Hurd, FionaDyer, Suzette2026-05-252026-05-252026-02-28Journal of Management Education, ISSN: 1052-5629 (Print); 1552-6658 (Online), SAGE Publications. doi: 10.1177/105256292614173261052-56291552-6658http://hdl.handle.net/10292/21213In this article, we demonstrate how the iterative use of concept mapping develops business students’ competencies to analyze the complexity, uncertainty, and diverse views inherent in wicked problems and grand challenges. Focusing on the interconnectedness between business, government, and social actors, coupled with the iterative use of concept maps (as both a teaching technique and assessment tool) proved to be effective and powerful techniques to scaffold transformative deep learning in an international business course. Each subsequent experiential concept mapping exercise supported layers of sensemaking that resulted in deep learning. These layers included: (1) recalling pre-requisite foundation international business concepts and applying these to contemporary grand challenges, (2) sensemaking analytical interconnections between prior knowledge, and relationships between concepts, actors and institutions underpinning wicked problems, and (3) making connections between personal values, actions and worldviews and wicked problems, and drawing on current learning to conceptualize and construct possible future solutions to grand challenges. Our work reveals between-course and within course sensemaking obstacles that can be effectively overcome through scaffolding. We invite management educators to use visual pedagogies to scaffold deep learning and equip students with the confidence and skills necessary to sensemake complex wicked problems and address the grand challenges of our time.Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/35 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services3507 Strategy, Management and Organisational BehaviourMachine Learning and Artificial Intelligence1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy1503 Business and Management3505 Human resources and industrial relations3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour3901 Curriculum and pedagogygrand challengesscaffoldingthreshold conceptsvisual mappingvisuo-textual assessmentwicked problemslearning outcomessensemakingJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1177/10525629261417326