Prof Dr Charlotte Norrman is Associate Professor at Linköping University in Sweden where she teaches in the Division of Project Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Department of Management and Engineering. She is co-developer and organiser of the InGenious project, which offers challenge-based innovation and learning across a network of European universities (ECIU) and companies. We spoke to Charlotte Norrman to learn more about her motivation to take up challenge-based learning in her teaching and her role in the InGenious challenges.

Why did you decide to include a challenge-based learning format in your curriculum?

Prof Dr Charlotte Norrman: Before joining Linköping University around 20 years ago, I had gathered industry experience for about ten years, mostly at organisations in the entrepreneurial support system. So, when I first started my journey at Linköping University as a PhD student, I brought in a very practice-oriented view and right away, started to co-develop courses in which we worked with external idea owners. So, essentially you could say that I have worked with practice-based learning for 20 years now.

Eventually, I started to work with external actors more as challenge providers, meaning that the companies present a challenge they are facing and provide my students the opportunity to help them in finding a solution to that real-life problem. I have mostly moved towards challenge-based learning, because I believe that it greatly enhances entrepreneurial learning and experience. Also, I have noticed that it increases student motivation, because the students realise that the companies are genuinely interested in the ideas and solutions they come up with and that they are very open to co-develop and discuss with them at eye-level. In this way, the students get more relevance and acknowledgement in what they do. Of course, that doesn’t mean that all students are motivated to work with challenges – but speaking from my experience, most do!

What has your experience been like?

Prof Dr Charlotte Norrman: One of the biggest challenge-based projects I have been involved in is the InGenious project. Since 2016, I have co-developed this course together with my colleagues. When we started out, we laid the foundation for a course in which students work on real-life challenges brought forward by companies, public bodies or civil organisations. We then continued to develop and gradually adjust and improve the course strategy, in constant interplay with academic staff from other universities, such as Twente University in the Netherlands and Stavanger University in Norway.

In the InGenious challenges, we generally go through three phases which follow the ECIU (European Consortium of Innovative Universities) approach: ‘Engage, Investigate and Act’. The first phase is about the students taking on the challenge. As academic staff, we want our students to be fully engaged in the challenge, so that they can move on to the second phase in which they start to investigate and collect information. This enables them to move onwards to the third and final phase in which they come up with their solution.

We have also been inspired by the pedagogical framework ‘Conceiving, Designing, Implementing, Operating’ (CDIO™), which is quite similar to ECIU’s ‘Engage, Investigate and Act’ approach, actually. It was championed by the CDIO™ Initiative which holds the view that engineers must be able to engineer. The same way probably no one would want to be treated by a freshly graduated surgeon who has only studied theory, the goal is to educate and train engineers that have both knowledge and skills.

As academic staff, what exactly is your role in challenge-based learning?

Prof Dr Charlotte Norrman: I identify with what the ECIU refers to as ‘teamcher’, which, and according to a paper that we are currently working on, actually encompasses three roles. The first is that of the teacher where the focus is on knowledge creation and transferring knowledge and facilitating knowledge building. The second role is that of coach, which is more skills-oriented. As a coach, you work with questions that stimulate students to improve their skills, especially 21^st century skills such as being creative, flexible and innovative, being able to work in groups, being able to search for information and question things in a constructive way, etc. All these kinds of skills are facilitated by the coaching role. The third role is that of the organiser, as you need to work with the challenge providers and set the scene. This requires a lot of organising.

I think that all of those roles can be held by one single person, but it is better if they are shared between several people – especially in the context of courses or big events. It is important for university staff to learn how to switch between these three roles. That can be challenging, especially if you’re mostly used to the traditional teacher role. But to be able to successfully arrange and carry out challenge-based activities or courses, you really need to be able to take on all three roles.

How do you facilitate your students’ learning and development processes during challenges?

Prof Dr Charlotte Norrman: I really want my students to understand entrepreneurship, not just to read about it. That means that I motivate my students to step into the shoes of an entrepreneur. For instance, when it comes to the question of “Who is my customer?”, there really is only one way to go about it: to go out there and find out. Oftentimes, the students are shocked at first. However, after having talked to the first presumptive customer they begin to understand why I ask them do so. For instance, it might help them realise that the customer doesn’t like the idea they propose at all. This challenges them and helps them to understand what it is like to be an entrepreneur. Instead of just learning that entrepreneurs go out to speak to customers, they do so themselves and learn from this experience.

