Impacts of Sustainability Education on the Attitudes of Engineering Students

Abstract

It is increasingly important that engineers learn how to design for sustainability, while also having the attitudes that encourage activation of their sustainable engineering knowledge. Design for sustainability may also encompass related attitudes, such as interdisciplinarity, consideration of others, and a predisposition to work globally. This study spanned multiple institutions and explored the impacts of different educational models that were aimed at impacting both students' sustainability knowledge and the related attitudes. The research questions were: (1) To what extent do first and second-year students vary across institutions based on their motivation toward sustainable engineering, appreciation for interdisciplinary skills, consideration of others in the context of engineering, and interest in global work? (2) How do different educational models impact first and second-year students' attitudes on these issues? We did not find large differences between the sustainability attitudes of incoming first year students across three institutions, while at one institution the environmental engineering students had higher sustainability affect as compared to civil engineering students and students who enrolled in a sustainability focused living-learning cohort. Interdisciplinary value, concern for others and global work interests were initially quite similar across institutions. Across the semester, all five course models increased students' confidence in their sustainability knowledge; the largest gains occurred in a sustainability-focused seminar course and the smallest gains were in an introductory environmental engineering course that had a single lecture focused on sustainability. Other attitude changes were generally minor, although in some cases decreased. Students' attitudes around sustainability may be resilient to change, particularly in formal learning environments.

Disengaging or Disappearing? Losing the most Socially Motivated Students from Engineering?

“…However, a recent study among primarily environmental and civil engineering students across four institutions (including the one in this study) did not find significant differences in the social responsibility and sustainability attitudes of entering first-year students. 22 The results should not be considered generalizable to engineering disciplines beyond the four in this study. Previous work found that the social responsibility attitudes of engineering students vary across disciplines.…”

“…These courses were required for entering first-year students in these majors. A paper survey that included the nine SR items of interest among a larger group of 38 survey items (largely focused on sustainability attitudes 22 ) was distributed in-class on the first or second day, and participating students were awarded extra credit points for participation. Response rates were higher for this in-class paper survey method ( Table 2).…”

Environmentally and Socially Responsible Engineering - Assessing Student Empowerment

“…The surveys were deployed near the end of each of the semesters online and according to IRB specifications and approval requirements. During the survey creation process, the team of instructors used current literature to get ideas for possible questions (K. Skamp et al (2013), Bielefeldt et al (2016), T. Shealy (2018), Shillaber et al (2017), Strobel et al (2009), Bielefeldt (2015)). The team decided on questions that would measure both students' perceptions and students' actions.…”

Sustainability Inclusion Efforts in Three Unique First-Year Engineering Courses

“…The survey was primarily multiple select with one open-ended question (see Appendix A). The survey used items from a previously published instrument that presented validation and reliability metrics [23] and has also been used in previous studies of sustainable engineering education [24]. Additional items were added by the authors that referred specifically to the course.…”