Challenge-Based Instruction –
Transferring the Tools to Multiple
Learning Environments
Stephen Crown, UTPA, Mechanical Engineering
Timothy Hill, SJSU, MIS
Deborah Crown, SJSU, College of Business
Abstract
Challenge-Based Instruction – Transferring the Tools to Multiple
Learning Environments
Track: Track 1: Innovations in Online Teaching and Learning
Presenters: Stephen Crown, Tim Hill, Deborah Crown
Location: Bayshore Foyer
Date: Friday August 14th 2009, 4:45 pm to 5:45 pm
Challenge-Based Instruction (CBI) has been piloted in education for the hard
sciences, and is emerging as an effective means of fostering adaptive
expertise and students’ ability to innovate. This session will examine the
principles of CBI, highlight examples of CBI application successes within
STEM, and consider how the unique advantages of CBI might be realized in
business education and other disciplines. Learning circles will also be used
to explore how CBI might be used within other fields of study. Finally, we will
open up discussion regarding effective strategies for increasing faculty
commitment to this and other emerging instructional advancements.
Outline
• Introductory exercise
• Presentation of CBI
–
–
–
–
–
How People Learn
Legacy Cycle
Implementation (VaNTH and CCRAA)
Examples
Designing a Challenge
• Learning Circles
• Summative Assessment
3/18/2016
3
Vegas Card Game
 Pick the four of spades and win $25
 $10 to play
 Dealer reveals one card ($5 to
change your mind)
Vegas Card Game
The Challenge: Determine the
appropriate odds for this Vegas card
game and present a convincing report
to Vinnie.
Note: Don’t mess with Vinnie
Vegas Card Game
 What are the odds? (Probability and Statistics)
 How can you prove it? (LabView Simulation)
 Should you play this game? (Efficacy and
Learning)
The Need for Curriculum Reform
• Some minority students lack an equitable number of
career influencers and role models within their families
and familiar networks
• The lack of significant real world connections to
classroom learning early in the curriculum is one
reason why minority-STEM students decide to drop-out
or transfer out of STEM undergraduate fields
• Focusing primarily on efficiency in early courses can
stifle attempts at innovation in later courses
LabView Programming Language
LabView Programming Language
Student Projects
Heat Transfer Fin Solver
Battle Tanks
Four Function Calculator
Home Alarm System
Hang Man game
GPA Calculator
Memory Game
Drinking Game
Lottery Game
Temperature Measurement
Heliocentric Model of the Solar System
Battery Tester
Filter Experiment
Guitar Tuner
Drinking Game
Challenge Based Instruction- CBI
• A form of inductive learning, has been shown to be a
more effective approach to the learning process than
the traditional deductive pedagogy
• Built around the How People Learn (HPL)
framework as realized by the STAR Legacy cycle
(VaNTH)
• Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). How people
learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: National
Academy Press (1999)
• Schwartz, D. L, S. Brophy, X. Lin, and J.D. Bransford, “Software for
Managing Complex Learning: Examples from an Educational
Psychology Course,” Educational Technology Research and
Development, Vol. 47, No. 2, 1999, pp. 39–60.
Challenge Based Instruction- CBI
• Teaching backwards: Problem/Challenge first,
supporting theory second
• Focuses on student retention and student adaptive
expertise
• Emphasis placed on formative assessment
• Makes full use of technology to provide
asynchronous feedback, support, and instruction
How People Learn - HPL
• A knowledge centered environment provides students with
tools to organize knowledge that is accessible
• A learner centered environment works within the context of
what students already know and believe.
• A community centered environment gives students the
opportunity to learn through interactions with peers, the
instructor, and the professional community.
• An assessment centered environment relies on formative
assessment to provide the student with feedback on their
learning through correction and guidance
• The learning environments are complimentary and should
all be present in effective student learning environments
Legacy Cycle
Legacy Cycle
• The Challenge: A real life and open ended question
that engages students and brings them to a place of
inquiry about specific course content. Challenges
generally grow in complexity with each cycle and
draw on previous course content. Learner centered.
Legacy Cycle
• Generate ideas: Students are asked to generate a list
of issues and answers that they think are relevant to
the challenge; to share ideas with fellow students; and
to appreciate which ideas are “new” and to revise their
list. Learner and community centered.
Legacy Cycle
• Multiple perspectives: The student is asked to elicit
ideas and approaches concerning this challenge
from “experts.” Community and knowledge
centered.
Legacy Cycle
• Research and revise: Reference materials including
lecture content to help the student reach the goals of
exploring the challenge and to revise their original ideas
are introduced here. Typically this step and the next
are revisited in several iterations. Knowledge and
learner centered.
Legacy Cycle
• Test your mettle: Formative assessment is used to
direct students to review previous step or to return for
additional instruction. Summative instructional events
are presented before moving on to the final step.
Knowledge, learner, and assessment centered.
Legacy Cycle
• Go public: This is a high stakes motivating
component introduced to motivate the student to do
well. Knowledge, learner, and assessment
centered.
Implementation - VaNTH
VaNTH Engineering Research Center
http://www.vanth.org
Implementation - CCRAA
College Cost Reduction and Access Act
(CCRAA) grant from the US Department of
Education for Hispanic serving institutions
(HSI)
• $100 million / yr
• 2 years of funding
• Focus on STEM and 2 and 4 year institution
collaboration
South Texas Initiative
• “Increasing Student Access, Retention, and
Graduation Through an Integrated STEM
Pathways Support Initiative for the Rio South
Texas Region”
• Collaboration between The University of
Texas-Pan American (UTPA) and South Texas
College (STC) to facilitate student engagement
and success in STEM areas
• Project Goals: Increase enrollment, retention,
and graduation rates in STEM fields
• $1.2 Million / yr
• October 2008 - September 2010
South Texas Initiative
UTPA
•
•
•
•
South Texas (Edinburg, Texas)
Component of the University of Texas System
Comprehensive University
17,500 students, 85% are of Hispanic, mostly
low-income, primarily commuter students
• 76% are also first-generation college students
STC
•
•
•
•
Similar student demographics to UTPA
Began as Community College (STCC) in 1993.