So, I really believe students need to both read about entrepreneurship and relate it to a context through first-hand experience. That is also why I have decided to incorporate this into my grading and make it a minimum requirement for a pass to have talked to at least one potential customer.

“Experiential learning such as challenge-based learning allows students to gain both theoretical knowledge and practical skills. While it’s a tougher way for students to acquire new knowledge and skills, at the same time it’s a much more impactful way. The course results confirm this.” – Professor Charlotte Norrman

In your view, what are the advantages of taking up challenge-based learning formats in comparison to research-, problem- or project-based learning?

Prof Dr Charlotte Norrman: Well, I think there are actually many similarities between problem-based and challenge-based learning, since they both have their roots in experiential learning. But in comparison to problem-based learning, which usually aims at finding the solution, challenge-based learning revolves more around finding a solution. I think one could say that challenge-based learning is more entrepreneurial. The focus lies less on the one right answer, but rather on the journey taken towards developing a solution – which in the end, maybe isn’t even so much the perfect solution.

In general, problem-based learning is a little ‘stricter’ which can work well in certain settings. For instance, it is a suitable approach in health-care where you work with diagnosing problems to determine the one suitable cure to the problem. But sustainability problems, wicked in nature, can be solved either one way or another way – there isn’t a single right answer. Here, the challenge-based learning pedagogy is more suitable, in my opinion.

The drawback is that challenge-based learning entails a lot of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity), which can be hard to handle for the students. Another drawback is that it requires resources.

How to best ensure successful university-business collaboration in sustainable venturing challenges? 

Prof Dr Charlotte Norrman: I think it’s a lot about aligning expectations. For instance, it’s important for university staff to inform the challenge provider about how to formulate challenges. Ideally, they are formulated in an open and broad way. The challenge provider should also be made aware of the fact that they should not expect to receive the solution, but a solution. It is not about steering or monitoring the students, but working and co-developing a solution with them. Besides, all involved need to understand that they need to be prepared to invest time into preparing and carrying out the challenge. 

How relevant for the future is challenge-based learning and cooperation between universities and companies, in your opinion? 

Prof Dr Charlotte Norrman: I think it is highly relevant, especially with regard to the development of regional innovation ecosystems such as the European innovation ecosystem. In such a system, competence supply is very important. Challenge-based learning formats are a great way for both industry and governmental bodies to get in contact with universities.

For universities, they create relevance in their education through working with real-life problems and fusing the development of knowledge and skills. Similar to what the CDIO™ Initiative postulates, I believe that theoretical courses are needed, but it is also important for students to gain practical knowledge and skills. Experiential learning such as challenge-based learning allows for both. While it’s a tougher way for students to acquire new knowledge and skills, at the same time it’s a much more impactful way. The course results confirm this.

Really, I think it’s a natural way of learning and something that is not new at all. Already in 1924, Mary Parker Follett spoke of the importance of combining theory with practice in learning. I’m glad to see that at the moment, more and more actors are picking up on this. 

Would you recommend other university staff to take up challenge-based learning into their curricula, and if so, why? 

Prof Dr Charlotte Norrman: Yes, I would! Though I would add as a sidenote that one should be aware of the fact that this can hardly be done within a day, but is a steady learning process. It can be especially challenging for those teachers to take up who have so far practiced rather traditional, knowledge-based teaching. It also requires quite some investment of resources, as well as an extensive network to find challenge providers and develop challenges with them.  

For this reason, I think a good way to get started with integrating this form of learning into your curriculum could be to become part of a ‘teamcher’ team. All in all, while it is definitely not an easy way of doing your job, and doesn’t necessarily fit every teacher, it can be extremely fulfilling and fun – not only for university staff, but challenge providers and solvers alike.

Why did you decide to develop and work with challenge-based learning formats?

Dr Frans Stel: Challenge-based learning is a modern way of teaching: it’s a more effective way of learning and very appealing to (some) students, because of its ‘learning-by-doing’ nature. Afterwards, the students reflect upon their learnings.

What has your experience been?

Dr Frans Stel: Extremely positive, despite being somewhat time-consuming. It is useful, especially for more senior students.

As academic staff, what exactly is your role during the challenges?

Dr Frans Stel: I would say my role is that of an organiser or co-organiser, but also teacher, coach and trainer. I facilitate the students’ learning processes by offering useful tools and providing coaching and advice.

In your view, what are the advantages (and disadvantages, if any) of taking up challenge-based learning formats in comparison to research-, problem- or project-based learning?

