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Innovative Teaching and Learning in Education for Sustainability

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Education and Approaches".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2024) | Viewed by 18193

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Eddie W.L. Cheng

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Guest Editor

Department of Social Sciences, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong
Interests: education for sustainable development; values and behavior; corporate social responsibility; e-learning; organizational behavior; organizational change

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are entering the era of sustainability. The United Nations Brundtland Commission defined it in 1987 as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Educating our younger generation with the concept of sustainability is especially important because they must learn to think logically and be able to distinguish right from wrong, so that they can become responsible citizens with a positive mindset. Sustainability education is also known as education for sustainability or education for sustainable development. However, the biggest challenge facing teachers is attracting students’ attention to learning sustainability. Since sustainability education aims to cultivate students’ ability to think in new ways to better integrate into the contemporary worldview, classroom practices should involve innovative teaching and learning, which means that teachers should adopt novel methods, strategies, and processes in teaching to make teaching lively and full of changes, thereby stimulating students' interest in learning.

This Special Issue calls for the submission of research that looks at innovative teaching and learning in education for sustainability. Empirical and/or conceptual papers as well as case studies are all welcome. Potential areas include innovative ideas (such as changes in teaching philosophy), innovative methodologies (including changes in curriculum and teacher–student interaction), and innovative teaching materials and equipment. Topics are not restricted to these areas, and other contributions are also welcome. For example, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has provided both school and college educators with an opportunity to consider e-learning on sustainability. Thinking outside the box is always encouraged.

Dr. Eddie W.L. Cheng
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

innovative teaching
innovative ideas
innovative methodologies
innovative teaching and learning
sustainability
sustainable development
sustainability education
education for sustainability
education for sustainable development
e-learning

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 218 KiB

Open AccessArticle

From E-Waste to Eco-Wonder: Resurrecting Computers for a Sustainable Future

by Jorge Reyna, Jose Hanham and Joanne Orlando

Sustainability 2024, 16(8), 3363; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16083363 - 17 Apr 2024

Viewed by 579

Abstract

Educational institutions are massive consumers of computing technologies, often replacing their computing infrastructure in a 3-to-5-year timeframe. Once decommissioned, many components of computing technologies are no longer useable and become electronic waste. Replacing computer infrastructure within these short timeframes is a significant e-waste sustainability issue that educational institutions need to address. This article aims to introduce and provoke new thinking regarding e-waste management and its implications for education. The authors introduce the term sustainable device literacy to conceptualise how educators and educational institutions can take an educative approach to refreshing computing technologies beyond their presumed obsolescence. Two example case studies that demonstrate the upgrade of a laptop from 2012 and a desktop computer from 2015 are included to provoke new discussions regarding e-waste and education. Using benchmarking tools, the findings from the case studies show that computing technologies that may be considered obsolete can be upgraded to include much of the functionality of current computers. The broader implications for sustainability are discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Teaching and Learning in Education for Sustainability)

18 pages, 1272 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Innovative FOCUS: A Program to Foster Creativity and Innovation in the Context of Education for Sustainability

by Kurt Haim and Wolfgang Aschauer

Sustainability 2024, 16(6), 2257; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16062257 - 8 Mar 2024

Viewed by 763

Abstract

This study is based on the urgent need to adapt education systems to meet the challenges of the 21st century. It examines the implementation of the “Innovative FOCUS” program at the secondary school level to promote creative problem-solving skills in the sustainability context. The Innovative FOCUS program employs a two-stage approach, integrating flexibility, originality, creative personality development, and strategic planning. It includes in-service teacher training and a challenge-based learning framework in which students engage in real-world sustainability projects. The program’s effectiveness was evaluated through teacher and student feedback focusing on the development of prototypes addressing sustainability challenges. The implementation of the InFOCUS program in 19 secondary schools demonstrated significant effectiveness. Teachers indicated that the program’s tools were effective in promoting students’ creativity and problem-solving skills. Of the 64 student teams, 62 successfully developed innovative prototypes, reflecting an improved capacity for innovative thinking and underlining the practical impact of the program. The Innovative FOCUS program effectively integrates sustainability education with creative and critical thinking skills. It demonstrates the potential of challenge-based learning in transforming students’ approaches to real-world problems, aligning education with 21st-century sustainability goals. The program’s success highlights the importance of such innovative approaches in contemporary education systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Teaching and Learning in Education for Sustainability)

