Innovative Approaches and Methods of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education for Sustainable Development and Entrepreneurship

Author(s):

Marco Rieckmann(presenting / submitting)Lisa Bockwoldt

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

30. Environmental and Sustainability Education Research (ESER)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

30 SES 10 A, Innovative ESE Teaching in Higher Education

Paper Session

Time:

2016-08-25

15:30-17:00

Room:

NM-A105

Chair:

Marco Rieckmann

Contribution

Higher education for sustainable development (HESD) is seen as a key element for a transformation towards a more sustainable future. In the context of global change and increasing complexity, higher education for sustainable development aims at enabling students to not only acquire and generate knowledge, but also to reflect on further effects and the complexity of behaviour and decisions in a future-oriented and global perspective of responsibility (Barth et al., 2007; Rieckmann, 2012). Furthermore, it offers opportunities for trying out how to act and decide according to sustainability principles.

Higher education for sustainable development should facilitate the development of competencies needed for dealing with (un)sustainable development (cf. de Haan, 2010; Rieckmann, 2012; Wiek et al., 2011, 2016). Higher education focusing on competence development needs a reorientation of learning processes. A new learning culture and new teaching and learning approaches are needed which are learner-centred and facilitate competence development (cf. Barth et al., 2007; Schaeper, 2009; Vila et al., 2012). Examples of such approaches are (inter- and transdisciplinary) project work, service-learning, research-based learning, collaborative learning, and problem-based learning (e.g. Barth et al., 2014; Lehmann et al., 2008; Thomas, 2010). HESD pedagogies focus on active, participatory, and experiential learning as well as interdisciplinary approaches (Christie et al., 2013). However, to date there is no systematic overview of innovative approaches and methods of teaching and learning in higher education for sustainable development and their possible effects on learners.

Against this theoretical background, the European project CASE – Competencies for A sustainable Socio-Economic development, which is implemented in the framework of the EU Programme “Erasmus Plus – Knowledge Alliances” together with 10 universities and business partners from five European countries, aims at developing a concept for a joint European Master’s Programme in Sustainability-Driven Entrepreneurship. In one work package of this project, innovative forms of teaching and learning for tackling sustainable socio-economic development in general and sustainability-driven entrepreneurship in particular are analysed, developed and tested.

That is why this paper asks: Which innovative approaches and methods of teaching and learning are used to date in higher education for sustainable development and entrepreneurship? Which experiences have been made with using these approaches and methods? Which learning outcomes can be achieved – which competencies be developed?

The paper aims at reviewing the international research that has been conducted related to innovative forms of teaching and learning in higher education for sustainable development and entrepreneurship and providing robust data to identify general trends and assumptions in this discourse as well as specific approaches, for instance, in particular world regions or disciplines, and last but not least inconsistencies and gaps. The paper gives a broad overview of how sustainability and (sustainability-driven) entrepreneurship are taught and learned in higher education. These insights shall help - in the CASE project and beyond - to choose and develop the most appropriate methods for educating sustainability-driven entrepreneurship at universities.

Method

The empirical design is related to a literature review. Systematic reviews in educational science represent a typical way of mapping the field and tracing recent developments (Petticrew/Roberts, 2009). From being a rather vague ‘catch phrase’ for a preparatory step prior to the actual research it developed into a systematic method of investigation in its own right (Hart, 2002; Littell et al., 2008; see Foster/Hammersley, 1998 for a meta-review). In the present study we follow the systematic review approach outlined in Fink (2009). By following that approach we intended to provide a systematic and replicable search and analysis strategy which is fully documented and transparent. Going through the steps of (1) data collection, (2) data processing and coding and (3) data analysis, we have produced a bibliometric overview that combines a quantitative analysis with a qualitative analysis of teaching and learning methods in HESD and higher education for sustainability-driven entrepreneurship. The study includes all peer reviewed and in English available articles referenced in two major data bases (Web of Science, ERIC). Only articles are included in the sample, which focus on presenting and analysing approaches and methods of teaching and learning in higher education for sustainable development and entrepreneurship. For searching the databases the following key words are used: (a) "higher education" OR "university" OR "tertiary education" OR "college"; (b) “education for sustainable entrepreneurship” OR “education for sustainability management” OR “education for sustainable business” OR "education for sustainability" OR "education for sustainable development" OR "sustainability education" OR “entrepreneurship education” OR “entrepreneurial education”; (c) “didactic*” OR “pedagog*” OR "method*" OR "interdisciplinary method*" OR "interdisciplinary learning" OR "transdisciplinary method*" OR "transdisciplinary learning" OR “experiential learning” OR “experience-based learning” OR “participatory learning” OR “self-directed learning” OR “problem-based learning” OR “collaborative learning”. The sample of (to date) 210 articles is coded by four research assistants and one researcher (each article is analysed simultaneously by at least two persons) using categories such as name, gender, home country and affiliation of the author(s), author’s discipline, name of the journal, year of publication, key words, educational focus (HESD, entrepreneurship education), research approach (conceptual, empirical), teaching-learning methods, learning outcomes, competencies, inter- and transdisciplinarity, aspects of implementation, and prerequisites for teachers. Based on the abstracts and, if needed, the full text, for each variable every article is coded following pre-defined coding instructions.

