Constructive, Collaborative, Contextual, and Self-Directed Learning

At the Faculty of Science and Engineering

Martijn Boussé, Hanne Diliën, Joris van Poecke, Lonneke Bevers, Stefan Jongen

Problem-Based Learning is more than a single instructional format. Through more than thirty examples from across Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics, this booklet shows how Constructive, Collaborative, Contextual, and Self-Directed Learning principles can provide a flexible foundation for creative, rigorous, and meaningful higher education.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.26481/mup.2610

Published Online
29-09-2026

License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0)

Copyright
© 2026 The Authors and Maastricht University

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Book description

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) has shaped education at Maastricht University (UM) for more than five decades. Yet PBL is sometimes narrowly associated with one particular instructional format: the seven-step approach. Constructive, Collaborative, Contextual, and Self-Directed (CCCS) Learning at the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE) takes a broader perspective. It presents the four CCCS learning principles as a flexible set of design principles for meaningful teaching, learning, and assessment.

The booklet brings together more than thirty examples from across FSE. Organised around Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM), the cases span educational levels from pre-university education to PhD training and cover a wide variety of formats, including tutorials, laboratories, projects, fieldwork, assessment, games, and technology-enhanced learning.

Each case starts from an educational challenge, describes a concrete intervention, and reflects on the design through the CCCS lens. Readers encounter examples ranging from student-led mathematics tutorials and open-ended physics experiments to robotics projects, ecological fieldwork, co-created assessment, serious games, and authentic engineering challenges. Together, they demonstrate that student-centred learning can take many different forms while remaining academically rigorous and appropriate to the demands of STEAM education.

Rather than prescribing a single method, the booklet inspires educators to rethink their own practice. It shows how CCCS learning principles can serve as a shared language for educational innovation while allowing room for disciplinary differences, creativity, co-creation, playful learning, technology, and different approaches to PBL.

The collection is intended as a practical source of ideas for teachers, course coordinators, programme directors, educational developers, and University Teaching Qualification participants within Maastricht University and beyond. Its central message is simple: CCCS learning is not confined to one classroom format or one disciplinary tradition; it is a versatile foundation for designing engaging and meaningful higher education.

Key Features

30+ concrete educational cases demonstrating CCCS learning in practice.

Full STEAM coverage, with examples from Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics.

Beyond the seven-step approach, illustrating the diversity and flexibility of Problem-Based Learning.

Practice-oriented format, with each case structured around an educational challenge, an intervention, and reflection through the CCCS lens.

Wide variety of educational formats, including tutorials, laboratories, projects, fieldwork, assessment, games, co-creation, and technology-enhanced learning.

Broad educational range, with examples spanning pre-university education, bachelor’s and master’s programmes, and PhD training.

Designed for transfer, offering ideas that educators can adapt to their own courses, programmes, and disciplinary contexts.

Useful for professional development, including teacher training, UTQ activities, educational workshops, and curriculum (re)design.

Target audiences and educational use

The primary target audience consists of higher education teachers, tutors, course coordinators, programme directors, educational developers, and others involved in designing or improving teaching, learning, and assessment. The booklet is particularly relevant to educators working in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM), but the examples and underlying CCCS principles are transferable to other disciplinary contexts.

Within Maastricht University, the booklet can also support participants and trainers in teacher professional development, including the University Teaching Qualification (UTQ), as well as educational leaders and programme teams seeking practical examples of Problem-Based Learning and CCCS-informed educational design.

The booklet is intended primarily as an inspiration and professional development resource rather than a traditional textbook. Educators can use individual cases to explore how Constructive, Collaborative, Contextual, and Self-Directed (CCCS) learning principles translate into concrete teaching activities, assessment formats, projects, laboratories, and other educational settings.

The cases can be used individually for course (re)design or collectively in teacher training, workshops, curriculum development, and programme-level discussions. Their common challenge–intervention–CCCS reflection structure makes them particularly suitable for discussing educational design choices and adapting successful ideas to different disciplinary and institutional contexts.

About the editors and the authors

Martijn Boussé (ORCID) is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Advanced Computing Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE), Maastricht University. His work combines mathematics education, educational innovation and research, with particular interests in game-based learning, co-creation, and technology-enhanced education. As coordinator of the Computing Sciences Education research theme, he contributes to educational innovation and professional development across FSE. He initiated and coordinated this publication and contributed to its conceptual framing and case collection.

Hanne Diliën (ORCID) is an Associate Professor in organic and polymer chemistry and Portfolio Holder Education at FSE, Maastricht University. She has extensive experience in teaching, curriculum development, programme accreditation, educational policy, and quality assurance, including as former Programme Director of Business Engineering. Her work focuses on developing and strengthening high-quality, future-oriented STEAM education. She contributed to the publication and several of its educational cases.

Joris van Poecke (ORCID) is a Programme Manager at FSE, Maastricht University, with a background in educational psychology. His work combines programme management with research on student motivation and support for teaching staff through FSE’s Teacher Information Point. He has extensive experience developing and managing educational and preparatory programmes for diverse student populations. He contributed to the publication and its translation of CCCS principles into educational practice.

Lonneke Bevers (ORCID) is an educational scientist at Maastricht University with a background in biochemistry. Working within interdisciplinary liberal arts and sciences education, she focuses on curriculum design, meaningful assessment, faculty development, and supporting students in open and self-directed curricula. Her work connects constructive alignment and the CCCS principles with educational innovation and emerging developments such as Generative AI. She contributed her educational expertise to the conceptual development and case collection of this publication.

Stefan Jongen (ORCID) leads Teacher Professional Development and Support at the Expertise Centre of Education (ECO) at the Open University. His work focuses on teaching quality, educational innovation, and evidence-informed professional development. Previously, he worked at Maastricht University as a teacher, educational researcher, and coordinator of teacher professional development, contributing to curriculum design and research on learning and technology. He co-initiated and developed this publication and contributed to its conceptual framing and the collection of educational practices.

Publication details and metadata

Title
Constructive, Collaborative, Contextual, and Self-Directed Learning

Subtitle
At the Faculty of Science and Engineering

Authors
Martijn Boussé (ORCID) – Maastricht University (ROR)
Hanne Diliën (ORCID) – Maastricht University (ROR)
Joris van Poecke (ORCID) – Maastricht University (ROR)
Lonneke Bevers (ORCID) – Maastricht University (ROR)
Stefan Jongen (ORCID) – Maastricht University (ROR)

Design and layout
Grafisch Ontwerpburo Emilio Perez

Published by
Maastricht University Press | Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands

DOI (digital version)
https://doi.org/10.26481/mup.2610

Published On
29 September 2026

License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0)

Third-party content – Note on images/photographs

ISBN
Soft Cover: 9789403929699

Access to this publication
Download: https://umlib.nl/mup.2610.pdf
Read Online: https://umlib.nl/mup.2610.flip
Purchase a copy: https://umlib.nl/mup.2610.pbck

Publication Type and Language
Book – English

Subject
Education

Keywords
Problem-Based Learning, higher education, STEAM Education, constructive learning, contextual learning, collaborative learning, self-directed learning, active learning, assessment, educational innovation

Audience

Citation for this work
Boussé, M., Diliën, H., van Poecke, J., Bevers, L., & Jongen, S. (2026). Constructive, collaborative, contextual, and self-directed learning: At the Faculty of Science and Engineering. Maastricht University Press. https://doi.org/10.26481/mup.2610

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Front cover of MUP publication: Constructive, Collaborative, Contextual, and Self-Directed Learning