Teacher and student responses to interdisciplinary aspects of sustainability education: what do we really know?

That the value of interdisciplinarity in sustainability education is largely taken for granted reflects widely held views about the inherent complexity and uncertainty of sustainability issues and the need for holistic responses to them. Although there is an extensive literature on interdisciplinarity, there has been relatively little investigation of the ways in which teachers and learners deal with and respond to this central aspect of sustainability education. This paper presents data from two case studies of masters course in sustainability education, one in an English university and one in a Chinese university, and examines some of the contextual factors that support or limit their attempts to go beyond the bounded ways of thinking associated with more traditional academic disciplines. While some learners respond enthusiastically to interdisciplinarity, others experience forms of ‘cognitive dissonance’. Interdisciplinarity requires individual teachers to operate as members of teams and to find ways of promoting dialogue between different perspectives, discourses and methods of approaching problems. The key to interdisciplinarity is an open attitude, a willingness to learn and an ability to engage with different ways of thinking about issues we face in common.     

跨学科性与大学转型

大学是人类知识生产和跨学科研究的主要阵地。伴随着学科研究向跨学科研究的转型,社会出现了要求传统大学向跨学科大学转型的呼声。与传统大学相比,跨学科大学不仅在组织机构、制度安排上具有跨学科性的特点,而且在专业设置、课程开设、教学方式、学习方法等诸多方面也自身的特征。     

Disciplinarity and normative education

Drawing on recent interdisciplinary, multidimensional research on civic and religious education in northern Europe, this article explores disciplinary epistemological economies in an era of mounting discontent with the narrowness of mono-disciplinary analyses of complex social and educational issues. It is argued in the article that under conditions of sufficient world complexity, interdisciplinarity provides for a more cogent scholarly approach to educational structures and phenomena than either of the logics of mono-, multi- and transdisciplinarity—the main extant alternatives. It is shown in both conceptual and empirical terms that these alternatives cannot accommodate social and educational diversity, complexity and sprawl other than thinly, hence should mainly be endorsed by universities and research funders for other than epistemological reasons or when there is agreement that the object subjected to analysis is correspondingly thin and isolated. As education in and of itself is a remarkably complex social phenomenon and field of study, it is concluded that interdisciplinary environments may typically be expected to provide a stronger potential for assessing and understanding it.     

A history of the future of higher education for sustainable development

Thirty years of academic dialogue and reinvention about environmental and sustainability education conceals the consistency of rhetoric that literature holds. This paper argues that higher education for sustainable development does not call for the invention of anything disconcertingly new. In fact, four simple, long‐standing concepts contribute most of the philosophy, disciplinary content and pedagogy required: liberal education, interdisciplinarity, cosmopolitanism and civics. A review is undertaken of the literature behind these ‘ideas neither young nor mature’ and a sustainability canon is derived that features integrated sciences, humanities and social sciences theory, engaging, active pedagogy and authentic external experiences.     

An Empirical Assessment of Interdisciplinarity: Perspectives from Graduate Students and Program Administrators

Interdisciplinarity is heralded as a relatively new educational and research paradigm that can effectively address complex problems at disciplinary boundaries. Yet little is known about the extent to which interdisciplinarity has penetrated higher education, nor about how students and program administrators view its usefulness. Through a case study of one field, urban planning, we assessed the extent to which graduate students and program administrators understand and support interdisciplinarity in the departments. We also assessed the extent to which specific factors might affect levels of support. Our survey results suggest differing attitudes between students and administrators and diverse opinions as to whether interdisciplinarity provides a practicable approach to addressing societal challenges. We offer a model for fostering interdisciplinarity and developing empirical evaluations of programs.     

Disciplinary and interdisciplinary affiliations of experienced researchers

This article reports on a study of senior academics’ views of their disciplinary and interdisciplinary affiliations. It questions the idea that academics have a firm and fixed disciplinary identity from which they then act and suggests that academic work in the contemporary university challenges and changes how individuals view their disciplinary affiliation. The article provides empirical data that lends weight to critical questioning of anthropological metaphors, which have tended to dominate discussions of disciplinarity. It suggests that contemporary understandings of disciplinary and interdisciplinary identity need more fluid metaphors and models; ones that can capture the shifting and questioning uncertainties that give expression to the rhetorical and reflexive nature of academics’ disciplinary affiliations. The article explores the implications of a dominant emphasis on disciplinary relationships for understanding disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity and examines the practical implications for structures and systems that are designed to enhance and evaluate research and teaching within higher education.     

在服务地方中提升高校科研能力

服务地方既是高校的历史使命,也是高校实现自身发展的良好机遇,通过大力发展具有地方特色的学科建设、与政府及企业共建科技创新平台、加强校企合作的广度和力度,能够实现在服务地方中提升高校的科研能力,以实现高校的跨越式发展。     

Inside Pasteur’s quadrant: knowledge production in a profession

In this paper, we examine the current state of educational research through the framework of “use‐inspired” knowledge. Previous discussions regarding the nature of educational research have disproportionately focused on the soft/applied nature of knowledge in the discipline or a need for methodological priority. After acknowledging these arguments, we consider the role of education as a professional discipline in American colleges and universities, and explore the inherent relationship between researchers and practitioners. Use‐inspired knowledge prioritises practice, encourages translational research, fosters interdisciplinarity and dissolves rigid educational structures.     

