Challenge and Self Determination

By Mark Nichols

Why do some learners light up when facing a difficult challenge while others disengage the moment the task feels uncertain? The answer, as decades of research suggest, may lie not in ability or grit but in how the learning environment meets three deep psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. These are the cornerstones of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), developed by psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan (1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000), and they provide a powerful lens for understanding why Challenge Based Learning (CBL) works.

The Science of Motivation

At its core, SDT argues that people are naturally curious, proactive, and growth-oriented — but that motivation thrives only when certain conditions are met. We engage deeply when we feel autonomous (we have choice and agency), competent (we can make progress and master something meaningful), and related (we feel connected to others and to a larger purpose). When these needs are frustrated, motivation withers; when they are supported, learning becomes self-sustaining.

This framework connects directly to the experience of challenge. As Csikszentmihalyi (1990) described in his theory of flow, motivation peaks when the challenge before us is difficult enough to demand effort but not so overwhelming that it breeds anxiety. Challenge, then, is not the enemy of motivation — it is the condition that activates it, provided the learner feels capable and supported.

Challenge as Structure, Not Stress

Challenge Based Learning embodies this psychology in practice. Each phase — Engage, Investigate, Act — gives learners structured freedom to pursue meaningful problems and design authentic solutions. The Engage phase begins with a “Big Idea” that connects broad social themes to learners’ lives. Rather than prescribing a topic, it opens a space for curiosity and ownership. Here, CBL supports autonomy, transforming compliance (“I have to do this project”) into volition (“I want to understand this issue”).

As learners move into Investigation, the challenge shifts from choice to capability. Through inquiry, research, and prototyping, learners build knowledge just in time to apply it — what Gee (2003) calls “just-in-time” and “on-demand” learning. This is where competence emerges: each cycle of trial, feedback, and revision offers evidence of growth. Ryan, Rigby, and Przybylski (2006) found that this sense of effectiveness — not grades or external rewards — is what sustains engagement over time.

Finally, in the Act phase, learners present solutions that matter beyond the classroom. They work with mentors, peers, and communities to test ideas in real contexts. This stage fulfills the third SDT need, relatedness, by connecting effort to shared purpose. Learning becomes social, contextual, and consequential. As Deci and Ryan (1985) argue, meaning and connection are not motivational extras — they are essential conditions for persistence and well-being.

From Theory to Practice

When viewed through the lens of SDT, CBL functions as what Ryan and Deci (2017) would call a self-determined learning ecology. It’s an environment deliberately structured to meet learners’ psychological needs through autonomy-supportive facilitation, optimally challenging tasks, and authentic collaboration. Instead of using extrinsic motivators — grades, badges, or compliance — CBL leverages intrinsic motivation, the natural human desire to explore, create, and contribute.

In classrooms and academies that embrace this approach, motivation feels different. Learners do not simply “complete” challenges; they inhabit them. They shift from asking “What do I have to do?” to “What could I make happen?”Challenge becomes a context for agency, growth, and community — exactly the conditions Deci and Ryan identified for sustained engagement.

The Broader Implication

Understanding the link between Self-Determination Theory and Challenge Based Learning does more than explain why learners enjoy a particular project. It illuminates a broader truth about education: motivation is designed, not demanded. When learning experiences are structured around autonomy, competence, and relatedness, they tap into something elemental about being human — our drive to master meaningful challenges together.

For educators and designers, this means thinking of challenge not as a test of endurance but as a scaffold for motivation. The task of teaching, then, is not to reduce difficulty but to design it carefully — ensuring that challenge invites, rather than intimidates. When the balance is right, learners don’t simply respond to challenges; they seek them out.

Notes

AI tools were used in the research, writing and editing of this essay.

This essay is background work for an upcoming paper focused on the meaning of Challenge. 

Perna, S., Recke, M. P., & Nichols, M. (2025, April). Exploring the concept of challenge in Challenge Based Learning and beyond. Paper presented at the 1st International Challenge Based Learning Conference, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

References

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper & Row.

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Plenum.

Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. Palgrave Macmillan.

Perna, S., Recke M.P. & Nichols, M.H. (2023). Challenge Based Learning: A Comprehensive Survey of theLiterature. The Challenge Institute. https://www.challengeinstitute.org/CBL_Literature_Survey.pdf

Ryan, R. M., Rigby, C. S., & Przybylski, A. K. (2006). The motivational pull of video games: A self-determination theory approach. Motivation and Emotion, 30(4), 344–360. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-006-9051-8

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. Guilford Press.