by making the content directly related to their own lives and using their interests to guide the curriculum. This is what challenge based learning does. It allows students to use technology in their everyday lives to be in charge of their own learning and directly apply what they know. Studies suggest that through application of challenge based learning, students experience an increase in engagement and more overall satisfaction with their school work.

American students are marginally falling behind other countries in academic performance. Researchers have begun looking into the situation and after two major studies have taken place over multiple schools, challenge based learning (CBL) has become our answer to helping the American students perform more effectively.

CBL stays consistent with content standards, and does not require as much modification to teaching as popular belief would say. It simply makes learning relevant (page 1) by giving real life problems for students to solve. When the problem is immediately applicable and directly related to the student, he is more willing to find an answer. Students are dropping out of high school because they are becoming disengaged and feel the material does not relate to their

Challenge based learning is related to problem based learning in that both

Challenge Based Learning

Volume 1 issue 1 Current and Future Trends in Ed Tech Winter 2013

provide students the opportunity to solve problems and work together in groups, but CBL uses students interests to influence the material offered. Challenge based learning gives students the opportunity to explore topics on their own, making it directly related to their own lives and therefore peaking interest in the material. By taking advantage of the technology already used in students everyday lives, CBL makes application available all day every day, and allows students to communicate with each other as well as have a broad understanding.

Four major findings from the CBL study:

1. Builds modern day skills: Leadership, Creativity, Media Literacy, Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Flexibility, and Adaptability 2. Engages students in learning: Over three-quarters of students, across every age group, felt that they had learned more than what was required of them, were part of solving a big problem, and worked harder than they normally do. 3. Good use of limited time 4. Ideal for use in classrooms with access to technology

Is CBL instruction successful? Researchers looked at three major standards to determine the answer:

Challenge Based Learning

Volume 1 issue 1 Current and Future Trends in Ed Tech Winter 2013

1. Implementation Success
Did the process as a whole meet its original goal? Did teachers and students work well together during the implementation? Is it doable? In this case, success was determined by if the process was understood and executed. Overall, the study suggests that yes; it was successful in meeting the challenge, as agreed upon by both students and teachers alike.

2. Instructional Success
Did the approach work with the required curriculum standards? Did it still allow for teacher individuality in goal meeting? Did the CBL model effectively fit into the typical classroom atmosphere? Did students learn what they were supposed to? Significant optimism is prevalent in teacher ratings of the CBL process in the classroom, and a majority of teachers plan to keep using it.

3. Student Success
Did students acquire the intended 21st century skills? Did the program allow for development of leadership and responsibility? Did the students learn more than what was required of them? A vast majority of students polled replied that they felt they made a meaningful impact in solving real life problems and learned a lot. They felt like they were working on something important

Information taken and summarized from Johnson,L. and Adams, S., (2011). Challenge Based Learning: The Report from the Implementation Project. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.