Education for Sustainability

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-170
Author(s):  
Caroline Baillie ◽  
Victoria Remenda

Courses which are intended to help students learn 'attitudes' or ways of thinking, as well as or instead of the more common 'knowledge' and 'skills,' are notoriously difficult to get right—particularly for younger students. Most courses relating to environmental issues or sustainability are electives within general science or engineering programs or they are within specialized environmental degree programs. In this paper, we examine two compulsory core courses designed to help students develop an appreciation of sustainability of the environment, one within a common first-year program of 600 students and one within a second-year geological engineering program of 35 students. In the first-year course, the sustainability component is situated within a course on 'Professional Skills,' which is taught in an innovative week-long intensive module. Students in this course have difficulties with the teaching and learning approach as much as with the subject matter. In the second-year course the main focus is on sustainability and the environment, taught using enquiry-based learning, a similar, interactive, innovative approach. In this course students respond much better to the concepts and appear to enhance or transform their perspectives. Students may be considered to pass through a 'threshold.' We examine the factors which seem to prevent students from passing through the threshold and consider possible strategies for aiding the pathway.

Author(s):  
Umar Iqbal ◽  
Deena Salem ◽  
David Strong

The objective of this paper is to document the experience of developing and implementing a second-year course in an engineering professional spine that was developed in a first-tier research university and relies on project-based core courses. The main objective of this spine is to develop the students’ cognitive and employability skills that will allow them to stand out from the crowd of other engineering graduates.The spine was developed and delivered for the first time in the academic year 2010-2011 for first-year general engineering students. In the year 2011-2012, those students joined different programs, and accordingly the second-year course was tailored to align with the different programs’ learning outcomes. This paper discusses the development and implementation of the course in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department.


Mathematics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio-José Moreno-Guerrero ◽  
Marina Rondón García ◽  
Nazaret Martínez Heredia ◽  
Antonio-Manuel Rodríguez-García

Nowadays, education requires changes in the teaching and learning processes, through the implementation of innovative and motivating pedagogical actions, owing to the existing needs in society. Education, owing to the current needs of society, requires changes in the teaching and learning processes through the implementation of innovative and motivating pedagogical actions. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the collaborative method, based on the Harry Potter theme, with respect to the traditional method in the first year of Obligatory Secondary Education for the learning of geometric figures in the subject of mathematics. For this purpose, a quasi-experimental, quantitative, descriptive, and correlational study has been designed, using a standardized questionnaire as a technique to collect information. The sample is composed of 236 students from the first year of Obligatory Secondary Education distributed in eight groups (four control and four experimental) from a public high school in the city of Cádiz (Spain). The tests carried out show that collaborative learning generates improvements in the attitudes and mathematical dimensions. Therefore, the collaborative method, developed by means of the Harry Potter theme for students in the first year of Compulsory Secondary Education in the subject of mathematics, causes a better attitude of the student towards the teaching and learning process. Furthermore, it facilitates the acquisition of mathematical contents related to geometry, which does not directly affect the students’ grades because, although those of the experimental group are better than those obtained by the control group, the differences between the two are minimal.


Author(s):  
Sundari Ulfa

ABSTRACT This study focuses on improving students’ achievement in reading comprehension by applying the Learning Together Method. This research was conducted with an action research design. The subject of this study was the first year  IPA students at SMA Nur Azizi Tanjung Morawa. The total  number of students was 32 students. This research was performed in two cycles and every cycle consisted of three meetings. The quatitative data was collected through a reading test and the qualitative data through diary notes, observation sheets, and interview. The reading test showed that the score of the students improved continuously from pre test through post test 1 and post test 2. The mean of the students’ score in pre test was 60,5. In post test 1, the mean increased to 69,4 and in post test 2, the score rose to 83. The diary notes, observation sheets, and interview indicated that the students were eager and more active during teaching and learning process in the second cycle than in the first cycle. It was found that teaching reading through the Learning Together Method improved students’ achievement. It is suggested that English teachers apply this method as one alternative in teaching reading comprehension.   Key Words: Learning Together Method, Reading Comprehension, Students’ Achievement.


Author(s):  
Tim G Harrison ◽  
Dudley E Shallcross

It is perceived that Outreach activities are primarily conducted to raise the profile of the department and the subject with a view to recruitment. However, we highlight a range of benefits to teaching practice and assessment of practical teaching at tertiary level that can arise from such activities. In particular, engaging with secondary school teachers can provide invaluable insight into successful teaching and learning strategies in particular for first year undergraduates.


Author(s):  
Brian Dick

Abstract – Demand for engineering education has grown in recognition of its importance to the provincial economy, while engineering education capacity continues to lag.  Engineering schools in British Columbia traditionally offer a common first-year of study that provides a foundation of science, mathematics, and engineering design before students specialize in second year. The British Columbia Council on Admission and Transfer (BCCAT) Engineering Articulation committee believed this transition served as a natural transfer point and undertook a year-long consultative process to establish the feasibility of developing a common, first-year engineering curriculum within the BC post-secondary sector. This study found that although there exists some diversity within the first-year engineering programs at accredited receiving institutions, sufficient curriculum overlap allowed for a sector-wide common first-year engineering curriculum. This proposed curriculum suggests a content framework for students in all regions of the province to begin the first year of engineering studies at their institution of choice, and subsequently transfer to any of the major research institutions for degree completion.  


