Inspiration From the Classroom: A Mixed Method Case Study of Interdisciplinary Sustainability Learning in Higher Education

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Noy ◽  
Rebecca Patrick ◽  
Teresa Capetola ◽  
Janine McBurnie
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Interdisciplinary Learning ◽  
Theoretical Context ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Sustainability Learning

AbstractWithin higher education there is widespread support for developing students’ interdisciplinary skills. Despite this, evidence for, and practice of, cross-faculty interdisciplinary sustainability learning remains in its infancy. Recent articles have shown that Australia is no exception. This article provides a case study of interdisciplinary learning and teaching within a cross-faculty Education for Sustainability (EfS) undergraduate subject involving science, arts, business, and health students at an Australian university. A description of the subject and its theoretical context provides a platform for presenting the findings of a mixed method enquiry into how pedagogy supports interdisciplinary sustainability learning. The sequential explanatory research design involved a post-subject quantitative survey analysed using SPSS, augmented by qualitative student journal data (n = 67) using phenomenological analysis within NVivo. The study found that students, regardless of discipline background, valued the processes and pedagogy used to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and awareness. The experience left students feeling more skilled and confident of their ability to contribute to future interdisciplinary sustainability collaboration. This case study, replete with a subject description, theoretical context for an innovative pedagogical approach and study results, provides higher education professionals with a template for deliberative curriculum and pedagogy that promote interdisciplinary knowledge, skills and confidence that may contribute to transformative learning that supports EfS goals. The article presents a strong case for future EfS curriculum frameworks and strategic education policy to include deliberative interdisciplinary pedagogy. It also challenges higher education institutions to create flexible systems that facilitate cross-faculty interdisciplinary learning that is necessary for preparing students for the future.

The wheel of fortune as a novel support for constructive alignment and transformative sustainability learning in higher education

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Noy ◽  
Teresa Capetola ◽  
Rebecca Patrick
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Student Experiences ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Constructive Alignment ◽  
Common Framework ◽  
Changing Times

Purpose Education for Sustainability in Higher Education (ESHE) sits within and across disciplinary settings that share the need for a framework that provides a basis for pedagogy, assessment and learning outcomes (Kalsoom, 2019). ESHE strives to create transformative learning spaces that help students gain the knowledge and skills they need to understand and contribute to shaping a world based on communities living within the limits of earth’s resources. This paper aims to offer a novel solution to the challenge of teaching students from different disciplines struggling with the complexity of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach The paper explores the development of an interdisciplinary subject designed for undergraduate students from four faculties. It presents a case study of pedagogy that moves away from three pillars/concentric circles approaches towards practices based in systems thinking and interactive transformative learning. It describes the iterative process of developing and implementing an infographic: the “Sustainability Wheel of Fortune” (Wheel), to support constructive alignment of content, assessment tasks and learning outcomes. Findings The Wheel provides a holistic, interconnected and dynamic focus for framing content and teaching. The pedagogy aligns with sustainability competencies, builds in flexibility in response to changing times and student experiences and provides teachers and students with a common framework for interrogating the possibilities for sustainable futures. Originality/value The Wheel is a novel learning tool for contemporary sustainability education. It captures key elements of approaches to and concepts about sustainability, visually reinforces the idea of a holistic interconnected approach and provides a framework that supports the constructive pedagogy of an interdisciplinary sustainability subject.

scholarly journals Teaching sustainable development in higher education

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathy Howlett ◽  
Jo-Anne Ferreira ◽  
Jessica Blomfield
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Reflective Thinking ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Course Evaluations ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Content Type

Purpose This paper aims to argue that substantive changes are required in both curricula and pedagogical practice in higher education institutions to challenge dominant epistemologies and discourses and to unsettle current ways of thinking about, and acting in relation to, the environment. Central to such a shift, it is argued, is the need for higher education curricula to be interdisciplinary and for pedagogical practices to work to build capacities in students for critical and reflective thinking. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, a case study of our reflections is offered on a subject designed to promote capacities in students for critical and reflective thinking via an interdisciplinary approach. The paper uses data from student reflective essays and student course evaluations to make an argument for the success of this approach. Findings Genuine transformative learning can occur within a constructivist informed pedagogical approach to teaching for sustainability. Research limitations/implications Research implications are that genuine transformation can occur in students’ thinking processes (which the paper argues is critical for effective education in sustainability) with appropriately designed courses in higher education. Practical implications More effective environmental actors and thinkers, who can critically engage with the complexity of environmental problems. Social implications Social implications include a more effective and socially just higher education for sustainability Originality/value The authors know of no other narrative that addresses attempts to educate for sustainability using this approach.

