Implementing active learning methods in engineering education is becoming the new norm and is seen as a prerequisite to prepare future engineers not only for their professional life, but also to tackle global issues. Teachers at higher education institutions are expected and encouraged to introduce their students to active learning experiences, such as problem-, project-, and more recently, challenge-based learning. Teachers have to shift from more traditional teacher-centered education to becoming instructional designers of student-centered education. However, instructional designers (especially novice) often interpret and adapt even well-established methods, such as problem-based learning and project-based learning, such that the intended value thereof risks being weakened. When it comes to more recent educational settings or frameworks, such as challenge-based learning, the practices are not well established yet, so there might be even more experimentation with implementation, especially drawing inspiration from other active learning methods. By conducting a systematic literature analysis of research on problem-based learning, project-based learning, and challenge-based learning, the present paper aims to shed more light on the different steps of instructional design in implementing the three methods. Based on the analysis and synthesis of empirical findings, the paper explores the instructional design stages according to the ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation) model and provides recommendations for teacher practitioners.

The issue of sustainability in education has never been more important for the future of our environment, and strategies to develop the skills needed by younger generations to meet this significant global challenge should be developed across all curricula. There is much focus on the topic of sustainability in business, finance, climate, health, water and education; however, there are some challenges when sustainability needs to be integrated into engineering or fundamental study programs (SPs). In the latter, sustainability is more often emphasized and implemented through its general principles or separate modules in social sciences and project activities. There are a number of questions and challenges in how to highlight sustainability aspects and evaluation metrics due to the specifics of the engineering study field. For evaluating the sustainability level in engineering studies, a hierarchical methodology employing the SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition) model is proposed, taking a technological university in Lithuania as the case study. As a more concrete example, the first and second cycle SPs titled ‘Artificial Intelligence’ are described and analyzed in all relevant perspectives of sustainability. The study proposes five tangible criteria that must be emphasized in the learning process in order to ensure the development of sustainability goals in IT/AI study programs.

Recently, a growing number of Higher Education institutions have started to implement challenge-based learning (CBL) in study processes. However, despite the growing Higher Education attention to challenge-based learning, research on the method, especially in Engineering education, has not been extensively conducted and made publicly available to the community of researchers and teaching practitioners. To bridge this gap, this paper provides a case analysis of implementing challenge-based learning in a Master’s degree program for engineering students, aiming to highlight the main aspects of combining challenge-based learning and Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG 11), namely sustainable cities and communities. The findings are consistent with previous CBL studies revealing positive benefits of implementing the method; however, the paper adds novelty by showcasing the learning pathways that emerge to learners and teachers when CBL is implemented in an SDG-11-focused course.