N. Lourdel, N. Gondran, V. Laforest and C. Brodhag
Owing to its complexity, sustainable development cannot be simply integrated as a supplementary course within the engineers' curricula. The first point of this paper aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Owing to its complexity, sustainable development cannot be simply integrated as a supplementary course within the engineers' curricula. The first point of this paper aims to focalise on how to reflect pedagogically. After dealing with these questions, a tool that can evaluate the student's understanding of sustainable development concepts will be presented.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis of a student's sustainability comprehension, based on cognitive maps, has been developed. The students are asked to write and connect by arrows all the terms that they associate with the concept of sustainable development. The assessment of the aforementioned cognitive maps is based on an approach via semantic category.
Findings
This study shows that the students' perception of sustainable development before the training seems mainly focalised on environmental and economical aspects. After the SD course, an increase in the number of words quoted is noted for each category (social and cultural aspects; the stakeholders, the principles of sustainable development and the allusions to complexity, temporal and spatial dimensions). Their vision seems richer and wider. The training seemed useful to help the students who did not associate sustainable development with diverse dimension to improve this perception.
Research limitations/implications
To reduce the length of the elaboration of the maps, there is no preliminary training for the construction of maps. To simplify this elaboration, only one type of arrows is used to connect words. To minimise the time of analysis of the maps, the relevance of the relations made between the words is not verified. Besides, the classification of words within the semantic categories implies a certain level of subjectivity.
Practical implications
This cognitive map method can be a useful tool to improve learning in quantitative terms but also in qualitative terms. Identifying knowledge gaps and misunderstood ideas allows the improvement in the training.
Originality/value
This study presents a new method that can be used to evaluate the impact of training sessions on students. Another advantage is to analyse how the students' knowledge is interconnected. This seems particularly interesting because the study of this transdisciplinary concept also necessitates an integrated vision.
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Kathryn Hegarty and Barbara de la Harpe
Sustainability education has at its heart an ethic of interdisciplinary research and teaching practice. This is because sustainability problems require integrated solutions…
Abstract
Sustainability education has at its heart an ethic of interdisciplinary research and teaching practice. This is because sustainability problems require integrated solutions, multiple perspectives, bodies of knowledge and skill sets. Given the imperative to address looming environmental challenges and the need for every graduate to be equipped to do so, how do we enable and support interdisciplinary approaches to sustainability education within our disciplines and professional programmes? It is increasingly apparent that organisational learning for change must be taken forward in the context of local disciplinary meanings and priorities; this is how academics know themselves and identify and value their research – and teaching – priorities. However, at the same time this may create tensions when disciplinary boundaries need to be crossed and disciplinary identities are challenged. This chapter will consider (inter)disciplinarity in engagements with organisational learning and change, and suggest a way forward in order to create ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’ transformation in education for sustainability.
Francisco J. Lozano‐García, Guillermo Gándara, Orietta Perrni, Mario Manzano, Dora Elia Hernández and Donald Huisingh
The purpose of this paper is to present information about a team‐teaching course on sustainable development (SD) for educators in an institution of higher education, Monterrey…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present information about a team‐teaching course on sustainable development (SD) for educators in an institution of higher education, Monterrey Campus of ITESM in México.
Design/methodology/approach
Four faculty members were invited to work together with the Sustainable Campus Programme coordinator in the process of developing the “Educate‐the‐Educator's” SD course. The course was structured using lectures, readings, class role play activities, homework, and general discussion. Additionally, a workshop‐format was woven throughout the course; its function was to help the educators incorporate SD issues within their own courses.
Findings
It was found that a multi‐disciplinarily developed and delivered course is an effective vehicle for educating educators on SD. Documentation of some facets of the learning process further helped the “students” and the course leaders to better understand the whole learning process.
Originality/value
The paper's value rests on the interconnected structure, showing resonance with the triple bottom line, as well as many other dimensions linked with sustainable development. This structure increased the course participants' comprehension of sustainability. Furthermore, the use of concept maps and digraph theory to evaluate “faculty participants'” comprehension of the interconnections and dimensions of SD proved to be a successful innovation.
