Flexibilization of Education Through Co-Curricular Learning

Project introduction and background information

Extracurricular student teams (EC-STs) at TU/e have long served as a source of inspiration for challenge-based learning into curricular education. They are part of TU/e’s vision on education as an example of an environment where students work on real-word societal challenges in a self-directed way (Lopez-Arteaga, et. al, 2023). In these teams, students work collaboratively with peers and networks of professionals, including scientific staff and external partners, while developing essential engineering competencies (e.g., Bravo, 2024, 2025a, 2025b).

Despite the richness and relevance of this learning environment, this learning remains in the extracurricular space; unacknowledged, and disconnected from student’s educational programs.

To address this gap, the Program Directors (PDs) of CE&C and BE, together with the Dean BC, initiated a project in 2023 to design an educational experiment. The goal was to enable co-curricular learning for students participating in EC-STs. We refer to this approach as co-curricular learning; a form of flexibilization that allows students to develop self-defined competencies autonomously, in authentic environments of their choosing.

During the academic year (AY) 2024-2025, the two programs, working in collaboration with TU/e innovation Space, General Affairs, and the support of the Dean Bachelor college, undertook a co-creation process to define pilot courses with similar characteristics, offered under four different course codes (two per department: one at bachelor level, one at master level). The pilot courses enable co-curricular learning in the context of EC-STs.

The design includes clearly defined learning goals, assessment as learning procedures and instruments, and key learning activities. All relevant bodies (program committees, exam committees, OO,OGS) have reviewed, approved, and support this small-scale pilot with the aim to evaluate thoroughly and look for possibilities for scale up.

In September 2025, five BE & five CE&C students joined the pilot. 

Objective and expected outcomes

The pilot project places a strong emphasis on educational research and evaluation. Its core research question examines the tension between the open, flexible, and self‑directed nature of extracurricular student team (EC‑ST) learning and the requirements of embedding this learning into the formal curriculum as co‑curricular learning. Because students set individualized goals and achieve highly diverse outcomes, several elements must be explored, including:

• The quality and validity of students’ learning evidence;
• Assessment design and its role in supporting learning;
• Students’ perceived learning gains;
• Alignment with program-level learning outcomes; and
• The value of awarding academic credits from the perspectives of different stakeholders.

Understanding the mechanisms that enable successful co‑curricular learning is essential, particularly for supporting flexible learning pathways within open and self‑directed learning environments. These insights will determine the feasibility of scaling the approach and transferring it to other TU/e contexts.

The outcomes of the research and evaluation efforts will deepen our understanding of what makes co‑curricular, flexible, self‑directed learning successful. More specifically, the project aims to:

1. Evaluate and refine the current course design, enabling iterative improvements necessary for scaling the pilot.
2. Identify key ingredients, conditions, and lessons learned that can inform the development of other co‑curricular, flexible, self‑directed learning environments in engineering education, both within and beyond this specific context.

The results of this project may also be valuable to other universities with extracurricular student teams who are exploring co‑curricular learning, flexible learning pathways, or the awarding of ECTS for self‑directed learning activities. Expected outputs—such as rubric evaluations, student and supervisor perceptions, estimates of time investment, and analyses of students’ learning gains—will support broader discussions on what is required to effectively enable and sustain flexible learning, both within the student team context and beyond.