Purpose – This study investigated whether a course which focused on raising students' awareness of sustainability, from a balanced perspective, that is, one which gives equal consideration to the social and economic aspects as well as the environmental would produce graduates with the knowledge and commitment required to drive the sustainability agenda forward. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – An analysis of students' final entries in their reflective journal was used to explore whether their views on sustainability reflected a balanced view. Findings – The findings of this research confirmed previous studies showed that initially students do have an enviro-centric bias. It also showed that despite experiencing a pedagogical approach which challenged views by encouraging discussion, debate, and reflection and which provided what was considered to be a balanced view of sustainability, many of the students still leaned towards an environmentally focused perspective of sustainability. Research limitations/implications – The conclusions are based on one data set but are supported by other data described in the paper. Practical implications – The finding led the authors to conclude that a concerted holistic effort within and across courses is needed within tertiary institutions if students' views about sustainability are to be challenged. Originality/value – The outcomes demonstrate that students' reflective journals can be used to gather information about the change in students' perceptions about sustainability.

iPads are becoming popular as 1:1 devices in many classrooms, enabling teachers to implement pedagogies that will enhance student learning. Such mobile tools offer many affordances which can increase student motivation and autonomy. Nevertheless, without a change in pedagogy, they are unlikely to bring about any significant impact on student learning. Using the SAMR model, this initial study of four schools explores the impact of iPads on pedagogy and the changes that were evident. Using multiple data collection techniques, the study has shown that there have been some changes in teachers’ pedagogy that lead to increased collaboration, communication, student self‐reliance and the development of authentic experiences. However, more time and professional learning are needed to bring about a transformation in pedagogy across the school.

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This study investigated whether an Earth Systems-based course focused on raising postgraduate students' awareness of sustainability, from a systems-thinking perspective, would produce graduates with commitment to drive the sustainability agenda forward with a broad perspective. It investigated students' pre and postcourse perceptions of sustainability using a pre-and post-course survey, and by analysing the students' reflective journal entries. The findings confirmed those of previous studies in that initially these students did have an enviro-centric view. The study showed that while the students' perceptions had indeed moved towards a broader view of sustainability, many still leaned towards an environmentally focused perspective.

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