Webinar Series: Challenge-based Education in Delft – technological and urban innovations

4TU.CEE starts with a new webinar series on challenge-based-education at the 4TUs. TU Delft will kick-off the series. We are looking forward to hearing from 4TU staff about their challenge-based initiatives and sharing our experiences! We wish to engage in an open debate about the best ways to implement challenge-based learning at the 4TUs.

Challenge-based education at TU Delft

Joint Interdisciplinary Project (JIP) – Birgit de Bruin/Renate Klaassen

The Joint Interdisciplinary Project is a second year Master project, where students of different faculties work in interdisciplinary teams on a company case focused on R&D, and technological innovation.  Teams are guided by company coaches, academic staff and course staff and have access to a wide network of consulting academic/ professional experts. This year we have hosted 149 students/34 cases/26 companies and had some interesting results in terms of product development.

City Deal Kennis Maken (CDKM) - Nina Bohm/Ellen van Bueren

Universities and Policy makers in the Urban agglomerates often join forces on urban challenges in city labs, living labs or other joint initiatives. Often the design brief provided to the educational institution and/or students from the governmental institutions is not apt for the purpose of learning in challenge rich learning environments. This study is about how urban challenges offered by governance can be adapted for learning purposes, for both students and co-creating participants? How can the student be prepared to define scope and having appreciation for impact on society? In what way can urban networks contribute to the learning cycle? This will result in a road map for matching stakeholders and assignments for optimal learning results.

CBL- Discussion

Both projects have a strong focus on bringing together expertise and creating an optimal learning process for the students involved either in tech innovation or urban challenges.  In a discussion we explore the difference between the two by defining a number of key parameters (available at that moment in time) for challenge-based assignments, the involvement of stakeholders and possibly the network effects.

Bio’s

Prof. Ellen van Bueren is professor of Urban Development Management at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment. The new chair in Urban Development Management develops tangible concepts, tools and principles for an integrated area-specific approach to contemporary urban challenges. Ellen is well known for her foundational work on urban living labs together with Kris Steen.

Ir. Nina Bohm is a PhD for 4TU CEE/Architecture and the Built Environment and coordinator of the 1^st year AMS Made education programme. In her 1^st year she has received a grant for the City Deal Kennis Maken project “routes naar stedelijke vraagstukken” a roadmap to urban challenges. In this seminar she will share here 1^st observations and theoretical ideas.

Ir. Birgit de Bruin is Programme Manager of the Joint Interdisciplinary Project at TU Delft  she is well versed in Managing strategic interdisciplinary engineering & educational projects, and a pro in enhancing strategic liaisons between education and business bridging the gap between young talent and their future professional environment in engineering.

Dr. Renate Klaassen is programme coordinator of 4TU CEE and senior researcher in Interdisciplinary and challenge-based education and is both involved in the CDKM- project as co-researcher and educational advisor and researcher of the Joint Interdisciplinary Project, amongst many other activities.

About the webinar series

This new webinar series will explore the many forms and variants of challenge-based education at the 4 Technical Universities in the Netherlands. Challenge-based education is propagated as “The framework for Education” preparing students for addressing complex challenges forwarded in the sustainable development goals. These represent the most significant challenges in society, such as climate change, covid 19 and many others in need of technological or other creative and innovative solutions. A challenge typically proposes a real-world and authentic challenge, creating deep, meaningful and purposeful learning, while bridging the gap between academia and society. Yet many questions on how to best realise this type of education remain. Therefore 4TU proposes a series of best practices of Challenge-based learning within each institution and an open debate on specific aspects of the challenge-based learning, and it’s many remaining questions in dire need of substantial educational research.

We are looking forward to hearing from 4TU staff about their challenge based initiatives and experiences and sharing our experiences! We wish to engage in an open debate about the best ways to implement Challenge-based learning at 4TU. We’ll meet you on the following dates: 

• TU Delft – 16 February 9.30 – 11.30 | What type of challenges work best for education; design brief & stakeholder involvement
• University of Twente – 18 March 10.00 – 11.30 | Interdisciplinarity at work
• Eindhoven University of Technology - 14 April 9.00 -11.00 | TU/e innovation Space
• Wageningen University - 19 May 9.00 - 11.00 | Personal/Professional development; a support course for challenge-based education and exploring the preparation and learning outcomes of WUR challenges
• International Contribution – June 

_{Header photo: Delphine Chavalier}

Registration