Learning in Hackathons: Proposing a methodological framework for the design, implementation and evaluation of interest-driven, community-based events.

Hackathons have gained substantial popularity in the past decade as intensive, short-term events in which participants collaboratively work on projects that are interesting and meaningful to them. In the literature, we find a growing body of research on hackathons, often referencing learning as a motivator for both participants and organizers. With their rise in popularity, hackathons have also been increasingly used in educational contexts to facilitate learning. However, there is a lack of systematic guidance for organizers and educators on how to intentionally set up hackathons for learning and assess learning outcomes. This dissertation addresses this gap by exploring how to promote the standardization and systematization of learning in time-bounded, interest-driven, community-based events such as hackathons. To this end, I propose a methodological framework with guidelines for organizers on how to intentionally set up hackathons for learning. The framework further includes guidelines for educators on the inclusion of hackathon activities in the curriculum. To develop and refine the framework, I used a {dbr} approach and conducted five studies, including a systematic literature review and four hackathon studies. The findings from the systematic literature review highlighted existing research gaps and research directions for the potential of hackathons for learning. The four hackathon studies were conducted in three iterations of the {dbr} process, each contributing to the development and refinement of the methodological framework. The hackathon studies examined various aspects of hackathons for learning, including participant motivations, learning outcomes, the effectiveness of specific design elements, and collaboration approaches in hackathons. The findings demonstrated that participants of voluntary hackathons---that are advertised as learning opportunities---are not necessarily primarily motivated by learning, but also by other factors such as having fun and working on interesting projects. Further, the findings indicated that participants require support in following through with their learning goals during hackathons and that arising issues need to be addressed promptly before having negative effects on collaboration and learning. Overall, this dissertation contributes to the understanding of the deep connection between hackathons and established learning theories and provides practical guidelines for organizers and educators to effectively leverage hackathons as learning environments. The proposed methodological framework serves as a valuable resource for the design and implementation of hackathons for learning and as a foundation for future research in this area.