Sustainability Education and Australian Universities

Since the early 1990s, there has been discussion about the need for the curriculum of universities to provide students with understanding about the environment. Over the decade this discussion has evolved from thinking about how to green the university curriculum, through to proposals for our students to be environmentally literate and to receive education for sustainability (or sustainability education). Internationally, there have been many instances of universities taking this discussion seriously and introducing curriculum change. A variety of declarations and action plans have enabled universities to share ideas and support this change. Given a dearth of information about the degree to which universities in Australia were part of this discussion and change, we sought to gain an understanding of the status of sustainability education in these institutions. Responses from approximately a quarter of these institutions indicated that a handful of universities are engaged in this education for a wide range of their students, and in some universities more students of particular disciplines are gaining the exposure. However, there are clear barriers to the introduction and expansion of sustainability education.     

Strategies to enhance learning and teaching in a research-extensive university

Challenges confronting those who seek to bring about change within large organizations include the need to engage with the values and beliefs held by those involved. In universities with academic cultures that have traditionally lauded and rewarded disciplinary research, attempts to enhance the status and effectiveness of teaching and learning practices must take account of the ongoing power of the research culture. In Australia and elsewhere, prestigious research-extensive 1 universities are now seriously committed to improving the educational experience of student learners from their first year on campus. The focus on teaching and learning is buttressed by another aspect of cultural change - one which values the scholarship of teaching alongside traditional disciplinary research. To the need to re-emphasize teaching, and the need to value that teaching as a scholarly, research-based activity is added a third dimension of change - a focus on the student rather than the teacher. This paper will utilize Fullan's (1991) model for educational change in outlining strategies for change within a large research-extensive university in Australia. While it is too early to ascertain whether those strategies have effectively enhanced student learning, indications are that the strategies have had an impact on the beliefs, behaviour and teaching practice of academic staff. It is suggested that the culture of a university can and will shift given the right conditions for institutional change.     

‘Luring the academic soul’: promoting academic engagement in South African universities

There is widespread pressure that universities should become more responsive and accountable to multiple demands in their local, national and global contexts. Academics grapple to identify appropriate organisational responses to the pressures of state steering and incentive programmes. The empirical focus of the paper is a survey of academics' community engagement activities, mapping their interaction with external partners at five South African universities. The paper addresses a basic question: Who are the academics that engage, and what are their main academic influences? We argue that engagement is more likely to ‘lure the academic soul’ when it is driven by substantive growth in a disciplinary field and enhances reputations. The analysis seeks to identify how disciplinary, institutional and positional attributes are correlated with engaged activities. ‘Luring the academic soul’ through an understanding of the influences on academics' propensity to engage can facilitate more effectively targeted incentives and policies.     

NCRE对高校培养复合型人才的促进作用探讨

全国计算机等级考试(NCRE)对高校非计算机专业的复合型人才培养,起到了积极推动作用,鼓励高校学生参加NCRE考试是适宜的,在计算机基础教学中可以适当参考NCRE考试大纲。不断探索NCRE试题库建设,完善考试科目和等级设置等,是NCRE进一步适应社会对复合型人才需求的重要举措。     

Is students’ energy literacy related to their university’s position in a sustainability ranking?

Abstract

University rankings are increasingly important internationally, and in the UK include a sustainability ‘Green League’. However, there is little evidence about experiences of studying in ‘sustainable universities’. We report an empirical study at five universities in varied positions in the Green League, exploring students’ energy literacy, environmental attitudes and perceptions of their institution’s energy-saving efforts. Although the link to energy literacy is not clear, findings suggest that there are significant differences between students’ environmental attitudes at universities placed at different points in the league. In addition, students at higher ranked universities are more positive about their university’s energy-saving efforts, suggesting that these institutions may exhibit more overt manifestations of sustainability. This is important since students report being more likely to choose energy-conservation behaviours if there is visible representation of energy use. The study is the first to attempt a comparison between universities at different positions in a sustainability ranking.     

学科交叉场域的功能失灵及其治理路向

本研究运用场域理论对学科交叉进行研究,提出学科交叉场域是“知识生产组织建构行动者参与”三元关系嵌套的结构空间。本研究以我国世界一流大学建设高校A大学为典型案例,对其学科交叉场域存在的创新功能、整合功能和激励功能失灵现象及原因进行深入分析。为应对学科交叉场域功能失灵并促进学科交叉场域与外部系统需求的动态平衡,我国可从理念重塑与模式变革两个方面完善大学治理机制。在理念重塑方面,我国大学应转变学科观念,从学科意识转向问题意识;重塑价值追求,从形式交叉转向交叉创新;拓宽战略格局,从仅立足学科转向立足内生资源、制度环境和外部产业三维坐标。在模式变革方面,我国大学可坚持以创新为根本,将学科交叉深度嵌入大学创新体系;坚持以问题为导向,构建面向成果的学科交叉体制机制;坚持以赋能为核心,助力教师在场域转换中成长成才。     

