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When it comes to what higher education students know about sustainability, where they learn matters. In this study, we explore the extent to which students’ level of sustainability knowledge differed according to where they previously learned about the environment. In an online survey administered to undergraduate students enrolled at Michigan State University, a large university in the Midwestern region of the United States, we found a significant relationship between students’ level of sustainability knowledge and their environmental learning source. Environmental knowledge gained in the classroom, both at the secondary and postsecondary levels, had the strongest (positive) influence on students’ present sustainability knowledge, while there was a significant (negative) relationship between how frequently students gathered knowledge from their parents and their level of knowledge. Results from this study suggest that instructors need to be intentional about the types of prior knowledge they use as a springboard when teaching students about sustainability.
Jessica Ostrow Michel; Adam Zwickle. The effect of information source on higher education students’ sustainability knowledge. Environmental Education Research 2021, 27, 1080 -1098.
AMA StyleJessica Ostrow Michel, Adam Zwickle. The effect of information source on higher education students’ sustainability knowledge. Environmental Education Research. 2021; 27 (7):1080-1098.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJessica Ostrow Michel; Adam Zwickle. 2021. "The effect of information source on higher education students’ sustainability knowledge." Environmental Education Research 27, no. 7: 1080-1098.
Jessica Ostrow Michel; Marisol Jimenez; Jarett D. Haley; Corbin M. Campbell. The Connection Between Faculty Practices in Class and Students’ Time Use Out of Class. Innovative Higher Education 2020, 46, 59 -76.
AMA StyleJessica Ostrow Michel, Marisol Jimenez, Jarett D. Haley, Corbin M. Campbell. The Connection Between Faculty Practices in Class and Students’ Time Use Out of Class. Innovative Higher Education. 2020; 46 (1):59-76.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJessica Ostrow Michel; Marisol Jimenez; Jarett D. Haley; Corbin M. Campbell. 2020. "The Connection Between Faculty Practices in Class and Students’ Time Use Out of Class." Innovative Higher Education 46, no. 1: 59-76.
Although policymakers have advocated for infusing sustainability throughout the higher education curriculum, we know little about how to teach students this complex subject matter. Therefore, using data from a sustainability survey of Michigan State University undergraduate students, this study charted students’ exposure to promising practices of teaching about sustainability during the Fall 2017 academic semester. Results found that on average, students neither agreed nor disagreed that they experienced cognitively responsive teaching while learning about sustainability. Additionally, students experienced teaching for sustainability on average between a few times and sometimes, although closer to a few times. These results demonstrate that while promising practices of teaching and learning are being employed to teach students about sustainability to some extent, they ought to be occurring with greater frequency in order to have the necessary transformational impact on future generations.
Jessica Ostrow Michel. Charting students’ exposure to promising practices of teaching about sustainability across the higher education curriculum. Teaching in Higher Education 2020, 1 -27.
AMA StyleJessica Ostrow Michel. Charting students’ exposure to promising practices of teaching about sustainability across the higher education curriculum. Teaching in Higher Education. 2020; ():1-27.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJessica Ostrow Michel. 2020. "Charting students’ exposure to promising practices of teaching about sustainability across the higher education curriculum." Teaching in Higher Education , no. : 1-27.
Decades of policy initiatives, a developing body of literature, and a growing cadre of practitioners are united in suggesting that the preeminent approach to educating students about sustainability is by infusion throughout the higher education curriculum. While there is mounting evidence that sustainability should be taught to students beyond the disciplinary confines of natural science and geography, little is known about the prevalence of this topic throughout an entire higher education curriculum. Therefore the study reported here aimed to capture a bird’s eye view of the presence of sustainability subject matter at one higher education institution through survey research. The findings showed that nearly two-thirds of the student participants reported that they had exposure to sustainability subject matter during the course of one academic semester. Of the students who reported that they did have the opportunity to learn, most of them only learned about sustainability at one point in time. Inadequate time is being devoted to educating students about sustainability, especially given the amount of time and effort needed to promote a transformative learning experience. As a result of these findings, the recommendation is that administrators and policymakers advocate for repetition of sustainability subject matter across the curriculum, instead of the common discourse merely calling for it to be infused throughout the curriculum.
Jessica Ostrow Michel. Mapping out Students’ Opportunity to Learn about Sustainability across the Higher Education Curriculum. Innovative Higher Education 2020, 45, 1 -17.
AMA StyleJessica Ostrow Michel. Mapping out Students’ Opportunity to Learn about Sustainability across the Higher Education Curriculum. Innovative Higher Education. 2020; 45 (5):1-17.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJessica Ostrow Michel. 2020. "Mapping out Students’ Opportunity to Learn about Sustainability across the Higher Education Curriculum." Innovative Higher Education 45, no. 5: 1-17.