scholarly journals Internationalization in Canadian Higher Education: A Case Study of the Gap between Official Discourses and On-the-Ground Realities

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 101-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne A. Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
East African ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Canadian Higher Education ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Study Methodology ◽  
Perceived Impact

This case study about one university’s internationalization initiative, known as North Goes South, provides a nuanced and finely grained understanding of what internationalization looks like in practice. The study was guided by a desire to probe the perceived impact of a Canadian–East African internationalization initiative on students, faculty, and Tanzanian community members. The article begins with a brief review of the literature on internationalization and higher education in Canada. The rationale for using a case-study methodology is presented, along with the background and context of the case. Following an outline of the research methods, the study results are reviewed to show the complex and contradictory ways in which this internationalization initiative played out in one higher education setting, pointing to the gap between official discourses of internationalization and on-the-ground realities.  

Motivational Influences for Higher Education (HE) Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Costello ◽  
Murray Lambert
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Motivational Influences ◽  
Student's Perceptions ◽  
Games Development

This article offers a novel innovative gamification approach for undergraduates within higher education. To support the innovative approach, a mixed method data analysis investigation was conducted to capture the case study. The authors propose a gamification model to support student's perceptions and views while they were undertaking their Level 5 Games Technologies and Level 6 Games Development courses at a higher education institute within the northeast of the United Kingdom. The model used within gamification will provide a supportive approach for game thinking challenges, to help build upon excitement and motivational influences to improve retention, engagement, motivation, and problem solving, whilst using a competition between the two-year groups as an incentive. The authors' analysis suggests there are key factors between competition and using motivation through gamification to influence the learners.

scholarly journals Innovation in project management education - let’s get serious!

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Tews ◽  
Greg Skulmoski ◽  
Craig Langston ◽  
Alan Patching
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Project Management ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Management Education ◽  
Primary Objective

More educators use serious games (e.g., games where the primary objective is learning rather than enjoyment) to enhance learning due to benefits such as improved understanding and engagement. However, using serious games within project management education is not well understood. The aim of this research is to investigate project management serious games in higher education: i) determine the extent of gamification in PMI-accredited project management programs, and ii) survey university students about their experiences playing project management serious games. Two separate mixed-method studies reveal insights about serious games in higher education and where innovations may be leveraged. Traditional statistics were used to analyze quantitative data, and coding was used to analyze the qualitative data. The results from a global survey of ten PMI-accredited university programs suggest that serious games are embryonic but promising. A case study at one university reveals that students enjoy learning through games but caution against using games to formally assess students’ learning. The paper concludes with recommendations for further research and development.

Art and higher education for environmental sustainability: a matter of emergence?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Falk Heinrich ◽  
Lone Kørnøv
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Science ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Sustainability Challenges

Purpose This study aims to contribute to the exploration of inter-disciplinary approaches in higher education for sustainability. It is a reflection on a case study linking students in the arts and sustainability science, through which the inter-disciplinary and problem-solving processes for solving a concrete sustainability challenge were explored. Design/methodology/approach The case study featured a workshop with students from two educational programmes at Aalborg University, namely, Art and Technology and Environmental Management and Sustainability Science, the latter being an engineering programme and the former part of the humanities. Experience evaluation was based on participant observation, written feedback and the workshop facilitators’ post-event reflections. Data analysis was based on multi-grounded theory, dialectically combining empirical data (through open coding) with relevant emergence theories. Notions of emergence were chosen because the supposed benefit of inter-disciplinarity is the emergence of novel solutions to complex problems. The study investigates the concrete conditions of emergence in educational inter-disciplinary settings. Findings The workshop led to a successful experience, bringing an art-based approach together with sustainability science for arriving at solutions that neither of the two would have arrived at separately. Based on participant experiences and realisations, five “emergence concepts” are suggested as supportive learning criteria and conditions, namely, “knowledge expansion”, “complementarity”, “disciplinary self-reflection”, “change of practice” and “play”. Originality/value The findings and emergence concepts can be an inspiration for creating an effective learning environment supporting the emergence of different forms of knowledge and solution concepts for solving sustainability challenges.

