Students’ Learning Gains in Extracurricular Challenge-Based Learning Teams

This study aims to gain insights into what students learn in engineering-oriented extracurricular student teams. With these insights we can further students’ development of their professional identity and employability. The study involved conducting semi-structured interviews with twelve selected members of two student teams and analyzing the reported outcomes by means of deductive thematic analysis. The results of the analysis revealed that students acknowledged experiencing learning gains through their participation in the teams. Students reported acquiring fundamental engineering knowledge, along with personal and professional skills, interpersonal skills, insights into the innovation process, and leadership in engineering endeavours. These learning gains were facilitated by interactions within the diverse elements of the student teams’ ecosystem.