Having it all? Transferring community-oriented research principles to teaching and learning to develop better university engagement

There are increasing demands on universities to develop more meaningful linkages with local communities – from government, from citizens and taxpayers, and from students. But the incorporation of community-oriented praxis into the university mission is not straightforward and requires a significant re-orientation away from ‘traditional’ organizational norms regarding teaching and research. Where community practice involves students, there is a burgeoning literature on situated learning, service learning and problem-based learning; but where community practice relates to research, the literature tends to be very much more disciplinary oriented and the sources are commensurately disparate. Discussions about community perspectives, however, are typically located in another set of literatures altogether. In order to address this deficit, this article reviews the literature on community-oriented research with the intention of providing a more holistic view of the common concerns and issues that arise when universities move their work into communities. This article reveals that – despite different disciplinary origins – the varied literature on community-oriented research illustrates the evolution of consistent principles for good practice. Moreover, it argues that community-oriented research principles provide praxis guidelines for university engagement in communities that are often absent in the literature on teaching and learning or civic engagement. The article then presents a case study of the evolution an integrated institutional response, which combines community-oriented research approaches to teaching and learning and civic engagement, being developed at the University of Limerick, Ireland.     

A roadmap for forming successful interdisciplinary education research collaborations: a reflective approach

Current literature about interdisciplinary education research is focused on three points: conceptual definitions of interdisciplinarity, the need for interdisciplinary research to tackle the advent of problem-based research and the positive curriculum outcomes to be gained from interdisciplinary research. While this research is important, it does not always include an account of the often complex and politicised interactions that might affect the outcomes of interdisciplinary research groups. This paper provides one possible ‘roadmap’ for successful interdisciplinary collaboration. It is based on a reflective case study of the authors’ own formation of an interdisciplinary research group and the practical resolutions to both the theoretical and the practical issues involved in achieving interdisciplinarity in education research.     

新时代高校网络思想政治教育创新发展逻辑理路

准确全面深刻把握高校网络思想政治教育创新发展的时代要求、动力条件和有效路径是实现其由“量”的积累迈向“质”的飞跃的现实需求。创新高校网络思想政治教育要充分利用网络新兴媒介占领意识形态阵地是关键,充分弘扬中华优秀传统文化构建融入话语方式是前提,充分弘扬中国共产党思想政治教育优良传统永葆青春活力是根本,充分借鉴相关学科研究成果科学化发展是核心。     

Business sustainability and undergraduate management education: an Australian study

The academic literature arguing that there is an urgent requirement for businesses to become more sustainable is rapidly expanding. There is also a demonstrated need for managers to develop a better understanding of sustainability and the appropriate strategies required to improve business sustainability. In addition, there have been international calls for educators to address sustainability in their programs. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which business sustainability was incorporated into undergraduate business and management courses in Australian universities. The high percentage of international students enrolled in these courses suggests our findings have implications beyond the Australian context. Students currently studying these courses are the managers and leaders of the future and their knowledge and skills will influence the extent to which business sustainability will be achieved. The findings demonstrate that more than half of Australian universities did not explicitly identify sustainability as part of their business/management curricula and those universities that did address sustainability did so, in most cases, only in a limited way.     

“双一流”建设背景下学科可持续发展度评价指标体系构建

是否高质量、可持续发展是学科建设的核心问题,学科可持续发展度是表征学科高质量、可持续发展的程度。从教育系统工程的视角,应用层次分析法基本原理建构学科可持续发展度层次分析模型,确定学科可持续发展度指标体系,将成对比较判断矩阵的特征向量作为学科可持续发展度评价指标的权重,确定相关评价指标的影响力排序。结果分析表明,学科方向前沿引领性、学科科研平台、学科团队协同能力、学科社会服务能力、国际交流与合作、学科研究生质量等是影响学科可持续发展度的主要因素。由此可见,注重学科方向的前沿引领,强化学科科研平台和学科团队协同能力建设,增强学科社会服务能力,扩大国际交流合作,提高学科研究生质量等是提高学科可持续发展度的重要措施。     

Research priorities and disciplinary cultures: friends or foes? A cross-national study on doctoral research training in economics in France and Norway

Science and technology research seems to be evolving toward an integration of research systems which cover numerous knowledge fields. These systems change and reconfigure as new technologies develop. Yet, Research Universities continue to educate students within commonly accepted disciplines and within a number of professions. Doctoral research training (DRT) constitutes a sensitive indicator of changing knowledge production patterns in changing universities. This study focuses upon DRT programs in economics. Are national research priorities and disciplinary cultures friends or foes? Two case studies on DRT in economics are presented and compared: from Toulouse, France; and from Oslo, Norway.Similarity in the findings from the two case studies corroborate the theory of a strong disciplinary identity which in several areas constitutes a stronger binding factor than national priorities. The disciplinary culture of a given field is a powerful factor to be reckoned with.