Abstract:

Despite extensive efforts, the current higher education system does not adequately prepare engineering students for their future in Industry 5.0. Instead, it continues to focus on the mere retrieval of knowledge rather than on the acquisition of competencies that will enable students to develop holistic, sustainable, human-centered, and trans- and interdisciplinary solutions. At the Cologne University of Applied Sciences, challenge-based learning (CBL) has been applied in the seminar “Innovation Management” of a master’s program in mechanical engineering as a method to empower students to become highly qualified technical experts. More so, they become creative problem solvers who responsibly design and manage future products, processes, and infrastructures, considering digital, economic, ecological, and social dimensions. Similar to problem-based learning, students are tasked to find solutions to real-world problems. However, in CBL the process of developing competencies is the objective not the solution to the problem itself. As a result of a participatory restructuring process, the theoretical input at the beginning of the semester was shortened to expand the “method labs” as an interactive learning format. The classical learning and teaching roles were reversed, giving the students the opportunity to critically engage with the content and structures of their courses. This co-creative dialogue empowers students to engage in discourse and consensus-building in the longer term. Various open-ended formats in the course encourage bidirectional teaching and feedback. The paper explores how the new structure of the course shifts away from classical frontal teaching to learning spaces that give students the opportunity to try out agile and solution-oriented methods for fostering future skills. Thus, after the initial theoretical input, the students work autonomously in small groups on solving a challenge, in this case, a Shitty Robot Challenge. Throughout the semester, several method labs provide the students with necessary skills such as rapid prototyping, user-centered design, and methods for fostering creativity. By formulating openly defined tasks and encouraging independent, criteria-oriented robot development, students gain an understanding of the significance of creativity, cooperation, and communication as essential skills for future technological innovations. These skills include the cultivation of an innovation culture that embraces failure as a means of constructive learning. As exemplified, a "Best Fail Award" recognizes the team that demonstrates the most significant turnaround by embracing and learning from their failures. By engaging industry experts through guest lectures, students have the chance to learn from professionals with hands-on experience in the field of Industry 5.0. These experts provide valuable insight and feedback helping students develop a deeper understanding of the industry and its requirements.
Finally, results from reflecting sessions and qualitative feedback given by students and lecturers will be discussed and serve as a basis for the continuous development of the teaching/learning concept. Overall, this paper aims to contribute insights into how challenge-based learning can be applied to equip future engineers with urgently needed Future Skills especially fostering creativity, collaborative learning, critical thinking and design thinking, thus preparing them for the challenges of Industry 5.0.

Keywords:

Challenge-Based Learning, Teaching Methods, Future Skills, Engineering Education, Responsible Engineering, Industry 5.0.