Combining virtual exchange with challenge-based learning: the experience of the “Virtual Environmental Challenge”

This practice report presents the use of Virtual Exchange (VE) (O’Dowd, 2018) and Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) (Gallagher & Savage, 2020) as a means to enhance an Internationalisation at Home (IaH) (Beelen & Jones, 2015) experiment. The present study focuses on the “Virtual Environmental Challenge” (VEC) which brought together 10 different universities from 7 different countries, in the context of an Erasmus+ project. Now in its third iteration, the VE is focusing on the VEC in tandem with Challenge-Based Learning. The CBL approach can be considered as Project-Based Learning (PBL) (Fleming, 2002) with the students in charge of defining their own project. Explaining the conceptual framework of CBL allowed for the transmission and communication of the complex elements of the VEC in an easy to understand format. This article reports back on the experience, feedback and learning experiences of the VEC in order to map out the future perspectives of the project. The contribution of this report is to ground CBL as a pedagogical new approach in the form of experiential learning (Kolb, 2015). This report also aims to inform practitioners about the value of VE, CBL, and IaH focused projects and the rewards these projects can bring.