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Nathalie Lourdel, Natacha Gondran, Valérie Laforest, Bruno Debray and Christian Brodhag
Owing to its complexity, sustainable development (SD) cannot be simply integrated as a supplementary course within the engineer's curricula. The first aim of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
Owing to its complexity, sustainable development (SD) cannot be simply integrated as a supplementary course within the engineer's curricula. The first aim of this paper is to focus on how to reflect pedagogically this complexity. After dealing with these questions, the paper aims to present a tool that can evaluate the student's understanding of SD concepts.
Design/methodology/approach
A method of analysis of a student's sustainability's comprehension, based on cognitive maps, has been developed. The students are asked to write and connect by arrows all the terms that they associate to the concept of SD. The assessment of the aforementioned cognitive maps is based on an approach via semantic category.
Findings
This study shows that the students' perception of SD before the training seems mainly focalised on environmental and economical aspects. After the SD course, an increase of the number of words quoted is noted for each category (social and cultural aspects; stakeholders, principles of SD and allusions to complexity, temporal and spatial dimensions). Their vision seems richer and wider. The training seemed successful to help the students who did not associate SD to diverse dimension to improve this perception.
Practical implications
This cognitive map method can be a useful tool to improve learning in quantitative terms but also in qualitative terms. Identifying knowledge gaps and misunderstood ideas allows the improvement in the training.
Originality/value
This study presents a new method that can be used to evaluate the impact of training sessions on students. Another advantage is to analyse how the student's knowledge are interconnected. This seems particularly interesting because the study of this transdisciplinary concept as well, necessitates an integrated vision.
Details
Keywords
Peter Fredriksson and Magnus Persson
It is widely acknowledged that aspects of sustainable development (SD) should be integrated into higher level operations management (OM) education. The aim of the paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
It is widely acknowledged that aspects of sustainable development (SD) should be integrated into higher level operations management (OM) education. The aim of the paper is to outline the experiences gained at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden from integrating aspects of SD into OM courses.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on the authors' experiences from teaching at Chalmers University of Technology, and the integration of SD into OM courses. The paper thus relies on an action research approach, similar in many ways to other papers in the field.
Findings
The paper outlines several similarities between the fields of SD and OM. Although the results show that several challenges must be overcome when integrating the fields in courses. The challenges – that are scrutinized through the use of existing literature – relate to the scope differences between the fields, lack of SD aspects in OM text books, and misfit between needs and teacher competence, support, and course structures.
Originality/value
The paper adds understanding by specifically addressing the integration of SD into OM courses. Universities and teachers within the field can consider the challenges outlined when integrating the two fields in courses.
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Dalia Khalil, Omar Ramzy and Rasha Mostafa
The aim of this paper is to measure students' perception towards sustainable development (SD) concept. The paper highlights students' perception before and after joining…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to measure students' perception towards sustainable development (SD) concept. The paper highlights students' perception before and after joining Heliopolis University (HU). Also, the research underscores different activities, facilities and methods HU is implementing to sharpen the delivery of SD concept. Furthermore, the study emphasizes on the extent to which students are anticipating implementing SD concept in their life.
Design/methodology/approach
The research paper is an exploratory qualitative research design. The sample frame was the database of HU. A non-probability convenient sampling approach was applied to select 26 elements of the study. In-depth personal interviews were conducted. Questions were coded to facilitate analysis and to link respondents' answers with different questions. Accordingly, 12 structured open-ended questions were designed to gain clear insights regarding students' awareness of SD. Personal interviews took place at the end of fall semester 2012.
Findings
Students' responses were classified into observations and realization, needs and suggestions, and future plans. All students confirmed interest to apply SD in their lives.
Research limitations/implications
This research is limited only to HU students, which is considered a limitation of the research findings. Another limitation is that the study is an exploratory qualitative research, which could be enhanced if a conclusive design is applied. However, both limitations are considered within the context of conducting future research. One is related to the expansion of the sample frame to include more diversified students, and the other to conduct a conclusive research for fine-tuning the results and recommendations.
