COVID-19 in challenge-based learning at TU/e

Challenge-based learning (CBL) forms the core of the educational vision of the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) for 2030. It concerns an innovative type of learning where students work on real-life open-ended challenges that directly impact our world (e.g. related to United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals), and where students take ownership of their learning. Besides deepening disciplinary knowledge and skills in context, students learn to collaborate with different disciplines and stakeholders, and deal with complex, open-ended processes. TU/e aims to implement CBL as an educational concept, a learning framework for all programs. TU/e innovation Space is the center of expertise for CBL and student entrepreneurship at TU/e, a learning hub for education innovation, and an open community where students, researchers, industry, and societal organizations can exchange knowledge and develop responsible solutions for real world challenges. In order to specifically target the challenges of our world today, the ‘TU/e against COVID-19’ brokering platform is set up. TU/e innovation Space is the broker for this platform with the purpose to match and to bundle initiatives, brainpower and services through a platform of supply and demand. As such, connecting students, researches and external parties, such as hospitals, companies and service providers. Since the launch of the platform end of March, a stream of initiatives has arisen. Amongst these are the development of a chatbot, which a hospital can use to simplify their internal question and answer process towards employees. This allows busy physicians to focus on primary care. Another example is a social distancing app, which aims to stimulate the distance standard of the 1.5-meter economy in a more natural way during and after the peak of the epidemic. Furthermore, a young TU/e student start-up has developed an application to determine the identity of who is behind a computer based on the pattern of strokes on the keyboard. This is an effective way to detect exam fraud in a period of massive digital education. A final example is a project in which students and researchers are working on an effective way to administer aerosol treatment to small children, without infecting nurses. Although this initiative is relatively new, the formula of TU/e innovation Space is already proving its strength. Apart from the applications that result from it, it has also showed to be an excellent way to stay connected as students and TU/e staff in these difficult times of COVID-19.