Education for Sustainable Development: Methodology and Application within a Construction Course
Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 139, Issue 1
Abstract
This article presents a plan of action composed of various initiatives for including sustainable development education (SDE) transversally within university degree programs. The most important initiative is that of introducing sustainable development as a basic transversal skill for each thematic unit of the class, thereby completely modifying the content. To achieve this adaptation, a methodology is developed that can be systematically followed in any class. This article includes an example of how this methodology was implemented in an “Industrial Construction and Industrial Services” class, which is part of the industrial engineering major at a Spanish university. The objectives and results achieved in the class demonstrate the benefits of using the proposed method to incorporate an adequate amount of SDE into university degree programs.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Amadei, B., and Sandekian, R. (2010). “Model of integrating humanitarian development into engineering education.” J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 136(2), 84–92.
Amekudzi, A. A., Li, L., and Meyer, M. (2010). “Cultivating research and information skills in civil engineering undergraduate students.” J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 136(1), 24–29.
Anderson, L. W., and Krathwohl, D. R. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives, Longman, New York.
Barry, B. E., and Ohland, M. W. (2009). “Applied ethics in the engineering, health, business, and law professions: A comparison.” J. Eng. Educ., 98(4), 377–388.
Barth, M., Godemann, J., Rieckmann, M., and Stoltenberg, U. (2007). “Developing key competences for sustainable development in higher education.” Int. J. Sustain. High. Educ., 8(4), 416–430.
Chau, K. W. (2007). “Incorporation of sustainability concepts into a civil engineering curriculum.” J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 133(3), 188–191.
Colby, A., and Sullivan, W. M. (2008). “Ethics teaching in undergraduate engineering education.” J. Eng. Educ., 97(3), 327–338.
Commission on Environmental Education. (1999). Spanish environmental education guidebook, Ministry of Environment, Madrid, Spain.
Consejo Empresarial Español para el Desarrollo. (2008). Personas y desarrollo sostenible, Fundación Entorno, Madrid, Spain.
Domínguez, J., Cano, E., Palomero, J. I., Rodríguez, B., and Pérez, J. M. (2009a). Tomo II. Prácticas de construcciones industriales y servicios industriales, Zaragoza, Spain.
Domínguez, J., Cano, E., Rodríguez, B., and Pérez, J. M. (2009b). Tomo I. Transparencias curso 08/09 de construcciones industriales y servicios industriales, Zaragoza, Spain.
Dym, C. L. (2010). “Sustainability: Affirming engineering values.” Int. J. Eng. Educ., 26(2), 240–246.
Earth Charter Initiative Secretariat. (2005). An Earth Charter guidebook for teachers, The Earth Charter Initiative International Secretariat, San Jose, CA.
European Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaign. (2000). “The Hannover Call of municipal leaders at the turn of the 21 century.” Third European Conf. on Sustainable Cities, Hannover, Germany.
Grimberg, S. J., Langen, T. A., Compeau, L. D., and Powers, S. E. (2008). “A theme-based seminar on environmental sustainability improves participant satisfaction in an undergraduate summer research program.” J. Eng. Educ., 97(1), 95–103.
Jonassen, D. H., Shen, D., Marra, R. M., Cho, Y.-H., Lo, J. L., and Lohani, V. K. (2009). “Engaging and supporting problem solving in engineering ethics.” J. Eng. Educ., 98(3), 235–254.
Kelly, W. E. (2008). “General education for civil engineers: Sustainable development.” J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 134(1), 75–83.
Lambert, S. (2010). “Sustainable design throughout the curriculum using case studies.” Int. J. Eng. Educ., 26(2), 401–407.
Libra, J. A. (2007). “Environmental process engineering: Building capacity for sustainability.” J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 133(4), 308–319.
Lindblom-ylänne, S., Pihlajamäk, H., and Kotkas, T. (2006). “Self-, peer- and teacher-assessment of student essays.” Active Learn. High. Educ., 7(1), 51–62.
Manoliadis, O. (2009). “Education for sustainability: Experiences from Greece.” J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 135(2), 70–74.
Mckay, A., and Raffo, D. (2007). “Project-based learning: A case study in sustainable design.” Int. J. Eng. Educ., 23(6), 1096–1115.
Michigan Technological University. (2011). “Courses, initiatives and programs.” Sustainable Futures Institute, 〈http://www.sfi.mtu.edu/education.php〉 (Sep. 6, 2011).
Mihelcic, J. R., Crittenden, J. C., Small, M. J., Shonnard, D. R., Hokanson, D. R., Zhang, Q., Chen, H., Sorby, S. A., James, V. U., Sutherland, J. W., and Schnoor, J. L. (2003). “Sustainability science and engineering: The emergence of a new metadiscipline.” Environ. Sci. Tech., 37(23), 5314–5324.
Royal Academy of Engineering. (2005). Engineering for sustainable development: Guiding principles, The Royal Academy of Engineering, London.
Siller, T. J., Rosales, A., Hianes, J., and Benally, A. (2009). “Development of undergraduate students’ professional skills.” J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 135(3), 102–108.
Tilbury, D., and Wortman, D. (2004). Engaging people insustainability, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Stevenage Herts, UK.
United Nations. (1992). “Agenda 21.” Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, 〈http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/〉 (Sep. 6, 2011).
University of Colorado at Boulder. (2011). “Graduate certificate in engineering for developing communities.” Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities, 〈http://ceae.colorado.edu/mc-edc/?ii=Education〉 (Sep. 6, 2011).
University of Zaragoza. (2011). “Aldea da Henda.” Amigos Obra da Rúa—Department of Construction Engineering, 〈http://www.unizar.es/cooperacion-desarrollo/drupal/sites/default/files/Aldea%20da%20Henda.pdf〉 (Sep. 12, 2011).
Villanova University. (2011). “Student groups and projects.” The President’s Environmental Sustainability Committee, 〈http://www.villanova.edu/sustainability/organizations.htm〉 (Sep. 6, 2011).
Wang, Y. (2009). “Sustainability in construction education.” J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract., 135(1), 21–30.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 139 • Issue 1 • January 2013
Pages: 72 - 79
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 17, 2011
Accepted: Mar 5, 2012
Published online: Mar 7, 2012
Discussion open until: Aug 7, 2012
Published in print: Jan 1, 2013
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.