Sustainable development cognitive map: a new method of evaluating student understanding

Lourdel, Nathalie; Gondran, Natacha; Laforest, Valérie; Debray, Bruno; Brodhag, Christian

doi:10.1108/14676370710726634

Cited by 74 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The categories are identical to Shallcross's categorisation with the exception that 'values and ethics' are clustered with 'intra-generational and inter-generational equity' instead of 'social impacts' and 'environmental pollution' is listed instead of 'environmental'. The latter change is made to better reflect the themes outlined in this category and because the themes under the category of 'resources' as well as 'environmental pollution' could equally be classified under the general theme of 'environmental' (sustainability) as classified by Lourdel et al (2007). In addition, one additional category is used; that of 'trans-disciplinary, systems and complex thinking'.…”

Section: Workhopmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By contrast also surveyed a group of 25 EESD 'experts' who related contrasting conceptions of important sustainability themes; relating sustainability 'mainly to social and institutional aspects and less to technological and environmental issues. ' Lourdel et al, (2007) carried out another concept map study on students of a French graduate engineering school having taken SD training and compared their perceptions with those of their professors, who were also researchers in the department of Science, Information and Technology for the Environment (SITE). The small number of students surveyed (ten) considered 'multidisciplinary' themes as rating highest while 'economic scientific' themes were least prominent.…”

Section: Comparison With Other Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring sustainability themes in engineering accreditation and curricula

Byrne

Desha

Fitzpatrick

et al. 2013

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education

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Purpose-This paper presents key findings from an inquiry into engineering accreditation and curricula renewal. The research attempted to ascertain conceptions of requisite sustainability themes among engineering academics and professionals. The paper also reflects on the potential role of professional engineering institutions in embedding sustainability through their programme accreditation guidelines, and wider implications in terms of rapid curricula renewal.Design/methodology/approach-This research comprised an international engineering academic workshop held during the 2010 International Symposium on Engineering Education in Ireland, on 'Accreditation and Sustainable Engineering'. This built on the findings of a literature review that was distributed prior to the workshop. Data collection included individual questionnaires administered during the workshop, and notes scribed by workshop participants. Findings-The literature review highlighted a wide range of perspectives across and within engineering disciplines, regarding what sustainability/sustainable development themes should be incorporated into engineering curricula, and regarding language and terminology. This was also reflected in the workshop discussions. Notwithstanding this diversity, clusters of sustainability themes and priority considerations were distilled from the literature review and workshop. These related to resources, technology, values, ethics, inter-and intra-generational equity, transdisciplinarity, and systems and complex thinking. Themes related to environmental and economic knowledge and skills received less attention by workshop participants than represented in the literature.Originality/value-This paper provides an appreciation of the diversity of opinion regarding priority sustainability themes for engineering curricula, among a group of self-selected engineering academics who have a common interest in education for sustainable development. It also provides some insights and caveats on how these themes might be rapidly integrated into engineering curricula.

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Section: Workhopmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Comparison With Other Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring sustainability themes in engineering accreditation and curricula

Byrne

Desha

Fitzpatrick

et al. 2013

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There is a also a brief explanation of the criteria used to make the selection in Appendix A, Sections A.1 and A.2, of the supplementary file. Chemical Reaction (10) Christian Aid (11) Corporate Responsibility Coalition (12) Corporate Watch (13) Down to Earth (14) Environmental Investigation Agency (15) Ethical Consumer (16) Friends of the Earth UK (17) Global Witness (18) GreenPeace UK (19) McSpotlight (20) Medact (21) Mines and Communities (22) New Economics Foundation Tag N r. Name of organization and its website (23) Oxfam (24) People and Planet (25) Save the Children UK (26) Tearfund (27) The Corner House (28) The National Trust (29) The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (30) The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (31) The Soil Association (32) The Trade Justice Movement (33) The Woodland Trust (34) War on Want (35) Waste Watch (36) World Development Movement (37) World Wildlife Foundation UK (10) Corus (11) Deloitte Touche (12) ERM Group (13) E-ON UK (14) GlaxoSmith-Kline (15) HSBC holdings plc (16) Land securities (17) Rio Tinto (18) rth group (19) ScottishPower (20) Scottish and Newcastle (21) Severn Trent (22) Shell …”

Section: Methodology/experimental Sectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They have an -S group‖ consisting of participants promoting sustainable development and an -SB group‖ of participants promoting sustainable business, which mirrors the two different social actors presented in this article. A similar cognitive-mapping methodology is adopted by Lourdel et al to elucidate student understandings of sustainable development [19] and the same approach can be found in other work, notably as a technique for feeding into the policy-making process [20][21][22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Methodology for Mapping Meanings in Text-Based Sustainability Communication

Brown

2013

Sustainability

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Abstract:In moving society towards more sustainable forms of consumption and production, social learning must play an important role. Making the assumption that it occurs as a consequence of changes in understanding, this article presents a methodology for mapping meanings in sustainability communication texts. The methodology uses techniques from corpus linguistics and framing theory. Two large databases of text were constructed by copying material down from the websites of two different groups of social actors: (i) environmental NGOs and (ii) British green business, and saving it as .txt files. The findings on individual words show that the NGOs and business use them very differently. Focusing on words expressing concern for the natural environment, it is proposed that the two actors also conceptualize their concern differently. Green business's cognitive system of concern has two well-developed frames; good intentions and risk management. However, three frames-concern for the natural environment, perception of the damage, and responsibility, are light on detail. In contrast, within the NGOs' system of concern, the frames of concern for the natural environment, perception of the damage and responsibility, contain words making detailed representations.

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“…Their rubric provides key course components identified in successful sustainability-focused courses and course outcomes [21]. Concept (or cognitive) maps have been used to assess how well students have learned sustainability concepts and their interconnectedness [31][32][33]. Concept maps have the benefit of providing a consistent assessment metric for longitudinal learning of sustainability concepts.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

On a Vision to Educating Students in Sustainability and Design—The James Madison University School of Engineering Approach

2011

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Abstract:In order for our future engineers to be able to work toward a sustainable future, they must be versed not only in sustainable engineering but also in engineering design. An engineering education must train our future engineers to think flexibly and to be adaptive, as it is unlikely that their future will have them working in one domain. They must, instead, be versatilists. The School of Engineering at James Madison University has been developed from the ground up to provide this engineering training with an emphasis on engineering design, systems thinking, and sustainability. Neither design nor sustainability are mutually exclusive, and consequently, an education focusing on design and sustainability must integrate these topics, teaching students to follow a sustainable design process. This is the goal of the James Madison University School of Engineering. In this paper, we present our approach to curricular integration of design and sustainability as well as the pedagogical approaches used throughout the curriculum. We do not mean to present the School's model as an all or nothing approach consisting of dependent elements, but instead as a collection of independent approaches, of which one or more may be appropriate at another university.

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Sustainable development cognitive map: a new method of evaluating student understanding

Cited by 74 publications

References 5 publications

Exploring sustainability themes in engineering accreditation and curricula

Exploring sustainability themes in engineering accreditation and curricula

A Methodology for Mapping Meanings in Text-Based Sustainability Communication

On a Vision to Educating Students in Sustainability and Design—The James Madison University School of Engineering Approach

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