ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. STEM Education
This article is part of the Research TopicSTEM: Innovation on Teaching and Learning Vol. IIView all 18 articles
Systematic mapping of the literature on hackathons
Provisionally accepted
- 1Universidad Andres Bello, Vina del Mar, Chile
- 2Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
- 3Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile
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Abstract Hackathons have evolved from programming events to multidisciplinary pedagogical tools in educational settings, requiring structured methodological frameworks to maximize their educational impact. The objective of the research focuses on conducting a systematic mapping of the literature to identify and categorize the methodological frameworks used in student hackathons, analyzing their organizational structures, evaluation metrics, and results obtained. The systematic mapping followed the PRISMA guidelines, consulting three electronic databases (Scopus, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore) for the period 2014-2024. Specific inclusion criteria were applied for hackathons in student contexts, resulting in 37 primary studies that met the established quality criteria (score ≥5/8). The study identified five main categories of hackathons: educational/curricular (48.6%), thematic/specialized (32.4%), civic/social (13.5%), and academic research (5.4%). The most used methodological frameworks include Design Thinking, agile methodologies, and Challenge-Based Learning. The predominant evaluation metrics are socio-educational impact (44.4%), number of participants (41.7%), participant satisfaction (38.9%), lessons learned (33.3%), and skills development (30.6%). The results of hackathons are classified as tangible and intangible, with the most frequent being, respectively: prototypes (32.4%), projects (10.8%), MPV (8.1%), products (8.1%), and soft skills development (13.5%), business ideas (13.2%), and entrepreneurial skills (2.7%) as intangible metrics. There is methodological diversity in student hackathons with no consensus on standardized frameworks. Hybrid approaches that combine multiple methodologies and activities show greater effectiveness. Further research is needed on project sustainability and long-term impact metrics.
Keywords: Hackathons, framework, Systemic mapping, higher education, Educational innovation
Received: 08 Sep 2025; Accepted: 19 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Costa, García-Holgado and Alvarez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Giannina Costa
Alicia García-Holgado
Pamela Alvarez
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