Inculcating sustainable development among engineering students, part 1: designing problems and learning environments with impact

Abstract

Educating engineering students on sustainable development(SD)is a major concern in the 21stCentury. Without the inculcation of SD,thestudents, as future innovators and problem solvers, maywell be part of the problem, instead of providing the solution. Problem based learningis a possibleapproachto inculcate SDto have a deep impact onstudents. Problemswereshown to be effective inengaging learning. A systematic and supportive learning environmentprovided through theCooperative Problem-Based Learning frameworkwasshown to yield deep understanding in variousdomains of learning. This paper describes the design of realistic problems and learning environmentfor inculcating SD among first year engineering students.Whilethe problems are different eachsemester, there are underpinning elements maintained toreach the outcomes. Design based onconstructivealignment and "How People Learn" framework, the problem is set asa competition tofind engineering solutionsforissues related toSDthat is practical and cost effective for the society.Related industries and agencies are solicited and included in the problem to make it realistic.Dividedinto three stages, the problemis designed to gradually challenge studentswith increasing difficulty,while systematically providing the necessary support to scaffoldstudents' learning as they develop theskills to successfully go throughthe process and solve the problem. Stage 1 is for learning about SD,finding information on current world scenario onthe given problem, and benchmarking. Stage 2 isfocused on thespecific element of SD,data collection and analysis of the students' and their families'consumption or generation, and pattern of behaviour. In Stage 3, students provide a practicalengineering solution that they can justify with the proper technology and cost analysis. The learningexperienceis shown to significantly impact the cognitive and affective domains of learning in students.