Educator and Sponsor Meetings

Nurturing Collaboration Through Regular Engagement

Maintaining regular contact throughout the duration of a challenge-based learning collaboration is vital for its success. While the frequency and format of meetings between educators and challenge sponsors can vary based on preferences and needs, experience has shown that certain practices lead to particularly positive outcomes.

Scheduled meetings to review mid-term results, followed by two additional sessions in the final sprint of the student teams' work, create structured opportunities for feedback, adjustment, and reinforcement of the collaboration's goals. These touchpoints:

Ensure Alignment: Regular meetings help keep both educators and sponsors on the same page regarding the challenge's objectives, progress, and any evolving needs or opportunities.

Facilitate Feedback: Mid-term reviews provide a crucial checkpoint to assess progress, address challenges, and make necessary adjustments, ensuring that the project remains on track towards meaningful outcomes.

Boost Engagement: Final sprint sessions increase momentum, focusing efforts on refining solutions and preparing for a successful challenge completion. These meetings can energize all parties involved, fostering a sense of shared achievement and purpose.

Adopting this structured approach to meetings not only enhances the effectiveness of the collaboration but also enriches the learning experience for students, providing them with a clearer sense of direction, feedback, and the opportunity to engage deeply with real-world problems.