Dr Frans Stel: Challenge-based learning offers highly motivated, rather senior students, the advantage of being able to integrate theory and practice. However, it can be a time-consuming and therefore expensive educational format.

“I think that to a certain extent, challenge-based learning will actually substitute traditional educational approaches.” – Dr Frans Stel

How to best ensure successful university-business collaboration in sustainable venturing challenges? 

Dr Frans Stel: From my experience, the key to successful university-industry collaboration in developing and carrying out sustainable venturing challenges is to build up a strong ecosystem of long-term partners.

How relevant for the future is challenge-based learning and cooperation between universities and companies, in your opinion? 

Dr Frans Stel: Very relevant! I think that to a certain extent, challenge-based learning will actually substitute traditional educational approaches.

Would you recommend other university staff to take up challenge-based learning into their curricula, and if so, why? 

Dr Frans Stel: Yes, but only if they are motivated and enabled to participate in terms of time, workload, infrastructure and tools.

Why did you decide to include challenge-based learning in your curriculum?

Anne Seela: Well, I am a teaching team member in the module ‘Sustainable Venturing’ at University of Oldenburg. In this module – it was introduced in 2009 by Prof Klaus Fichter and Prof Alexander Nicolai – the collaboration with business partners and students always has been core. So, entrepreneurs bring in either a specific sustainability-oriented innovation idea or a sustainability-related problem which requires an innovative solution. The latter can be coined a ‘challenge’. The concept of challenge-based learning describes and frames best what students encounter. Based on a real innovation idea or sustainability challenge, they generate ideas and develop them further and assess them in regard to economic viability and environmental and social impact. In all courses, students enjoy working in this practical way and help to bring these sustainable ideas to the market. We are also convinced that by putting the business idea in a wider context, we can support out-of-the box thinking.

What has your experience been like?

Anne Seela: Challenges are challenging. More challenging than simple problem-based learning (which we had employed when we first introduced the course). Students are demanded to deal with bigger uncertainty and a ‘VUCA’ situation. VUCA stands for ‘Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity’. Thus, students need to answer questions like “How to interpret the conditions?”, “Would the idea or suggestion for a solution meet the customers’ needs?”, “Are the ideas environmentally sustainable?”. We could observe that students sometimes are a bit confused and need some time until their project plan is ready to go.

From my point of view, this is part of the learning process as well. Since 2019, we ask students to fill in a self-assessment questionnaire on Sustainable Entrepreneurship Competencies. We found that especially in the field of “system thinking competencies” and “strategic competencies” significant competence developments seem to happen. Unfortunately, we don’t have data that was collected before the course started. However, I am convinced that there is a correlation with challenge-based learning.

As academic staff, what exactly is your role in the challenge-based module?

Anne Seela: I see myself as organiser and mentor. Before the challenge can start, we have to find interesting business partners and suitable sustainability challenges. That means constantly scanning the community to build up good networks, contacting and convincing interesting entrepreneurs and finally, forming a good challenge – one that is highly relevant for the business partner, fits into the course topic and is demanding but doable for our students.

Within the teaching team – we are three to four lecturers from two different chairs – we plan the respective procedure and provide supporting materials. As mentor I am responsible for supporting the class in organisational matters. I also coach teams of students during their individual project phase.

How do you facilitate your students’ learning and development processes during challenges?

Anne Seela: There are two very important points for me. On the one hand, there needs to be a good structure of the course, a (pre-)selection of suitable methods and tools to deal with the challenges. We are always discussing in the team (and together with the students) how to improve this part of the course.

On the other hand, there is the coaching process. As coach I am responsible for keeping the things ongoing. So, I am not as deeply involved in the topic as my student groups are, but I help with knowledge about tools and methods, I give courage in the face of difficulties and I am there to help, should any conflict with the business partner occur.

“Universities are educating the change agents of tomorrow. This requires a good mixture of learning approaches. Challenge-based learning definitely brings a lot of fun for students, lecturers and business partners and accelerates sustainable business ideas.” – Anne Seela

In your view, what are the advantages of taking up challenge-based learning formats in comparison to research-, problem- or project-based learning?

Anne Seela: Well, some aspects I have already mentioned. It’s always crucial to define a good challenge which has the potential to bring about sustainable advantages and is doable for the students. It should be as wide and open as possible and as concrete as necessary.

