Avoid, Control, Succumb, or Balance: Engineering Students' Approaches to a Wicked Sustainability Problem
Avoid, Control, Succumb, or Balance: Engineering Students' Approaches to a Wicked Sustainability Problem
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DOI：
10.1007/s11165-016-9529-7
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发表时间：
2017-08-01
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Svanstrom, Magdalena
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Lonngren, Johanna;Ingerman, Ake;Svanstrom, Magdalena
邪恶的可持续性问题（WSPs）是一个重要的和特别具有挑战性的问题类型。科学和工程教育可以在培养学生处理这些问题方面发挥重要作用，但目前的教育实践可能没有让学生做好充分的准备。我们通过提供与学生解决wsp能力相关的见解来解决这一差距。具体来说，我们的目标是(I)描述工程专业学生学习WSP方法的关键组成部分，（II）根据可持续发展教育（ESD）的规范背景评估这些方法，以及（III）确定与WSP相关的学习的相关方面。目标一通过现象研究来解决，而目标二和目标三通过将结果与有关人类问题解决、可持续发展和可持续发展的研究文献联系起来来解决。作为现象学研究的结果，我们描述了接近特定WSP的四种定性不同方法：a .简化和避免，B.划分和控制，C.孤立和屈服，D.整合和平衡。我们认为方法D是ESD背景下最合适的方法，而A和C则不是。在此基础上，我们确定了与学生解决可持续发展问题的能力相关的三个学习目标：学会使用完全综合的方法，将可持续发展问题与温和和结构良好的问题区分开来，理解和考虑可持续发展的规范背景。最后，我们就如何利用这些学习目标来指导理工科教育活动的设计提出了建议。
Wicked sustainability problems (WSPs) are an important and particularly challenging type of problem. Science and engineering education can play an important role in preparing students to deal with such problems, but current educational practice may not adequately prepare students to do so. We address this gap by providing insights related to students' abilities to address WSPs. Specifically, we aim to (I) describe key constituents of engineering students' approaches to a WSP, (II) evaluate these approaches in relation to the normative context of education for sustainable development (ESD), and (III) identify relevant aspects of learning related to WSPs. Aim I is addressed through a phenomenographic study, while aims II and III are addressed by relating the results to research literature about human problem solving, sustainable development, and ESD. We describe four qualitatively different ways of approaching a specific WSP, as the outcome of the phenomenographic study: A. Simplify and avoid, B. Divide and control, C. Isolate and succumb, and D. Integrate and balance. We identify approach D as the most appropriate approach in the context of ESD, while A and C are not. On this basis, we identify three learning objectives related to students' abilities to address WSPs: learn to use a fully integrative approach, distinguish WSPs from tame and well-structured problems, and understand and consider the normative context of SD. Finally, we provide recommendations for how these learning objectives can be used to guide the design of science and engineering educational activities.