Sustainability transdisciplinary education model: interface of arts, science, and community (STEM)

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the components of a sustainability transdisciplinary education model (STEM), a contemporary approach linking art, science, and community, that were developed to provide university and K‐12 students, and society at large shared learning opportunities. The goals and application of the STEM curriculum will be discussed.Design/methodology/approachThe STEM integrates the sciences, arts and aesthetics, and the university with the greater New Britain community, and beyond. Academic areas included geography, environmental science, communication, art history, aesthetics, and teacher education. The transdisciplinary methodology was integrated in a learner‐centered design. To achieve a cycle of community engagement regarding sustainability, university students were placed within the greater New Britain community. This included interaction with K‐12 urban public schools, the New Britain Museum of American Art (NBMAA), numerous nongovernmental organizations, state and federal governmental elected officials, and the general public.FindingsAs a result of the mutual learning implicit in the STEM, all participants expanded each other's understandings of sustainability. Students were learning from instructors, instructors were learning from students, students were learning from students, instructors were learning from instructors, and all were learning and sharing knowledge with the greater community. As a result, all participants gained a deeper and broader understanding about human‐environment relationships and how humans impact natural resources.Practical implicationsBecause the assignments given to the university students were authentic performance tasks embedded in sustainability issues, students developed a broader disposition for thinking and learning and therefore become metacognitive. The STEM emphasized aesthetic education, integrating science and the arts. As a result, the participants developed their ability to connect academic domains of knowledge and creatively address sustainability challenges.Originality/valueThe convergence of science, art, and aesthetics enabled the participants to develop a deeper spiritual awareness and understanding of eco‐justice for the promotion of a sustainable society. The STEM utilized cultural resources of the university and New Britain community (i.e. institutional members of the NBMAA and The Central Connecticut State University). Students were introduced to the concept of mutual learning with all the communities and organizations involved.

Merging Science and Art: The Bigger Picture

“…The acronym STEAM is an abbreviation of Science, Technology, Electronics, Arts and Mathematics. Weaving interactions between Science and Art, have been shown by Clarke and Button (Clarke & Button, 2011), to intensify interconnections between nature, with Landscape, and ultimately with sustainability. Science has given a contemporary dimension to Landscape by inviting artists to focus on the macro, the micro and the virtually imperceptible (Wilson, 2010).…”

Public Scholarship Student Projects for Introductory Environmental Courses

“…A public scholarship project with a different structure and for graduate students is presented in Nation (2008). Other societally-oriented environmental education programs documented in the academic literature include an undergraduate sustainability program (Brundiers et al, 2010), a public museum and meeting space (Hama et al, 2005), a suite of community and K-12 engagements through the arts (Clark and Button, 2011), professional workshops for adult learners (Martin et al, 2005), sustainability-oriented projects and curricula for design students (Lehmann andFryd, 2008, Walker andSeymour, 2008), an interdisciplinary, international graduate student field experience (Fortuin and Bush 2010), service-oriented sustainability projects for undergraduates and community members at a campus farm and ecovillage (Sipos et al 2008), and service-learning projects in advanced undergraduate and graduate geography courses in which students learn while creating positive change in a local field setting (Eflin and Sheaffer, 2006;Parece and Aspaas, 2007). Brundiers et al (2010) also provide extensive discussion of motivations for and approaches to societally-oriented environmental education.…”

Engaging Values in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Education: Toward an Explicitly Values-Based Pedagogical Approach

“…Collaborative, interdisciplinary teaching promotes sharing of knowledge between faculty, students, and community partners, expanding everyone's skills and knowledge about SAFS issues and thus benefiting the greater community (Clark & Button, 2011;Newell, 2001). When students are asked to integrate different and often conflicting viewpoints, they frequently show greater knowledge and understanding of the subjects studied and make better decisions as a result (Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 2000).…”