22,000 students
Two Bachelor’s degrees (Applied Technology
and Technology Management)
CBI Implementation
80 faculty trained in CBI
 Students exposed to CBI in 80 STEM courses
 CBI fully integrated into 10 courses supporting engineering

Calculus I and II, Physics I, Introduction to Engineering, Statics,
Dynamics, Engineering Graphics, Mechanics of Solids,
Measurements and Instrumentation, Introduction to STEM
CBI - Curriculum Reform
• NSF’s VaNTH ERC studies have shown student learning
improvement (in particular, AE) within the Biomedical
Engineering student populations of its core institutions
(Vanderbilt-Northwestern-Texas-Harvard/MIT)
• One common course at UTPA (Intro. to Comp. Biomech.)
– Technical elective at UT-Austin and at UTPA
– UTPA course comprised of VaNTH CBI learning
modules
–Effect size indicates a 78% probability that a student
from the UTPA (experimental) group will learn a greater
amount than a student from the UT Austin (control) group
CBI - Faculty Development
• Train, mentor, and support a cadre of highly qualified STEM
faculty in innovative inductive teaching methodologies that will
have a broad and measurable positive impact on STEM faculty
and students (i.e., LC implementation of HPL inspired CBI)
• Two-day workshops on the theory, impact, and design of CBI
methods (by key VaNTH personnel)
• Mentoring workdays provided on CBI implementation, and
faculty support through a web-based “Teaching Toolbox”
•Participant stipends
CBI - Faculty Development
CBI – Designing Challenges
CBI – Learning to use Technology
Outcomes - Faculty Development
• Faculty receive over 20 hours of mentoring and instruction
• Faculty will have developed CBI content that can be delivered
and assessed in 80 courses
• Widespread implementation of CBI will allow for a study of its
overall impact on teaching effectiveness and efficiency in
learning
• The expected outcome is that this implementation of CBI will
produce a measurable increase in both student learning,
retention, and adaptive expertise
Example in Statics
Your company’s’ bridge has failed and it is your job as
the new design engineer to determine what could have
caused the failure of the bridge and, as much as
possible, defend the company. Is your company liable
for the accident?
Examples in Engineering Graphics
How do you design and
create a challenging and
entertaining cube puzzle?
Virtual CAD World
A call has gone out to the people of the local villages to assemble a force that
will drive out the rebel group occupying the fortress. There is a need for new
recruits to be trained in the use of CAD (Computer Aided Design). New
recruits are to report to Caius in the training center at once. Enjoy your time
here but take your training seriously as future generations of the virtual world
are depending on your success.
Virtual CAD World
Virtual CAD World
You and your classmates are invited to take up residence in one of the local villages. To
get started first pick up a housing application at the next window. The clerk behind the
sales counter will be able to help you in the purchase of a home. Your home is a place
where you can display your individual work. Visitors will periodically enter your home to
view your work so take to keep it orderly and appropriate for visitors.
Designing a Challenge
• Identify significant course objectives and concepts
• Ensure that formative and summative assessment
is practical
• Students must have some insight as to addressing
the challenge (ideas, concepts, etc.)
• Students must recognize deficiencies in their
understanding of related concepts
• Challenge must engage students
• Challenge should be a real world problem
3/18/2016
41
http://sites.google.com/site/stephenwcrown
42
http://sites.google.com/site/stephenwcrown
Critical Thinking Skills:
It is imperative to develop a child's critical thinking
skills. By developing a child's critical thinking, they
become better able to respond to problems
presented to them. Through this challenge, the child
will be better able to analyze information presented
to them and develop an independent solution with
43
reason.
Learning Objectives
• Primary Objectives - By the next class period students will be able to:
– Understand the benefits of playing a game with a plan in mind
– More effectively participate in critical thinking games
• Sub Objectives - The objectives will require that students be able to:
– Express their ideas without reserve
– Willingly desire to triumph in critical thinking games
• Difficulties - Students may have difficulty at first in understanding the
strategy presented to them.
• Real-World Contexts - Good critical thinking skills benefit one by
allowing them to see problems differently and think things through
so that they may form a solution.
Model of Knowledge
 Concept Map
 Content Priorities
 Enduring Understanding
 Understand how to solve higher level critical thinking skills
problems
 Important to Do and Know
 Formulate ideas independently
 Worth Being Familiar with
 Describe a persons physical attributes when presented with a
photograph
Assessment of Learning
• Formative Assessment
– In Class (groups)
• Students will play the "Guess Who" game
• Summative Assessment
– Students will play "20 Questions"
46
The Challenge
How can one play the “Guess Who”
game and be the first one to guess the
correct person / thing?
Learning Circles
• Break into 3 groups
• Discuss: Do you believe that CBI might have a
positive impact on learning in your field of
interest?
– Discuss: What obstacles do you envision?
– Discuss: What is a possible challenge question for a
course you teach?
• Discuss: How might you use technology with
CBI in your own fields, programs, courses?
Summative Assessment
• Reporting back by groups
– CBI in your field
• Obstacles
• Challenge questions
– Interface of technology
• Building a Network
• Conclusions