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22 pages, 3690 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mapping Knowledge Domain Analysis in Deep Learning Research of Global Education

by Qingna Pan, Jincheng Zhou, Duo Yang, Dingpu Shi, Dan Wang, Xiaohong Chen and Jiu Liu

Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3097; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043097 - 8 Feb 2023

Viewed by 2752

Abstract

With the rapid development of the global digital knowledge economy, educational activities are facing more challenges. Sustainable development education aims to cultivate students’ thinking ability to better integrate with the contemporary world view, so classroom practice should involve innovative teaching and learning. The goal of sustainable development education is to cultivate talents with high-level thinking and sustainable development abilities. The concept of deep learning emphasizes mobilizing students’ internal motivation, focusing on problem-solving ability, improving students’ critical thinking level, and developing students’ lifelong learning ability. The concept of deep learning has evolved with the times. The introduction of the concept of deep learning in teaching can enhance students’ understanding of the nature of knowledge, cultivate students’ high-level thinking, and enable students to achieve better learning results. Integrating the concept of deep learning into teaching has extremely important significance and value for sustainable development education. It has become a hot topic in the world to comprehensively analyze the research status of deep learning and explore how deep learning can help education achieve sustainable development. In this study, CiteSpace (6.1.R2) visualization analysis software was used to visualize and quantitatively analyze the literature on deep learning in the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI). The visualized analysis is conducted on the annual publication amount, authors, institutions, countries, keywords, and high-frequency cited words of deep learning, to obtain the basic information, development status, hot spots, and evolution trends of deep learning research. The results show that the annual publication volume of deep learning is on the rise; deep learning research has entered a rapid growth stage since 2007; the United States has published the most papers and is the center of the global deep learning research collaboration network; the countries involved in the study were often interconnected, but the institutions and authors were relatively dispersed; research in the field of deep learning mainly focuses on concept exploration, influencing factors, implementation strategies and effectiveness of deep learning; learning method, learning strategy, curriculum design, interactive learning environment are the high-frequency keywords of deep learning research. It can be seen that deep learning research has the characteristics of transnationality, multidisciplinary nature and multi-perspective. In addition, this paper systematically analyzes the latest progress in global deep learning research and objectively predicts that using intelligent technology to design appropriate teaching and learning scenarios and evaluation methods may become the future development trend of deep learning. The research results of this paper will help readers to have a comprehensive understanding of deep learning research, provide deeper and more targeted resources for integrating deep learning concepts into teaching, and promote better sustainable development of education. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Teaching and Learning in Education for Sustainability)

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13 pages, 250 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Consensus of Global Teaching Evaluation Systems under a Sustainable Development Perspective

by Yi Zhang, Siyu Sun, Yuhan Ji and Yazhi Li

Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 818; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010818 - 2 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2178

Abstract

As an elemental driving force for promoting teaching reform, teaching evaluation has been receiving extensive attention in the fundamental reform of the overall education system. Using six dimensions including evaluation indicators, evaluation objectives, evaluation methods, interest relations, rights and roles, and accountability models, this article conducts a survey of eighteen teaching evaluation systems in seven countries including the United States, Germany, China, Japan, Australia, Singapore, and Chile. After analyzing these evaluation systems, this paper concluded the following major trends: evaluation indicators tend to be more standardized, evaluation objectives are closer to teachers’ professional development, evaluation methods pay more attention to formative evaluation, interest relationships tend to be low-risk, and evaluation plays a diagnostic role in teachers’ growth and the increased autonomy of schools in the accountability system. At last, this paper proposed that the future teaching evaluation system should focus on improving teachers’ skills and profession, designing the evaluation system with the principle of combining practice and theory, and finally changing from high-risk summative results to low-risk formative ones. Through the above revelations, we hope to help educational policymakers systematically consider and solve core problems in the teacher evaluation system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Teaching and Learning in Education for Sustainability)