Expected Outcomes

This paper presents the results of the study concerning general trends and assumptions in the discourse on approaches and methods of teaching and learning in higher education for sustainable development and entrepreneurship as well as specific approaches, for instance, in particular world regions or disciplines, and last but not least inconsistencies and gaps. These results will create a basis for structuring the debate on approaches and methods of teaching and learning in higher education for sustainable development and entrepreneurship and identifying future research needs. Additionally, the results allow insights in good teaching and learning practice and possible learning outcomes and effects of different methods. This information will be used for the design of modules for the European Master’s programme in the CASE project. Preliminary results show, for instance, that very little research on methods is linked to the debate on sustainability competencies. The recommended HESD approaches like project learning, collaborative learning and learner-centred learning are widely used. The use of transdisciplinary methods is very well evaluated by lecturers as well as students, but it certainly challenges the restricted resources of time etc. that lecturers have.

References

Barth, M./Godemann, J./Rieckmann, M./Stoltenberg, U. (2007): Developing Key Competencies for Sustainable Development in Higher Education, International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 8 (4), 416-430 Barth, M./Adomßent, M./Fischer, D./Richter, S./Rieckmann, M. (2014): Learning to change universities from within: a service-learning perspective on promoting sustainable consumption in higher education, Journal of Cleaner Production 62, 72-81 Christie, B./Miller, K./Cooke, R./White, J. (2013): Environmental sustainability in higher education: how do academics teach? Environmental Education Research 19 (3), 385-414 de Haan, G. (2010): The development of ESD-related competencies in supportive institutional frameworks. In: International Review of Education 56 (2), 315-328 Fink, A. (2009): Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Foster, P./Hammersley, M. (1998): A Review of Reviews: structure and function in reviews of educational research. In: British Educational Research Journal 24 (5), 609-628 Hart, C. (2002): Doing a literature review. Releasing the social science research imagination. London, Angleterre: Sage. Lehmann, M./Christensen, P./Du, X./Thrane, M. (2008): Problem-oriented and project-based learning (POPBL) as an innovative learning strategy for sustainable development in engineering education, European Journal of Engineering Education 33 (3), 283-295 Littell, J.H./Corcoran, J./Pillai, V.K. (2008): Systematic reviews and meta-analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press Petticrew, M./Roberts, H. (2009): Systematic reviews in the social sciences. A practical guide. 8th ed. Malden, Mass: Blackwell Publ. Rieckmann, M. (2012): Future-oriented higher education: Which key competencies should be fostered through university teaching and learning? Futures 44 (2), 127-135 Schaeper, H. (2009): Development of competencies and teaching–learning arrangements in higher education: findings from Germany. In: Studies in Higher Education 34 (6): 677-697 Thomas, I. (2010): Critical thinking, transformative learning, sustainable education, and problem-based learning in universities, Journal of Transformative Education 7 (3), 245-264 Vila, L. E./Perez, P.J./Morillas, F.G. (2012): Higher education and the development of ompeten-cies for innovation in the workplace. In: Management Decision 50 (9): 1634-1648 Wiek A./Withycombe L./Redman, C.L. (2011): Key competencies in sustainability: a reference framework for academic program development, Sustainability Science 6 (2), 203-218 Wiek, A./Bernstein, M. J./Foley, R. W./Cohen, M./Forrest, N./Kuzdas, C./Kay, B./Withycombe Keeler, L. (2016): Operationalising competencies in higher education for sustainable development, in: Barth, M./Michelsen, G./Thomas, I./Rieckmann, M. (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Higher Education for Sustainable Development, London, pp. 241-260

Author Information

Marco Rieckmann (presenting / submitting)

University of Vechta, Germany

Lisa Bockwoldt