Institutional Practices Versus Student Needs and Its Implications for the Development of a Holistic Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (EESD) Framework

Sivapalan, Subarna; Subramaniam, Ganakumaran; Clifford, M.J.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-08837-2_28

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…This paper therefore discusses one of the ways in which these limitations could be addressed. It extends upon the findings of a previous case study conducted by Sivapalan (2015aSivapalan ( , 2015bSivapalan ( , 2016 that assessed engineering students' views on the potential of incorporating sustainability learning outcomes within Language and Communication academic modules offered within the undergraduate engineering programme of a private engineering university in Malaysia.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 59%

“…Although it has been highlighted that sustainability literacy features as a core graduate outcome to be included within engineering programmes offered by institutions of higher learning in Malaysia, findings from studies conducted to investigate the extent of the inclusion of these outcomes within the curriculum, as well as teaching and learning activities, suggest otherwise. It has been found that approaches to the incorporation of sustainability within the curriculum have not been holistic, whereas teaching approaches have been more mechanistic and transmissive in nature, using conventional face-to-face lectures and teacher-centred approaches (Sivapalan, 2015a(Sivapalan, , 2015b(Sivapalan, , 2016. Further investigations conducted to gauge employers' views on the sustainability literacy levels of Malaysian engineering graduates found that they not only lacked basic understanding, competences and values related to holistic dimensions of sustainability, that is from technical, economic and social aspects, but also faced difficulties in communicating sustainability from these angles (Sivapalan, 2015a(Sivapalan, , 2015b(Sivapalan, , 2016.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been found that approaches to the incorporation of sustainability within the curriculum have not been holistic, whereas teaching approaches have been more mechanistic and transmissive in nature, using conventional face-to-face lectures and teacher-centred approaches (Sivapalan, 2015a(Sivapalan, , 2015b(Sivapalan, , 2016. Further investigations conducted to gauge employers' views on the sustainability literacy levels of Malaysian engineering graduates found that they not only lacked basic understanding, competences and values related to holistic dimensions of sustainability, that is from technical, economic and social aspects, but also faced difficulties in communicating sustainability from these angles (Sivapalan, 2015a(Sivapalan, , 2015b(Sivapalan, , 2016. These findings are worrying, especially when an average engineer is known to spend close to 40 to 66 per cent of their time communicating (Hertzum and Pejtersen, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sustainability, blended learning and the undergraduate communication skills classroom: negotiating engineering undergraduates’ expectations and perceptions

Sivapalan

2017

OTH

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Purpose This paper aims to discuss the outcomes of a study conducted to explore the perceptions and expectations of undergraduate engineering learners on the potential of incorporating sustainability within the Professional Communication Skills (PCS) module, via blended learning. Design/methodology/approach A mixed methods case study approach was used, using surveys, learner reflections and interviews. Findings Key findings include (a) learners finding a heightened sense of awareness of environmental, social and cultural dimensions of sustainability, (b) development of sustainability literacy and communication skills for the real world, (c) scepticism and apprehension of blended learning teaching and learning methods, (d) development of capacity for self-directed learning resulting from flipped learning and (e) differences in quality of peer and lecturer interaction online and in the traditional classroom set up. Originality/value Sivapalan’s (2015) study suggests that Malaysian engineering graduates lack sustainability knowledge, competences and values, and often struggle to cope with professional responsibilities that require them to exercise these literacies. Much of this is attributed to the lack of sustainability integration within the undergraduate engineering curriculum, and within teaching approaches used. To date, there is little research within the Malaysian engineering education context to gauge the extent to which non-technical academic modules such as the PCS module could be used as a platform to incorporate sustainability learning outcomes. Research to gauge learners’ feedback and reflections on the integration of sustainability via non-technical modules and blended learning approaches is also scarce.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 59%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sustainability, blended learning and the undergraduate communication skills classroom: negotiating engineering undergraduates’ expectations and perceptions

