Engaging Students and Campus Community in Sustainability Activities in a Major Canadian University

Teslenko, Tatiana

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-15864-4_1

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…He proposed that learners and institutions are required to employ necessary resources to promote learning outcomes, enhance learners' performance, develop institutional fame, and engage learners in the educational process. On the other hand, Teslenko (2019) declared that student engagement is not confined to classroom activities. Higher education institutions have decided to prepare the ground for students to take an active role and voice their ideas in curriculum development, staff recruitment, mental health issues, and even attend strategy development and policymaking meetings.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing Students’ Engagement in Classroom Education Between China and Germany

Deng

2021

Front. Psychol.

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Since the mid-1980s, there has been an academic shift toward students’ involvement in the learning process. A great number of studies have focused on the relationship between student engagement and educational achievement. They have highlighted that appropriate educational input and a supportive classroom environment are necessary, but optimum learning should occur when students are engaged with the curriculum as well as the institution, particularly in higher education institutions. Many scholars claimed that higher levels of engagement will help students deal with academic anxiety and develop a sense of belonging, which may lead to higher academic success. Educational experts and policymakers have begun to propose nationwide and international strategies and programs to promote student engagement in the classroom, which has led to the proposal of well-known programs such as the National Survey of Student Engagement, the UK Engagement Survey, and Program for International Student Assessment. Such engagement-centered international measures have been used across the globe (e.g., Germany) and translated into different languages (e.g., Chinese). Although the findings of relevant studies confirm the effectiveness of engagement on learning achievement, there is still the need to conduct further (cross-sectional) studies considering the implementation of such programs in a different context. The present study is an attempt to review the related literature regarding student engagement among Chinese and German students across a variety of disciplines. The findings suggest that researchers should devote more time and budget to investigate the significance of learner engagement, especially in Germany and China.

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Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing Students’ Engagement in Classroom Education Between China and Germany

Deng

2021

Front. Psychol.

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“…Universities are often criticized for using sustainability to attract wider future investment, retain competitive advantages, and maintain good public standing [6,7]. McWilliams and Siegel [8] opined that the demand for sustainability, as integral to corporate strategy, is likely to be driven by several stakeholder groups, including investors, consumers, employees, and the community.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it can be argued that sustainability will be a strong basis for businesses' existence in the very near future [11]. It is alarming to note, therefore, that even at the bedrock of knowledge itself, the stakeholders (students and staff) do not pay attention to the green culture of the universities, let alone demand its delivery [5,7]. Despite the propensity for enhanced debate on sustainable growth, the absence of adequate university guidance does not promote the evolution of discourse on this topic in the field of higher education [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability and Stakeholder Awareness: A Case Study of a Scottish University

Raji

Hassan

2021

Sustainability

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This paper adopted a case study approach to investigate the sustainability practices of a Scottish university in order to understand if sustainability forms part of its central policy agenda. As such, the paper focuses on the levels of awareness and disclosure of their sustainable practices, measuring the impacts and effectiveness of those initiatives. This paper introduces signaling theory to explore the idea that appropriate communication via integrated thinking can close the gap between the organization and its stakeholders. We believe that the provision of this relevant information will lead to better communication between the organization and its stakeholders, supporting a signaling theory interpretation. Therefore, we are suggesting that integrated thinking is an internal process that organizations can follow to increase the level of disclosure as a communication tool with stakeholders. From the literature reviewed, four themes were identified (definition of university sustainability, sustainability awareness, disclosure framework within universities, and level of accountability). The research adopted a pragmatic view and conducted individual interviews with participants belonging to three stakeholder groups (members of the university’s senior management, the governing council, and the student union executive). Although this study focused on just one Scottish university, it should still provide some insight for the better understanding of the underpinning issues surrounding the sustainability accountability practices of Scottish universities in general. The research findings indicated that the university prioritized only two sustainability dimensions—economic and environmental—and that the university still perceived sustainability as a voluntary exercise. Additionally, it is evident that the university had no framework in place for measuring its sustainability delivery—and therefore had no established medium of communicating these activities to its stakeholders. Moreover, research findings showed that the social and educational context of sustainability was lacking at the university. The university has done little or nothing to educate its stakeholders on sustainability.

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