CHALLENGE BASED LEARNING PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS TEACHING

The main goal of the learning model at Tecnologico de Monterrey (ITESM) is to develop disciplinary and transversal skills by applying different learning strategies. This model is based on three key elements: it is flexible about when, how and where the learning process takes place, challenging experiences that are appealing to students and learning supported by new technological tools. Challenge based learning (CBL) is a methodology adopted by the educative model of ITESM, since it promotes the development of skills. A challenge is defined as a real-life experience specifically designed to confront a student with an attractive and challenging situation related to his surroundings. The CBL methodology promotes an environment where students must analyse different solutions, mix and use the contents of several disciplines and cease technology to collaborate in teams, share information, experience active learning and gather information about their achievements. An initiative called "Semana I", is organized every fall semester to analyze the impact of CBL methodology in the learning capabilities of the student. During this initiative, the students are completely immersed in analyzing and solving a particular challenge or real-life problem of their choice. In this work, some physics and mathematics challenge based learning experiences, used in "Semana I", are described. At the end of this paper, the work of the students is briefly discussed, results from different surveys applied to sophomore students are shown and compared with the observed skills according to a group of teachers from the area.