Moreover, with regard to the challenge concept, the business partners should be prepared for the fact that the solutions the students come up with could be unexpected. I think that in problem- or project-based learning, the ‘right’ solutions are more pre-defined though not in detail. Challenge-based learning as we understand it in our concept is more a depiction of the requirements that students are faced with after their graduation.

How to best ensure successful university-business collaboration in sustainable venturing challenges? 

Anne Seela: The basis for successful cooperation is good communication between all stakeholders. It is crucial for collaboration to know and deal with the expectations of all groups. Course guidelines before the challenge as well as regular feedback sessions during the challenge help to ensure a good process.

How relevant for the future is challenge-based learning and cooperation between universities and companies, in your opinion? 

Anne Seela: While society is facing enormous global challenges, universities are educating the change agents of tomorrow. Therefore, it is logical that besides their scientific learning, students are already confronted with global challenges in an educational setting. Although challenge-based learning doesn’t necessarily include cooperation with companies, it brings a huge benefit into the challenge. It is not only the practical relevance, students also need to learn to work with people from different disciplines, to understand the technical side of a product or process and also to present their results to non-business educated persons, address issues of sustainability to different business units and so on.

I would like to add another aspect. Sustainability-related problems are mostly global and can’t be solved by single local solutions. So, it would be great to organise challenge-based learning formats also on an international level to give students the possibility to learn in an intercultural setting. That’s what we are going to implement during a new EU-funded project from this year on.

Would you recommend other university staff to take up challenge-based learning into their curricula, and if so, why? 

Anne Seela: I do not want to play off one format against the other. A good mixture of learning approaches is needed at university. However, if it fits into the learning objectives of a curriculum and if there is enough capacity to organise and support challenges, it definitely brings a lot of fun for students, lecturers and business partners and accelerates sustainable business ideas.

As capacity (with regard to time and finances) is crucial when it comes to collaborating with companies, it would be great if support structures at university or even regional level could be developed. Such support structures could help with networking and matchmaking and multiply the effect of student-business collaboration linked with challenge-based learning.

Why did you decide to include challenge-based learning in your curriculum?

Dr Wisdom Kanda: It is increasingly important for students to develop the skills needed for solving real-world problems and not just grades. By including challenged-based learning in our curriculum, we give students the opportunity to solve challenges and develop skills of relevance for their future employers.

What has your experience been?

Dr Wisdom Kanda: My experience has been that both students and companies enjoy this interaction. More so, as sustainability-related challenges are becoming more important, students see this as an opportunity to find future employers while companies also use this opportunity to find new ideas and showcase themselves as attractive future employers. Thus, it is fantastic for me as a facilitator to bring students and companies together.

As academic staff, what exactly is your role during the challenges?

Dr Wisdom Kanda: I have had different roles during the challenges: from recruiting students to coaching student teams and voting for various student ideas as a jury member.

How do you facilitate your students’ learning and development processes during challenges?

Dr Wisdom Kanda: I facilitated their learning by assisting them to focus and narrow down from a broad set of possibilities. I did this by asking students questions and giving them the opportunity and tools to think. When you as a facilitator ask the “right” questions, the students can always make progress.

In your view, what are the advantages (and disadvantages, if any) of taking up challenge-based learning formats in comparison to research-, problem- or project-based learning?

Dr Wisdom Kanda: It takes time and effort to bring a team of students, companies, and facilitators together to co-develop ideas and work on a good challenge in a module.

“The collaboration between universities and companies is particularly important for the future with regards to accelerating the transition to a circular economy and achieving the UN SDGs.” – Dr Wisdom Kanda

How to best ensure successful university-business collaboration in sustainable venturing challenges? 

Dr Wisdom Kanda: By aligning expectations between students and industry representatives, for example in terms of the outcomes of challenges, the quality of outcomes, and the uptake of solutions.  This ensures that either party is not disappointed.

How relevant for the future is challenge-based learning and cooperation between universities and companies, in your opinion? 

Dr Wisdom Kanda: The collaboration between universities and companies is particularly important for the future with regards to accelerating the transition to a circular economy and achieving the UN SDGs. Companies and their support actors in industry are often generalist with regards to circular economy and the UN SDGs. This is where the university can come in and provide specific competence on such topics, for instance through formats such as challenges, to help companies advance their efforts.

Would you recommend other university staff to take up challenge-based learning into their curricula, and if so, why? 

Dr Wisdom Kanda: Yes, I recommend university staff to take up challenge-based learning as an important extension to their teaching and research. Through challenge-based learning, university staff can have a direct impact on students and companies.