2011 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-272
Author(s):  
Shelley Stagg Peterson ◽  
Cathy Marks Krpan ◽  
Larry Swartz ◽  
Jane Bennett

This research reports on collaborative research projects supported by a teachers’ federation. We compare research teams involved in the first year of the project, where they had free choice of research purposes with those in the second year who had the subject area defined for them. University faculty, teachers’ colleagues, and the teachers’ federation served as mentors for participating teachers. The action research resulted in change in teachers’ practice and in the development of leadership skills.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 201
Author(s):  
Herlina Daddi

This research aimed to explain the improvement of students’ vocabulary of the noun (abstract noun and concrete noun), Verb (regular verb and irregular verb) and adjective (Descriptive adjective).The method of this research was classroom action research consisted of two cycles. One cycle consists of four meeting. Thus there were eight meetings for two cycles. This classroom action research was done at the second year of SMA Negeri 1 Enrekang. As the subject of this research was class XI in 2011/2012 academic year with students’ number about 31 students. These consist of 23 women and 8 men. The instruments of this research were observation sheet and vocabulary test or evaluation. The findings of the research were the students’ score in vocabulary mastery through the bilingual magazine. Before applying this media in teaching and learning vocabulary, the students’ mean score in D-test was 4.6 (poor). After applying bilingual magazine as a media of teaching and learning process, in cycle I the students’ mean score improved to 5.35(fair) and then in cycle II also improved to 7.20 (fairly good).


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. e23617
Author(s):  
Carlos Lázaro-Carrascosa ◽  
Isidoro Hernán-Losada ◽  
Daniel Palacios-Alonso ◽  
Ángel Velázquez-Iturbide

This article presents a double evaluation carried out in the subject Complements for disciplinary training II: Computing, corresponding to the Master's degree teacher training in secondary education, baccalaureate, vocational training and languages taught by the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. The students of the subject had to learn how to prepare simple web pages, using HTML, CSS and JavaScript programming languages. To this end, the flipped classroom technique was used to present the necessary contents, combined with the adaptation of Aronson's cooperative learning puzzle technique, used to carry out a group practice that reflected the knowledge acquired. It is worth mentioning, as a complement to the two techniques used, the use of an adapted assessment rubric, which was provided to the students at the beginning of the teaching block. The evaluation was carried out during two consecutive academic years, 2018/2019 and 2019/2020. There were important differences between the two studies: in the first study, the students' previous self-assigned level was much higher (2.8 points as opposed to 1.4 points on a scale of 1 to 5). The other difference, even more relevant, was that in the second year all teaching was done at home, in a non-attendance format, on a mandatory basis, due to the period of confinement decreed by the state of alarm at that moment, because of the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, popularly known as coronavirus. At the end of the experience, the students expressed their satisfaction with the learning acquired and with the tasks performed, in both cases. The techniques used were well-appreciated, in the first year more than in the second, and especially flipped classroom. The scores obtained were, in addition, always very relevant.


Author(s):  
Antônio Roazzi ◽  
Maria do Rosário Carvalho

A literatura sobre as relações entre consciência metalingüística e leitura quanto aos papéis de determinância e conseqüência é controversa. Este estudo contribui para essa discussão através dos resultados de um plano experimental com 120 crianças, sendo 40 da classe de alfabetização, 40 da 1ª série e 40 da 2ª, no qual foi examinado como a habilidade de segmentação de orações em unidades léxicas interage com escolarização e leitura em seus estágios iniciais. Os resultados indicam que os melhores desempenhos na tarefa experimental podem decorrer não apenas da objetivação da palavra, pelo sujeito, como unidade de análise (consciência metalingüística), mas decorre também da possibilidade de processar o que está escrito (em termos de decodificação dos signos gráficos e de compreensão dos significados) e da natureza do material a ser lido. Abstract Most studies reflect a controversy in the relations between metalinguistic awareness and reading when it comes to the roles played by determinations and consequence. The present study will contribute to the discussion bringing the results of a experimental research led with 120 children (first-year infants, 40; primary classes: first, 40, and second year, 40, in which was analysed how the ability to segment sentences into lexical units interacts with schooling and reading in their early stages. The conclusion show that the best results obtained during this experimental process might proceed, not only from the objectivation of the word, by the subject as unit of analysis (metalinguistic awareness), but also is written (that is to say decipher graphic signs and understand their meaning), and the nature of the material to be read. Résumé Les diverses études reflètent une controverse dans les relations entre conscience metalinguistique et lecture en ce qui concerne les rôles de la détermination et de la conséquence. Cette recherche apporte de nouveaux éléments à cette problématique au travers d'une étude expérimentale comptant 120 enfants (40 des classes du cours préparatoire, 40 du cours élémentaire du premier année et 40 du deuxième année, avec lesquels on a observé comment la capacité de segmentation des phrases en unités lexicales interagit sur la scolarité et la lecture dans leurs stades iniciaux. Les conclusions indiquent que les meilleurs résultats obtenus au cours de cette démarche expérimentale peuvent provenir non seulement de l'objectivation du mot, par le sujet, en tant qu 'unité d'analyse (conscience metalinguistique), mais provient également de la possibilité d'analyser ce qui est écrit (décodage des signes graphiques et compréhension de leur sens), ainsi que ¡a nature du matériel devant être lu. Resumen La literatura refleja una controversia en las relaciones que ocorren entre la conciencia metalinguistica y la lectura al respecto de los papeles de determinancia y consecuencia. El estudio contribuye para esa discusión a través de los resultados de un plan experimental com 120 niños (40 de las aulas de alfabetización, 40 del primero grado y 40 del segundo, de la educación primaria), en el qual fue examinado cómo la habilidad de fragmentación de las oraciones en unidades léxicas se relaciona corn la escolarización y con la lectura en sus estágios iniciales. Las conclusiones indican que los mejores resultados en la tarea experimental pueden ocurrir no solamente de la objetivación de la palabra, por el sujeto, como unidad de análisis (conciencia metalinguistica), sino que son también un resultado de la possibilidad de procesar lo que está escrito (en términos de descodifiar los signos gráficos y compreender los significados) y de la naturaleza del material a ser leído.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wan Noor Hazlina Wan Jusoh ◽  
Ruhaizah Abd Ghani ◽  
Nor Adila Mohd Noor ◽  
Azarudin Awang ◽  
Noor Hasyimah Sulaiman

