Inculcating sustainable development among engineering students, part 2 : assessing the impact on knowledge and behaviour change

Abstract

Issues related to sustainability are the primary focus for the 21st century society. Today’s engineering professionals are coming under increased pressure to practice engineering more sustainably. In line with current needs, higher education has a responsibility to produce future engineers who are concerned about sustainable development. Therefore, an understanding on the concept of sustainable development (SD) is the main issue that should be addressed at the stage of education where future engineers are being educated. Educators play a major role in imparting knowledge and commitment towards sustainable development among students through effective teaching and learning approaches to gain meaningful impact. The aim of this study is to assess the impact on knowledge and behaviour change in inculcating SD among first year chemical engineering students enrolled in the ‘Introduction to Engineering’ course, in which Cooperative Problem-Based learning (CPBL) was implemented as a teaching and learning approach. This study involved 89 respondents. A quantitative study was conducted using a knowledge-behaviour instrument. The Rasch Model framework using WINSTEPS version 3.68.2 was employed in this study. Results from the study revealed that applying CPBL significantly improved the levels of students’ knowledge and behaviour change to practice sustainable lifestyles. The study also found that inculcation of SD among first year engineering students can be attained through proper design of problems and learning environment.