Abstract:

Engineering education is increasingly oriented toward experiential, student-centered pedagogies that equip graduates to address complex, socio-technical challenges. Among these approaches, Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) has gained prominence as a structured framework that integrates disciplinary knowledge, creativity, and social responsibility through engagement with authentic problems aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite its demonstrated benefits, conventional CBL implementations typically revolve around a single challenge per course, potentially limiting iterative learning cycles, cross-contextual transfer of competencies, and exposure to diverse problem spaces. To address these limitations, this study introduces the Multi-Challenge-Based Learning (mCBL) framework as a pedagogical extension of CBL. The mCBL model integrates multiple concurrent, thematically diverse challenges into a single course, thereby broadening students’ engagement with industry-driven projects, technological research questions, and entrepreneurial initiatives. Implemented in an undergraduate Mechatronic Systems Design course, mCBL was designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, peer-to-peer knowledge exchange, and iterative competency development across varied engineering contexts. A mixed-methods evaluation was conducted during pilot implementations to examine the framework’s impact on student motivation, technical and transversal competencies, and contextual understanding of engineering practice. Quantitative survey data and qualitative reflections indicate that mCBL enhances student engagement, strengthens problem-solving and teamwork skills, and promotes adaptive thinking through exposure to multiple authentic scenarios. Although the approach requires increased coordination among faculty members and external stakeholders, it expands opportunities for scalability by enabling broader participation from industry partners and a more diverse set of project pathways within a single academic structure. This paper presents the theoretical underpinnings, instructional design principles, implementation process, and empirical findings of the mCBL framework. The results suggest that mCBL constitutes a robust and scalable model for cultivating adaptive, interdisciplinary engineers capable of addressing societal and sustainability-oriented challenges through continuous, collaborative, and context-rich learning experiences.

Keywords:

Challenge-Based Learning, Multi-Challenge-Based Learning, Engineering Education, Educational Innovation, Experiential Learning, Stakeholder Engagement.