Challenge Statement <p>Laboratory classes are indispensable in the teaching of biomedical engineering education, offering students invaluable hands-on experience and opportunities for practical application of theoretical knowledge. However, without a deep understanding of the underlying principles, students may find themselves merely going through the motions, executing protocols without grasping their significance from the procedures. This lack of conceptual understanding undermines the educational value of laboratory experiences and impedes the development of critical-thinking and problem-solving skills.</p> Novel Initiative <p>To address this, we described the implementation of design-centric, inquiry-based learning activities into challenge-based laboratory class for “Science and Technology for Healthcare” course in Singapore University of Technology and Design, where students (<i>n</i> = 162) can design and troubleshoot experiments, allowing deeper appreciation of scientific process and laboratory methodology. Specifically, students were tasked to (1) design and develop a paper-based glucose detection method and (2) use the developed method to identify glucose among the given unknown samples.</p> Reflection <p>After the class, students’ perception and report of the laboratory class were surveyed. Overall, the students agreed that challenge-based laboratory class enabled them to explore and think critically about experiments and promoted problem-solving skills, but they tended to feel less confident in performing the experiment without clear step-by-step instructions. This can be attributed to unfamiliar pedagogies, where in most cases, traditional laboratory classes are conducted by providing students with detailed experimental instructions for students to follow. Despite the uncertainty toward challenge-based laboratory class, most students agreed that they would like to have more of such laboratory classes in future.</p>