14 pages, 6273 KiB

Open AccessArticle

“Burger.i.doo”—An Innovative Education Game for the Assessment of Sustainability from Meat and Substitute Products in Science Education

by Tatjana Korte, Lars Otte, Henning Amel and Marco Beeken

Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 213; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010213 - 23 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2069

Abstract

How will we be fed in the future? Without a doubt, the recent development has to undergo a change, to stick to the aims of sustainable development. Modern agriculture is in the compulsion of its consumers’ behaviour and the constantly growing amount of food required for feeding the world population. This nutrition is taken into individual responsibility, but to be able to make decisions regarding sustainable nutrition, educational work is required. By determining the environmental impact of different ingredients, Burger.i.doo contributes to the Education of Sustainable Nutrition and empowers its gamers to gain and extend their knowledge about the consumption of capabilities. It is designed for students aged 14 to 18. The aim is to create the most sustainable burger, which is measured in five categories: greenhouse gas emission, water consumption, land use, price and taste, by comparing the different categories of vegan, vegetarian, pescetarian and different meat options of burgers. To evaluate the impact of the game, a survey was conducted. It shows that the key targets of the construction of the game are fulfilled: the gamers had fun, learned about the impact of food on the environment and the game had a positive influence on their environmental consciousness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Teaching and Learning in Education for Sustainability)

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19 pages, 2650 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Developing Capacities to Lead Change for Sustainability: A Quasi-Experimental Study of Simulation-Based Learning

by Chatchai Chatpinyakoop, Philip Hallinger and Parinya Showanasai

Sustainability 2022, 14(17), 10563; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710563 - 24 Aug 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2054

Abstract

Education for sustainability should be capable of developing citizens with the mindset and skills to meet the complex sustainability challenges faced in the 21st century. Although educators have advocated for the use of simulations and serious games in education for sustainability, there is need for experimental research that tests the effects of these active learning methods on learner knowledge, skills, and attitudes. This empirical study aimed to fill this gap by examining the effectiveness of the Leading Change for Sustainability—Business, an online computer simulation that challenges learners to transform a company’s capacity to achieve a triple bottom-line of sustainability goals. This article reports the results of a quasi-experimental study that was designed to assess change in knowledge and attitudes of 87 students studying in a Master of Management program in Thailand. The research found that learning with the Leading Change for Sustainability—Business simulation resulted in large, significant change in knowledge of sustainability and change management concepts, as well as in the sustainability mindset of students. The successful use of this simulation in a “fully online instructional environment” not only offers support for the use of this simulation in educating for sustainability, but also for the broader potential of simulations in online learning during the post-COVID-19 era. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Teaching and Learning in Education for Sustainability)

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17 pages, 640 KiB

Open AccessArticle

ILS Validity Analysis for Secondary Grade through Factor Analysis and Internal Consistency Reliability

by Munazza A. Mirza, Khawar Khurshid, Zawar Shah, Imdad Ullah, Adel Binbusayyis and Mehregan Mahdavi

Sustainability 2022, 14(13), 7950; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137950 - 29 Jun 2022

Viewed by 1684

Abstract

In differentiated learning, the teacher needs to be aware of the learning styles of students in the classroom to accommodate specific learning preferences, e.g., the Felder–Silverman learning style model. The corresponding instrument, i.e., the Felder–Silverman Index of Learning Style (ILS), was designed to assess learning styles, specifically for engineering students. The ILS has been tested at the middle school level to identify the learning styles; however, validity/reliability had not been established in earlier studies with large samples. The focus of this study was to identify the validity and reliability of an ILS instrument for middle school students (

