Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Assessing sustainability knowledge for undergraduate students in different academic programs and settings

Assessing sustainability knowledge for undergraduate students in different academic programs and... As sustainability teaching and learning rises in importance, an increasing number of higher education institutions (HEIs) are assessing the effectiveness of their approach to sustainability education. However, most assessments fall short in determining the impacts of curriculum plans on learning outcomes. Therefore, this study aims to assess the impact of curricula on undergraduate sustainability knowledge and assess opportunities for improving sustainability education in HEIs.Design/methodology/approachA campus-wide survey deployed at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, (Cal Poly) solicited data identifying students’ sustainability knowledge score (SKS). The survey collected responses from undergraduate student groups enrolled in different curriculum plans under different academic settings.FindingsThis study reveals that Cal Poly honors students enrolled in a structured sustainability curriculum have significantly higher SKS than general students (i.e. nonhonors students) enrolled in random sustainability courses. Further, taking at least three sustainability-related courses significantly distinguishes SKS for general students. The results also show that SKS does not significantly differ across colleges, suggesting that additional sustainability education can benefit all students.Originality/valueFindings of this study provide statistical evidence to justify institutional efforts to integrate sustainability into existing courses, with the minimum requirement of three sustainability-related courses to make an impact on SKS for the general student population. Such efforts could represent the first steps toward developing sustainability education at a HEI and improving sustainability learning outcomes. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education Emerald Publishing

Assessing sustainability knowledge for undergraduate students in different academic programs and settings

Download PDF
27 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/assessing-sustainability-knowledge-for-undergraduate-students-in-jjvIEDo0LP

References (39)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
1467-6370
eISSN
1467-6370
DOI
10.1108/ijshe-10-2021-0455
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

As sustainability teaching and learning rises in importance, an increasing number of higher education institutions (HEIs) are assessing the effectiveness of their approach to sustainability education. However, most assessments fall short in determining the impacts of curriculum plans on learning outcomes. Therefore, this study aims to assess the impact of curricula on undergraduate sustainability knowledge and assess opportunities for improving sustainability education in HEIs.Design/methodology/approachA campus-wide survey deployed at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, (Cal Poly) solicited data identifying students’ sustainability knowledge score (SKS). The survey collected responses from undergraduate student groups enrolled in different curriculum plans under different academic settings.FindingsThis study reveals that Cal Poly honors students enrolled in a structured sustainability curriculum have significantly higher SKS than general students (i.e. nonhonors students) enrolled in random sustainability courses. Further, taking at least three sustainability-related courses significantly distinguishes SKS for general students. The results also show that SKS does not significantly differ across colleges, suggesting that additional sustainability education can benefit all students.Originality/valueFindings of this study provide statistical evidence to justify institutional efforts to integrate sustainability into existing courses, with the minimum requirement of three sustainability-related courses to make an impact on SKS for the general student population. Such efforts could represent the first steps toward developing sustainability education at a HEI and improving sustainability learning outcomes.

Journal

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jan 5, 2023

Keywords: Sustainability education; Knowledge assessment; Higher education; Structured curriculum; Learning outcome

There are no references for this article.