The French-Speaking Chemists’ Tournament: A Laboratory-Based Team Debate Competition to Foster Research Skills through Challenge-Based Learning

In the context of teaching laboratory skills, research- and challenge-based approaches are increasingly valued for fostering inquiry, collaboration, and authentic (real-world context) problem-solving. The Tournoi Francophone des Chimistes (French-speaking Chemists’ Tournament, TFChim) implements these approaches through a laboratory-based team debate competition in which senior undergraduate and early graduate students from 13 French-speaking institutions develop and defend original experimental solutions to open-ended chemistry problems. These problems use a challenge-based learning approach, providing authentic opportunities for research, design, and interdisciplinary exploration in real-world or imaginary contexts. Over several months, teams design these solutions before presenting them and critiquing others in structured debates during a two-day tournament. A survey has been administered to the participants at the conclusion of the tournament. Its responses indicate strong perceived gains, particularly in research competencies such as inquiry skills, with most gains occurring during the extended preparation phase. Analyses also show no significant differences between teams, highlighting the consistency of the learning experience across numerous institutions. TFChim offers a novel research-based learning format for laboratory work, and provides a solid framework for developing international online versions or institution-level competitions that engage multiple disciplines in addressing complex problems implemented in authentic situations.