scholarly journals Is group work beneficial for producing creative designs in STEM design education?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji Han ◽  
Dongmyung Park ◽  
Min Hua ◽  
Peter R. N. Childs
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Group Work ◽  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Design Education ◽  
Stem Design ◽  
Design Creativity ◽  
Individual Work ◽  
Study Results

AbstractCreativity is a significant element in design education, and frequently a significant competency during recruitment for design professions. Group work and individual work are widely employed in higher education. Many studies have highlighted the merits of employing group work in design education, cultivating collaborative design abilities and fostering sought-after employability skills. Although the benefits of group work in design practice and education are widely recognised, few studies have shown evidence that group work outperforms individual work regarding creative design activities in higher education contexts. Therefore, the aim of this research is to explore whether group or individual work is more beneficial for fostering students in generating creative designs in STEM design education. A case study, involving two cohorts of second-year undergraduate students studying a UK Engineering degree Industrial Design programme, is reported. The case study compares the design outputs produced by the two cohorts tackling the same design challenge in a product design module but employing individual and group work, respectively. The case study results show that no significant differences have been found between the design outputs produced by group work and individual work, considering novelty, usefulness and overall creativity. Further analysis reveals that a student’s academic performance is not significantly related to the level of creativity of the design produced. This research indicates design educators should employ both group and individual work to complement each other in design education, and suggests potential solutions to enhance students’ design creativity.

scholarly journals People and water: understanding integrated systems needs integrated approaches

2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (8) ◽  
pp. 819-832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gemma Carr ◽  
Marlies H. Barendrecht ◽  
Liza Debevec ◽  
Linda Kuil ◽  
Günter Blöschl
Keyword(s):  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Interdisciplinary Learning ◽  
Group Practices ◽  
Sound Theory ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Evidence Based Decision Making ◽  
Modelling Approach

Abstract As we rapidly modify the environment around us, researchers have a critical role to play in raising our understanding of the interactions between people and the world in which they live. Knowledge and understanding of these interactions are essential for evidence based decision-making on resource use and risk management. In this paper, we explore three research case studies that illustrate co-evolution between people and water systems. In each case study, we highlight how different knowledge and understanding, stemming from different disciplines, can be integrated by complementing narratives with a quantitative modelling approach. We identify several important research practices that must be taken into account when modelling people-water systems: transparency, grounding the model in sound theory, supporting it with the most robust data possible, communicating uncertainty, recognising that there is no ‘one true model’ and diversity in the modelling team. To support interdisciplinary research endeavours, we propose a three-point plan: (1) demonstrating and emphasising that interdisciplinary collaboration can both address existing research questions and identify new, previously unknown questions at the interface between the disciplines; (2) supporting individual interdisciplinary learning at all career stages and (3) developing group practices and a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration.

Viability of Entrepreneurship Education for Employability to Meet Industry 4.0 Challenges in the Circular Economy

2020 ◽  
pp. 379-396
Author(s):  
Wilfred Isak Aibs April ◽  
Ngepathimo Kadhila
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Entrepreneurial Education ◽  
Educational Benefits ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Current State

Worldwide, a circular economy is seen as an innovative conduit for sustainable development. A body of knowledge exists in the literature in which scholars have outlined educational approaches and tools that can be used to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. This chapter contributes to this debate by arguing for the promotion of a circular economy through entrepreneurial education for sustainability as a graduate attribute. The chapter analyses the current state about circular entrepreneurial education in higher education institutions in Namibia as a case study, identifies the educational benefits of challenges to implementing circular entrepreneurial education, and makes suggestions for future development.

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