Promoting green building literacy through online laboratory experiences

Abstract

Purpose This study examines a general education, hands-on and 100 per cent online laboratory course to better understand the prospects for fostering green building literacy through experiential online education. Design/methodology/approach The mixed-methods research design included pre- and post-course surveys (n = 42) together with semi-structured interviews mid-semester (n = 10) and four to six months post-course (n = 5). Data were collected for two semesters. Findings Students experienced significant increases in green building knowledge and skills, environmental sensitivity and pro-environmental behaviors from the beginning to the end of the course. Qualitative results indicate that the hands-on laboratory assignments were the primary pedagogical interventions affecting change. Interviews four to six months after the course revealed that motivation, convenience and supportiveness of the context were key factors impacting the pro-environmental behaviors that were maintained versus those that were discontinued by students when the course was over. Practical implications This paper shares effective approaches used to deliver an online course with hands-on laboratories that lead to positive increases in sustainability knowledge and behaviors stretching beyond the semester. Originality/value While online and experiential learning are both well-studied themes in higher education, very little empirical work examines experiential online learning, and this is particularly the case for online laboratory courses. The work here contributes to the understanding of general education online laboratories that are designed to increase knowledge and behavior change through hands-on experiential learning techniques.

Transforming students’ behaviour preferences: achievable changes by a sustainability course

“…Students’ preferences were least sustainable in their roles as citizens before the course. Regarding trust in civil organisations and charity, we witnessed a strong positive transformation, which supports the results of Cole et al (2019). However, in terms of product-related donations the authors experienced resistance and no transformation during the semester.…”

“…Cheng et al (2020) also found a significant change in knowledge, and somewhat weaker but still positive shift in students' attitudes and behaviour towards more sustainable lifestyles. Cole et al (2019) also found evidence for the strengthening of environmental sensitivity and environmentally friendly behaviour.…”

“…Although students could be divided into three groups before and after the course based on their preferences, they thought uniformly positively about some statements in both phases of the research. Redman (2013) and Cole et al (2019) found selective waste collection to be an activity regarding which change can be easily achieved. In this research, selective waste collection was originally considered important by students, but the course confirmed its importance, causing even deeper understanding and a higher level of awareness, in line with the research of Merritt et al (2018).…”

Towards effective e-learning on sustainability: a case study-course on participatory processes in environmental politics

“…Particularly, the lack of communication among students and between students and teachers is often stressed, which may result in low student activity during the course, lower learning achievements and higher dropout rates (Anderson et al , 2014; Keržič et al , 2019). On the other hand, several studies prove that e-learning tools can foster learning outcomes and competences (Cole et al , 2019; Förster et al , 2018). Due to greater flexibility, e-learning may better adapt to individual learning styles, for instance by offering either a synchronous and asynchronous learning path (Altomonte et al , 2016;Vaz-Fernandes and Caeiro, 2019).…”

Study on the synergy between ecological landscape planning and architectural design in green building practice

“…However, this does not mean that the building can be constructed casually; it is to guarantee the quality and efficiency of the building while minimizing pollution, environmental damage and energy consumption [1][2][3]. In conclusion, green building should be considered comprehensively to improve the importance of nature, people and architecture, to ensure the harmonious coexistence of people and nature, to design the building structure well, to enhance the use of space, and to improve the aesthetics of the building [4]. Green building materials mainly refer to materials with clean production processes, which are often produced from municipal solid waste or industrial and agricultural waste that can be recycled and recycled [5][6].…”