Prof Dr Klaus Fichter is Professor of Innovation Management and Sustainability at the Department for Economics, Management and Law at Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg in Germany. He is the academic director of the Master’s programme in Innovation Management & Entrepreneurship and is responsible for the study field “Eco-Entrepreneurship” in the Master’s programme in Sustainability Economics and Management. The innovative challenge-based study module “Sustainable Venturing”, which was largely developed by Professor Klaus Fichter, received the prestigious Hans Sauer Award in the category “Promoting Environmental Innovation”. We spoke to Klaus Fichter about his experience in developing and carrying out challenge-based learning formats in sustainable venturing.

Why did you decide to include a challenge-based learning format in your curriculum?

Prof Dr Klaus Fichter: In order to master the grand challenges of the future, such as climate change, we need specialists and managers who learn how to tackle sustainability challenges and develop sustainable business models as early as their studies. Challenge-based learning is a perfect basic concept for this.

What has your experience been like?

Prof Dr Klaus Fichter: We have been offering the “Sustainable Venturing” module at the University of Oldenburg for master’s students from various disciplines since 2009. Here, students work in small groups of 3 or 4 on sustainability challenges that are to be solved by means of innovative products or services. In developing sustainable business models for these challenges, students work closely with business partners such as founding teams, start-ups and established companies.

The experience is fantastic: students are excited to develop innovative solutions and business models for real-world problems. We see strong competence improvements among the students here within a short period of time. But the business partners are also enthusiastic, because they get new perspectives, new ideas and implementation-oriented business models developed by committed students. The practical benefits for the practice partners are high.

As academic staff, what exactly is your role in challenge-based learning?

Prof Dr Klaus Fichter: First, we are the initiators for various teaching and transfer formats for challenge-based learning. When implementing modules such as “Sustainable Venturing”, we select suitable business partners in advance who either already have an innovative sustainability solution that should be developed further, or who formulate a concrete sustainability challenge from their industry that can be well addressed by students within three to four months. The selection of suitable practice partners and good expectation management (what does a business partner have to contribute in terms of time and supervision, what concrete results can they expect, etc.) are key success factors for teaching formats of challenge-based learning. During the module, the academic staff provides technical input (e.g. how to develop a sustainable business model) and coaches the student teams. The teaching personnel is first and foremost a learning facilitator and the ones who set the right framework.

How do you facilitate your students’ learning and development processes during challenges?

Prof Dr Klaus Fichter: We provide methods and tools for the development of sustainable innovative solutions and business models, coach the student teams and provide learning frameworks and digital learning platforms. Furthermore, we organize effective forms of interaction and cooperation between students and business partners.

“A key success factor is expectation management. All participants must know in advance what is expected of them, what they must contribute in terms of time and workload, and what the rules of the game are for cooperation.” – Professor Klaus Fichter

In your view, what are the advantages of taking up challenge-based learning formats in comparison to research-, problem- or project-based learning?

Prof Dr Klaus Fichter: Challenge-based learning comprises elements of problem-based and project-based learning, but goes one step further: it formulates a concrete task from practice for which students need to develop an innovative solution that can be implemented in the real world. We require this solution to be sustainable, i.e. contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

How to best ensure successful university-business collaboration in sustainable venturing challenges? 

Prof Dr Klaus Fichter: It needs suitable practice partners who are interested in innovation, sustainability and the implementation of the solutions developed in collaboration with the students. A key success factor is expectation management. All participants must know in advance what is expected of them, what they must contribute in terms of time and workload, and what the rules of the game are for cooperation. This may also include confidentiality agreements, because the projects are often competition-relevant. Furthermore, all participants have to learn how to deal with the basic characteristics of challenge-based learning, namely VUCA. VUCA stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.

How relevant for the future is challenge-based learning and cooperation between universities and companies, in your opinion? 

Prof Dr Klaus Fichter: It is fundamentally important. While challenge-based learning was hardly a component of bachelor and master programmes in the past, this form of learning and competence development will play a central role in the future. For example, in management programmes, it will account for a quarter to half of the degree programme.

Would you recommend other university staff to take up challenge-based learning into their curricula, and if so, why? 

Prof Dr Klaus Fichter: Yes, absolutely, but one should be aware that this form of teaching requires different prerequisites and skills on the part of the teaching personnel. It requires the willingness to cooperate with practice partners, to take on the role of a learning coach instead of frontal teaching, a good expertise in application-oriented methods and tools, and the willingness to engage with VUCA.