Originality/value
The paper's value stems from measuring multi-disciplinary freshmen perception regarding SD concept at HU, which is the first non-for-profit university in Egypt and the Middle East declaring SD as its overall guiding principle and specialization. Moreover, the paper provides insights on SD concept from a developing country perspective.
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Mary Kate Naatus, Katia Passerini, Kevin Pon and Mark Somers
– The purpose of this paper is to compare knowledge of business concepts acquired at the end of undergraduate studies of management in France and the USA.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare knowledge of business concepts acquired at the end of undergraduate studies of management in France and the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
Mind maps were used to examine what knowledge students retained toward the end of their undergraduate studies in business and management. Data were collected from two groups of students, one in France and one in the USA and they analyzed on computer software.
Findings
The results indicate that the learning process may be influenced not only by the structure and content of the program but also by the environment in which such content is assimilated. This study provides examples of how culture can influence the way we learn and represent core business knowledge.
Research limitations/implications
The research was based on a number of undergraduate students and cannot therefore be generalized to other subjects or other levels of studies at the present time.
Originality/value
The paper moves away from traditional manners of collecting data through questionnaires and surveys in order to study the impact of management education and what students learn at undergraduate level.
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Tochukwu Ben C. Onyido, Zoe Allman, Pamela Hardaker, Deepa Rughani and Allan Letinov
The paper looks at the feasibility of university placements supporting small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to operate in a sustainable manner. Due to size and resource…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper looks at the feasibility of university placements supporting small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to operate in a sustainable manner. Due to size and resource constraints, many SMEs may regard sustainability more as a burden than a value-adding commercial strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
A two-year study was conducted on the sustainability-themed placements of 101 students of De Montfort University, United Kingdom, in SMEs. The placements were designed with the purpose of acting as a traditional work experience scheme while also equipping students with learning, skills and orientation with which to act as sustainability champions within companies. The study combined the use of students' reflections (via tools such as monthly logbooks) with interviews and questionnaire surveys of both employers and students, in order to evaluate the outcomes of the placements.
Findings
Students engaged with the sustainability aspect of their placements mainly by obtaining information on the sustainability performance of SMEs, with significant engagement also occurring in the areas of sustainability advocacy (e.g. proposing socio-environmental plans to companies) and initiatives/action.
Practical implications
Placements can potentially serve as a means of knowledge generation for universities while providing SMEs with cost-effective staff and innovation sustainability resources.
Originality/value
A circular approach to university placement programmes is proposed whereby the knowledge gained from previous placements about SMEs' sustainability performance is used to prepare later cohorts of placement students with a pragmatic understanding of challenges and opportunities related to the implementation of sustainability by SMEs.
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Abbas El‐Zein, David Airey, Peter Bowden and Henriikka Clarkeburn
The aim of this paper is to explore the rationale for teaching sustainability and engineering ethics within a decision‐making paradigm, and critically appraise ways of achieving…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to explore the rationale for teaching sustainability and engineering ethics within a decision‐making paradigm, and critically appraise ways of achieving related learning outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents the experience of the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Sydney in teaching environmental sustainability and engineering ethics to third‐year undergraduate students. It discusses the objectives of the course and the merits and drawbacks of incorporating ethics and sustainability in the same teaching framework. In addition, it evaluates ways of incorporating theoretical and applied perspectives on sustainability.
Findings
Ethics and sustainability overlap but do not coincide; incorporating them in the same engineering course can be effective, provided that points of linkage are clearly recognized in the syllabus, a suitable combination of theory and practical applications is drawn upon and adequate teaching methods, including decision‐making case problems, are used.
Research limitations/implications
While environmental sustainability, economic rationality and ethical reasoning can be easily fitted into the syllabus, social sustainability is more difficult to teach because it requires a significant conceptual departure from deep‐seated preconceptions on the part of students and teachers, and does not lend itself easily to conventional classroom activity, such as lectures and weekly workshops. Further research on effective ways of incorporating social sustainability in engineering curricula is therefore needed.
Originality/value
The paper evaluates sustainability issues within the context of civil engineering education.