From problems to challenges: a genealogical literature review of challenge-based learning and future directions

This article presents a genealogical literature review of Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) in engineering education, examining how ‘challenge’ became established as a pedagogical category. Drawing on Foucault and critical discourse analysis, it analyses seven literature reviews and 106 primary studies. Historical reconstruction identifies three phases: foundation (2001–2014), consolidation (2015–2018), and expansion (2019–2022). External partnerships increased from 9% of studies in the foundation phase to more than 77% in the expansion phase, making stakeholder participation a prominent marker of authenticity. Across seven analytical dimensions, the review shows how CBL discourse combines innovation, urgency, external relevance, and student agency while obscuring the histories, conflicts, and power relations through which challenges are constituted.CBL discourse promises innovation without genealogy, engagement without conflict, and relevance without resistance. The article proposes six principles for CBL’s maturation: explicit politicization, collective agency and solidarity, reflexive self-authorship, historical and temporal reflexivity, epistemic pluralism, and decolonial reciprocity.