Comparing Sustainable Universities between the United States and China: Cases of Indiana University and Tsinghua University

The rise of so-called emerging technologies is broadening the way in which students access information and in turn changing the way in which they can interact and the experiences to which they are exposed. Mobile devices are regarded as flexible tools that facilitate access to information in different formats and in any environment. For its part, Augmented Reality is a technique that, through mobile tools, can enhance the globalization of content and access to contextual information in various ways. Together, the globalization of mobile devices and Augmented Reality contribute to an inclusive, equitable, and quality education, as mentioned by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in goal four on Sustainable Development (Sustainable Development Goals 4 (SDG 4)). This article analyses the binomial Augmented Reality-mobile devices, and takes a conceptual approach to these technological environments, both the technique and the tool, in the context of quality education. To assess the potential of Augmented Reality-mobile devices as a methodological learning resource, a learning unit of Secondary Education is presented in the field of Technology, enriched with different materials related with Augmented Reality.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Augmented Reality and Mobile Devices: A Binominal Methodological Resource for Inclusive Education (SDG 4). An Example in Secondary Education

Velázquez

Méndez

2018

“…Instead, significantly more attention has been devoted to sustainability-specific institutional policies, for example sustainability policies or plans [14,34,35,37,38]. Typically, in SHE research strategic plans are often only briefly mentioned in a paragraph or two of a larger study [4,6,26,39].…”

Section: Strategic Planning In Higher Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategic Planning for Sustainability in Canadian Higher Education

Bieler

McKenzie

2017

This paper reviews representations of sustainability in the strategic plans of Canadian higher education institutions (HEIs). A content analysis of the strategic plans of 50 HEIs was undertaken to determine the extent to which sustainability is included as a significant policy priority in the plans, including across the five domains of governance, education, campus operations, research, and community outreach. We found 41 strategic plans with some discussion of sustainability, and identified three characteristic types of response: (i) accommodative responses that include sustainability as one of many policy priorities and address only one or two sustainability domains; (ii) reformative responses that involve some alignment of policy priorities with sustainability values in at least a few domains; and (iii) progressive responses that make connections across four or five domains and offer a more detailed discussion of sustainability and sustainability-specific policies. Accommodative responses were dominant. More progressive responses were typically from institutions participating in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. The paper concludes with consideration of the political and economic contexts contributing to this relative prevalence of accommodative responses to sustainability.

“…These global initiatives also inspired China's sustainability development in higher education [3][4][5]. Yuan and Zuo's study of a Chinese university found that university students are aware of sustainability issues and place great importance to the social aspect of the sustainability [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yuan and Zuo's study of a Chinese university found that university students are aware of sustainability issues and place great importance to the social aspect of the sustainability [4]. Zou et al carried out a comparative case study between Indiana University in US and Tsinghua University in China and found that the former emphasizes the environmental, economic, and social aspects of university sustainability equally, while the latter focuses more on the environmental aspect [5]. A local standard titled Evaluation Standard for Green Campus (ESGC) (CSUS/GBC 04-2013) as a voluntary scheme was launched in 2013.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Residential Satisfaction of University Dormitories through Post-Occupancy Evaluation in China: A Socio-Technical System Approach

Ning

Chen

2016

Residential satisfaction of university dormitories serves as one of the significant aspects in the framework of sustainability in higher education. This study aims to develop a framework for post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of university dormitories in China grounded on the socio-technical systems approach and to identify factors contributing to students' residential satisfaction. Two focus groups were carried out to build the socio-technical framework. A case study was undertaken to evaluate the post-occupancy status of university dormitories, and structured-questionnaire was used to collect the data. The results show that university dormitories are equipped with quality physical facilities. However, they failed to provide satisfied services and supporting infrastructure. This indicates that "hardware" could generally meet students' requirements, while the "software" is still less competent. It is also found that the socio-technical systems approach has the feature of being embedded into the social, regulatory and geographic contexts. In order to enhance post-occupancy satisfaction, occupants' participation would be helpful. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by presenting a socio-technical framework of POE and its embeddedness feature. Implications for research and practices are also provided.