N = 450

) by investigating the factor structure through factor analysis. This includes internal consistency reliability and constructing validity report of the ILS. An exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was undertaken to investigate the factor structure to establish validity. As a result of the study, the reliability of the instrument was established. Five-factors emerged through exploratory factor analysis (EFA), which were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The outcome provided five-factors (i.e., Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI), Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), Standardized Root Mean Residual (SRMR), and Goodness of Fit (GFI)), out of which four factors were related to the four dimensions of the Felder–Silverman model, and the fifth factor was related to the association of sensing/intuitive and sequential/global dimensions of the model, which is in agreement with the theoretical construct of ILS. As a result of CFA, ILS entailing 24 items indicates a good fit with five-factor structure.

C F I = 0.922; T L I = 0.927

;

R M S E A = 0.026

;

S R M R = 0.585; G F I = 0.911; X 2 = 277; d f = 42; p = 0.60

. This study suggests that the ILS for the secondary-grade students needs to be revised with fewer items to improve the reliability, as supported by empirical evidence through the EFA and CFA. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Teaching and Learning in Education for Sustainability)

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Review

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14 pages, 426 KiB

Open AccessReview

Revisiting the Concept of Values Taught in Education through Carroll’s Corporate Social Responsibility

by Eddie W. L. Cheng

Sustainability 2022, 14(18), 11280; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141811280 - 8 Sep 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2668

Abstract

Schools and universities are not only places to learn subject knowledge, but also places to help students develop their values. Despite this explicit need for cultivating students’ values, what values should be taught is always a common question among educators. While seminal theories have proposed different typologies of values, few of them have been connected to the social environment that currently governs people’s behaviors. From a theoretical standpoint, this study reviews the concept of values and draws attention to Carroll’s corporate social responsibility (CSR), which fosters a mindset of altruism rather than self-interest. By recalling how Carroll’s CSR relates to human values, students will be taught to behave correctly in society. As a result, a two-layer paradigm, which highlights the importance of a value system that is understated in social practices, is introduced. This paper promises to redirect social dialogues about core values and help generate future research directions in the field. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Teaching and Learning in Education for Sustainability)

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Other

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19 pages, 4032 KiB

Open AccessPerspective

Framing Teaching for Sustainability in the Case of Business Engineering Education: Process-Centric Models and Good Practices

by Bogdan Fleaca, Elena Fleaca and Sanda Maiduc

Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2035; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032035 - 20 Jan 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1340

Abstract

Sustainability is a difficult topic, and education systems are generally complicated, including multiple levels as well as diverse organizations and actors. This dual complexity, which affects both sustainability and higher education systems, poses great challenges for research. Although there has been a growing interest in adopting sustainable practices within HEIs, few studies have focused on the integration of sustainability concerns into curricula through a process-centric lens, and the majority of studies in this area are mainly input-oriented. Therefore, in this study, we seek to address the need for a comprehensive understanding to solve local problems through process-centric views and tested methodologies, offering new possibilities for teaching sustainability. We focus on education as a system (i.e., comprising inputs, outputs, and processes) and develop a conceptual design of the deployed teaching processes for a real-world project scenario aimed at mainstreaming sustainability into the curriculum, in the case of business engineering. The research process consisted of (i) the application of a functional decomposition technique at institutional and project levels for integration of the project into current academic practices; (ii) the application of the SIPOC (Supplier, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customer) method in conjunction with a flowcharting technique to capture the flow of interactions between project processes and the surrounding structure. The added value derives from a better understanding of the relationships between upstream and downstream processes, enabling sustained improvement and strengthening the teaching practices related to sustainability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Teaching and Learning in Education for Sustainability)

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