Islamic Thought and Civilization (CTU151) is a compulsory course for second year diploma Muslim students in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). Conventional methods of teaching and learning (T&L) are quite dull and failed to tackle students’ interest in the subject. Therefore, the usage of video and Padlet is proposed to be an alternative for teaching method in settling the problem faced during the T&L process. This research aims at measuring students’ perception on the suitability of the proposed methods of T&L either inside or outside the classroom. Pilot study was conducted using questionnaire by distributing it to 35 respondents and the data were analyzed using SPSS version 22. Then, descriptive analysis was used to measure students’ perception on the related questions. The result shows that high scale of the students’ perception on the using of PVdP at average mean score of 3.93. The finding implies that using the PVdP innovative method in the classroom managed to overcome the classroom dullness environment, led the students to become happier, and improvised their understanding because Padlet is a Web 2.0 application that could be used for learning collaboration and as a communication tool among students. In fact, technology integration through video and Padlet is one of the mechanisms that stimulates good T&L process and also helps to boost students’ performance in this course. Keywords: Padlet, Video, Teaching and Learning (T&L), Islamic Thought, Civilization Kursus Pemikiran dan Tamadun Islam (CTU151) merupakan subjek wajib bagi pelajar diploma tahun dua yang beragama Islam di Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). Kaedah konvensional yang digunakan di dalam kelas bagi proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran (PdP) menyebabkan pelajar berasa subjek ini agak membosankan dan kurang minat untuk belajar atas alasan kaedah penyampaian yang digunakan adalah mendatar dan kurang menarik. Justeru, kaedah penggunaan video dan Padlet (PVdP) menjadi alternatif bagi menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi semasa proses PdP kursus Pemikiran dan Tamadun Islam dilaksanakan. Kajian ini dilakukan untuk mengukur persepsi pelajar terhadap kesesuaian pelaksanaan PVdP dalam proses PdP di dalam dan di luar kelas. Kajian rintis dilakukan dengan menggunakan kaedah soal selidik dengan bilangan responden seramai 35 orang dan data dianalisa menggunakan SPSS versi 22. Selanjutnya, analisis statistik dengan ujian min (purata) digunakan bagi mengukur persepsi responden terhadap soalan-soalan yang diberikan. Hasil dapatan menunjukkan persepsi pelajar terhadap pelaksanaan PVdP di dalam kelas berada pada skala yang tinggi apabila purata skor min yang diperolehi ialah 3.93. Ini bermakna, inovasi PVdP di dalam kelas mampu untuk mengatasi masalah rasa bosan malah pelajar merasa seronok dan dapat meningkatkan kefahaman mereka terhadap pembelajaran yang disampaikan kerana Padlet merupakan aplikasi Web 2.0 yang boleh digunakan untuk berkolaborasi dan berkomunikasi bagi tujuan pembelajaran. Aplikasi ini juga dilihat mampu untuk memudahkan hubungan komunikasi antara pelajar. Ini jelas menunjukkan bahawa integrasi teknologi melalui PVdP dalam pendidikan adalah salah satu contoh mekanisme yang berupaya merangsang proses PdP yang baik dan berkesan di dalam pendidikan dan secara tidak langsung dapat membantu melonjakkan lagi prestasi pelajar dalam kursus yang diajar. Kata kunci: Aplikasi Padlet, Penggunaan Video, Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran (PdP), Pemikiran Islam, Tamadun


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