My decision to try Challenge Based Learning in Geography 12 this year was a convergence of factors. I have taught the course since 1993, for the most part during the era of provincial exams. Geography was one of those limited courses that universities recognized for entry. Students had to write an exam in June worth 40% of their mark and the teacher played gatekeeper to content and grades. Enrollment was never a problem and student engagement never an issue. It was buy-in or drop out. 
Ten years ago, I taught 4 blocks of Geography 12. This school year was my first with a single block – and this was with considerable promotion and cheerleading by myself in the Social Studies 11 courses. This year was also the first time that local universities widened their scope of recognized courses to include Social Justice, Economics and Law. Students were following their interests. The filter was off.
Needless to say I was looking for a new approach. In November our vice principal organized a group of teachers to attend a Challenge Based Learning session in Richmond at Apple Canada. I was impressed. I have been using various educational platforms like Desire2Learn, Moodle and Turnitin for the past few years and know their power so the technology emphasis from Apple was welcoming. Early into the presentation I realized that this approach to the Problem Based Learning model was precisely what I was looking for. The difficulty with deciding to try CBL at that point was that Term I was just wrapping-up, December is typically a month of events, distraction and fatigue for students and my own recognition that it would be unfair to require everyone in Geography 12 to buy into a completely new approach to learning. I spent a number of periods selling it to them and discussing “how it could be.” I asked them to return after the holiday having decided to carry on with the same type of class or CBL. I would teach the two streams on alternating periods with the flexibility of the blended designation granted to by our administration.
In January, 19 out of the 28 students chose the Challenge Based Learning option. My approach was to follow the CBL Classroom Guide exactly how it was outlined. My perception of Apple after reading the Steve Jobbs biography is that the company typically takes something and makes it better. I was curious if this would be the case with CBL. I have to admit that a number of red flags went up for me when I reviewed the website, particularly when I logged into the forums to discover no new posts in over a year and few participants. I also recognized that Apple is in the business of selling technology so the push to use devices and computers would most likely be exaggerated. 
Having said that, the program is very well laid-out with suggestions and troubleshooting call-outs, assessment ideas, best practices etc. One thing that really attracted me the program but I was nervous about was the handing over of responsibility of learning to the students. The guide encourages the teacher to step back and resist the urge to step in and manage, direct and otherwise intervene in the process. I suspected that some of the students would need more structure. I became the facilitator of the process. My mantra was “I am here to help you in any way, just ask.” I have to admit that the urge to step in lay down ultimatums through deadlines and workflow is huge, particularly when efforts wane. The shift in teacher-student relationship is critical; in fact I don’t know how CBL would operate without it but finding the balance between structure and intrusion into their learning is challenging especially when they stumble.
I made a number of assumptions. Some came true but others surprised me. The first was that the students would not learn as much as they would in the traditional program. They actually do learn more and at a much higher level but this is over a much wider scope of knowledge rather than vocabulary, date and personality driven content. The most impressive learning is in their ability to communicate in groups, contact people outside of the school, express their learning through reflections and use technology. The teacher must come to terms with abandoning the paradigm of learning a small amount of information over a greater scope of subjects and retaining it for a short period of time to one of learning a more specific issue or topic at significantly greater depth and retaining it for a lifetime.
I also expected them to lose momentum and interest in the early going. I was prepared to play coach and cheerleader. The result was an impressive level of engagement from January to Spring Break. April and May were difficult for many reasons including: early acceptance to university, spring sports playoffs and provincial championships, AP exams, prom, grad, nice weather and general grade 12 term 3 malaise. My inclination right now is not to bridge the program across Christmas or Spring Break and to do something else with grade 12’s in Term 3. I assumed that contact would be seamless because of the team blog format and Twitter but I learned that when students are being unproductive they avoid contact with each other and me. I learned that the only reliable and verifiable way to contact them is through Facebook. I am unfamiliar with it and really not interested. One student made an account and 3 teams made team pages that gave me access to them. Reluctantly I have to admit is a very effective way to have instant contact.
Challenge Based Learning exceeded my expectations. I was fairly certain that the students would ebb and flow with their interest and efforts. They did so to a lesser degree than I expected. More importantly almost all of them re-engaged by mid-May and finished the year with an impressive product and presentation. Most gratifying is how proud they are of their teammates and themselves.
Kitsilano Geography 12 Challenge Based Learning 