Sivapalan

2017

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“…It has particularly carried out a linguistic analysis on the use of the concept of sustainability in the top Romanian universities' strategic plans. Such an endeavor is valuable since there is a scarcity of studies conducted on the universities' strategic plans [50] and on their mission and vision statements as well as activity reports [26,31,32,34,44,50,[53][54][55], although many scholars have advocated for the implicit or explicit inclusion of the concept of sustainability in all the official documents of the universities [26,27]. More exactly, the study has analyzed the strategic plans of twelve Romanian universities for the period 2020-2024, paying attention to the frequency of the words and phrases sustainability, sustainable development, durable development and sustainable and their linguistic context of appearance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Analysis of the Use of the Concept of Sustainability in the Romanian Top Universities’ Strategic Plans

2021

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As the effects of climate change on today’s society make the headlines across the globe, urging all stakeholders to join forces to act and to create a sustainable world, universities have started engaging in the process of building a sustainable future for the generations to come. The sustainable university has thus emerged, a pro-active and collaborative university that performs in several domains. Since the university’s strategic plan is an instance of official and public communication on the future institutional development, its investigation reveals the university’s position towards sustainability. This study highlights the explicit use of the concept of sustainability in the strategic plans for 2020–2024 of the twelve Romanian top universities and points to the sustainable domains associated with it. Moreover, to determine the direction towards which the Romanian top universities are heading, in terms of sustainability, the article draws a comparison with previous research conducted on the strategic plans for 2016–2020. The main conclusion reached is that although there is an increasing tendency to use the concept in the latest strategic plans, building sustainable universities in Romania is still a goal to be achieved in the future.

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“…Isto porque o construtivismo vê o aluno como agente na construção do seu próprio conhecimento, sendo capaz de interpretar e representar criativamente o mundo, e não apenas responder a ele (MOREIRA, 1999). Ou seja, a ênfase é dada ao envolvimento e interação dos alunos, bem como entre alunos e professores, em uma comunidade de aprendizagem que promove a centralização, a reflexividade e a transformação do aluno (SIVAPALAN et. al, 2015).…”

Section: Educação Para Sustentabilidade E Teorias De Aprendizagemunclassified

Educação para sustentabilidade (EpS) e teorias de aprendizagem: um estudo bibliométrico dos últimos 10 anos

et al. 2018

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Uma poderosa ferramenta de mudanças e transformações sociais para um futuro sustentável tem sido considerada a Educação para Sustentabilidade (EpS). Em vista disto, para que os resultados esperados e os objetivos da EpS sejam alcançados, novas propostas pedagógicas são necessárias, uma vez que a mudança de comportamentos e de atitudes deve ser alcançada a partir de abordagens pedagógicas que sejam centradas na criticidade dos sujeitos. Para que isso seja possível, a EpS encontra oportunidades nas teorias de aprendizagem de epistemologia construtivista, como: Teoria de Aprendizagem Experiencial, Aprendizagem Transformadora, Aprendizagem Libertadora e Aprendizagem Social. O objetivo deste estudo constitui-se em identificar e analisar as características das publicações científicas sobre o tema EpS vinculadas às teorias de aprendizagem Experiencial, Transformadora, Libertadora e Social. A operacionalização do levantamento deu-se por meio de um estudo bibliométrico, com buscas na Web of Science e Scopus nos últimos dez anos, e também, nos anais dos eventos da Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração (ANPAD). Os resultados evidenciam que essas são temáticas que estão em evidência nos últimos anos, sendo que a teoria da aprendizagem social é a que se encontra mais consolidada na literatura quando se trata de educação para sustentabilidade.

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Institutional Practices Versus Student Needs and Its Implications for the Development of a Holistic Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (EESD) Framework

Cited by 10 publications

References 4 publications

Sustainability, blended learning and the undergraduate communication skills classroom: negotiating engineering undergraduates’ expectations and perceptions

Sustainability, blended learning and the undergraduate communication skills classroom: negotiating engineering undergraduates’ expectations and perceptions

A Comparative Analysis of the Use of the Concept of Sustainability in the Romanian Top Universities’ Strategic Plans

Educação para sustentabilidade (EpS) e teorias de aprendizagem: um estudo bibliométrico dos últimos 10 anos

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