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Identifying and Overcoming Barriers to Integrating Sustainability across the Curriculum at a Teaching-Oriented University

Author

Listed:
  • Brian Pompeii

    (Sociology, Social Work & Anthropology, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA 23606, USA)

  • Yi-Wen Chiu

    (Natural Resources Management & Environmental Sciences, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA)

  • Dawn Neill

    (Social Sciences, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA)

  • David Braun

    (Electrical Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA)

  • Gregg Fiegel

    (Civil and Environmental Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA)

  • Rebekah Oulton

    (Civil and Environmental Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA)

  • Joseph Ragsdale

    (Landscape Architecture, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA)

  • Kylee Singh

    (Facilities Energy, Utilities, and Sustainability, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA)

Abstract

This research collects and analyzes student and faculty knowledge and perceptions toward sustainability education at a predominately undergraduate, teaching-oriented university. In-depth, qualitative methods distinguish low- and high-knowledge student and faculty cohorts, identify perceived barriers to sustainability education in each cohort, and recognize strategies to overcome the barriers identified by each cohort. Data collected from recorded and transcribed semi-structured interviews of student and faculty subjects underwent analysis via repeated readings to uncover key themes. Results required developing metrics for student and faculty sustainability knowledge and attitudes across disciplines, determining discipline-specific gaps in sustainability knowledge and differences in attitudes, and relating implementation barriers to general or specific knowledge gaps and attitudes. Findings identified low and high levels of sustainability knowledge within the student and faculty subject population and revealed barriers in pursuing interdisciplinary sustainability curricula across disciplines and among both students and faculty at the study university. Overall, higher sustainability knowledge participants tend to identify barriers related to institutional accountability while lower sustainability knowledge participants tend to identify barriers related to personal responsibility. Distributing barriers and solutions along a continuum from personal responsibility to educational institution responsibility reveals more recognition of barriers at the personal level and more solutions proposed at the institutional level. This result may reflect a common tendency to deny personal responsibility when addressing sustainability challenges.

Suggested Citation

  • Brian Pompeii & Yi-Wen Chiu & Dawn Neill & David Braun & Gregg Fiegel & Rebekah Oulton & Joseph Ragsdale & Kylee Singh, 2019. "Identifying and Overcoming Barriers to Integrating Sustainability across the Curriculum at a Teaching-Oriented University," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-17, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:9:p:2652-:d:229493
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rodrigo Lozano & Maria Barreiro-Gen & Francisco J. Lozano & Kaisu Sammalisto, 2019. "Teaching Sustainability in European Higher Education Institutions: Assessing the Connections between Competences and Pedagogical Approaches," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-17, March.
    2. John D. Sterman, 1989. "Modeling Managerial Behavior: Misperceptions of Feedback in a Dynamic Decision Making Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(3), pages 321-339, March.
    3. Sterman, John D., 1989. "Misperceptions of feedback in dynamic decision making," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 301-335, June.
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    1. Łukasz Sułkowski & Katarzyna Kolasińska-Morawska & Robert Seliga & Piotr Buła & Paweł Morawski, 2021. "Sustainability Culture of Polish Universities in Professionalization of Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-22, December.
    2. Sandra Caeiro & Ulisses M. Azeiteiro, 2020. "Sustainability Assessment in Higher Education Institutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-4, April.
    3. María Consuelo Sáiz-Manzanares & Sara Gutiérrez-González & Ángel Rodríguez & Lourdes Alameda Cuenca-Romero & Verónica Calderón & Miguel Ángel Queiruga-Dios, 2020. "Systematic Review on Inclusive Education, Sustainability in Engineering: An Analysis with Mixed Methods and Data Mining Techniques," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-18, August.
    4. Lazar Gitelman & Mikhail Kozhevnikov & Olga Ryzhuk, 2019. "Advance Management Education for Power-Engineering and Industry of the Future," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-23, October.

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