Teaching and learning sustainability: An assessment of the curriculum content and structure of sustainability degree programs in higher education

被引:72
作者
O'Byrne, David [1 ]
Dripps, Weston [2 ]
Nicholas, Kimberly A. [1 ]
机构
[1] Lund Univ, Ctr Sustainabil Studies, S-22100 Lund, Sweden
[2] Furman Univ, Dept Earth & Environm Sci, Greenville, SC 29613 USA
基金
瑞典研究理事会;
关键词
Sustainability education; Curriculum design; Sustainability pedagogy; Program design; Interdisciplinary education; SCIENCE; RESILIENCE; WORLD;
D O I
10.1007/s11625-014-0251-y
中图分类号
X [环境科学、安全科学];
学科分类号
08 ; 0830 ;
摘要
Sustainability degree programs in higher education have proliferated with the emergence of sustainability as a recognized academic field. This study evaluated the curricula of English-language programs granting degrees in sustainability by analyzing 27 bachelor's and 27 master's sustainability programs based on their (1) curricular structure, in terms of the proportion of core versus elective courses, (2) breadth of the core courses, which were classified into one of ten disciplinary categories, and (3) specific disciplinary content of core course subjects. We found that core courses made up the majority of both curricula, although bachelor's programs were more flexible than master's. Within these core courses, sustainability and social sciences were found in more than 85 % of both bachelor's and master's programs, as were natural sciences at the bachelor's level. Less than half of sustainability master's programs required a natural science course, which on average made up just 2 % of required course credits. No text was widely used in core sustainability courses. Our findings demonstrate that there is a wide divergence between the content of programs granting degrees in sustainability; many do not appear to be achieving the integration of natural and social sciences proposed in the literature. We believe that some shared foundations between programs is necessary for sustainability to develop into a mature scientific program that is recognizable across universities and understood by academics, employers, and civil society, and is effective in training the next generation of sustainability scholars and scientists.
引用
收藏
页码:43 / 59
页数:17
相关论文
共 44 条
[11]   The second academic revolution and the rise of entrepreneurial science [J].
Etzkowitz, H .
IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE, 2001, 20 (02) :18-29
[12]  
Folke C, 2002, AMBIO, V31, P437, DOI 10.1639/0044-7447(2002)031[0437:RASDBA]2.0.CO
[13]  
2
[14]   Academic restructuring: Organizational change and institutional imperatives [J].
Gumport, PJ .
HIGHER EDUCATION, 2000, 39 (01) :67-91
[15]  
Hansmann R., 2010, Sustainability, V2, P2873, DOI [10.3390/su2092873, DOI 10.3390/SU2092873]
[16]   TRAGEDY OF COMMONS [J].
HARDIN, G .
SCIENCE, 1968, 162 (3859) :1243-+
[17]  
Higher Education Statistics Agency, 2012, JOINT ACAD COD SYST
[18]  
Holling C.S., 1973, Annual Rev Ecol Syst, V4, P1, DOI 10.1146/annurev.es.04.110173.000245
[19]  
Iyer-Raniga U, 2012, SUSTAINABILITY ED EN
[20]   Structuring sustainability science [J].
Jerneck, Anne ;
Olsson, Lennart ;
Ness, Barry ;
Anderberg, Stefan ;
Baier, Matthias ;
Clark, Eric ;
Hickler, Thomas ;
Hornborg, Alf ;
Kronsell, Annica ;
Lovbrand, Eva ;
Persson, Johannes .
SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE, 2011, 6 (01) :69-82