Challenging students' perceptions of sustainability using an Earth Systems Science approach

Abstract

This study investigated whether an Earth Systems-based course focused on raising postgraduate students' awareness of sustainability, from a systems-thinking perspective, would produce graduates with commitment to drive the sustainability agenda forward with a broad perspective. It investigated students' pre and post-course perceptions of sustainability using a pre- and post-course survey, and by analysing the students' reflective journal entries. The findings confirmed those of previous studies in that initially these students did have an enviro-centric view. The study showed that while the students' perceptions had indeed moved towards a broader view of sustainability, many still leaned towards an environmentally focused perspective.

Keywords::

• sustainability
• Earth Systems
• pedagogy
• active learning
• systems thinking

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.