A Contextual Approach to Researching and Teaching Sustainability

这项授予詹姆斯·麦迪逊大学（JMU）的工程教育研究计划将研究和评估如何将五种情况下的可持续性教学整合到工程、科学、社会科学、教育和人文学科的现有材料中。具体而言，本提案的目标是：1)采用系统理论方法，将五个可持续发展背景（环境、社会/文化、经济、技术、个人）的研究和教学整合到大学课程的现有材料中；2)利用跨学科的方法来研究可持续发展，包括其他学科（科学、社会科学、教育、人文科学）的观点，使工程专业的学生对解决可持续发展问题有一个全面的了解；3)创建个性化的教学方法，关注个人价值观和行为。最终的成果将是可持续发展研究、指导和评估的低成本全球模式的第一次迭代。这种模式将允许大学检查他们的课程，以确定他们用于教授可持续发展的内容和方法，从而确定将基于价值观和行为的跨学科教学整合到课程中的适当方法。该模型将提供一种廉价的、可扩展的、可转移的模型，用于将基于个人价值观和行为的系统和跨学科教学整合到一个或多个工程课程中。在大学里，这个项目将使可持续发展在工程、科学、社会科学、教育和人文学科的重要研究和教学意义更加明显。参与这项工作的教师和学生（三年内约400人）将对可持续发展的现实系统方法有更深入的了解，他们将在成年后的生活和职业生涯中采用这种方法。

This engineering education research award to James Madison University (JMU) research proposal will study and assess ways in which sustainability instruction in five contexts can be integrated into existing material in engineering, science, social science, education, and the humanities. Specifically, the objectives of this proposal are 1) to employ a systems theory approach to integrating research and instruction in five sustainability contexts (environmental, social/cultural, economic, technical, individual) into existing material in the university curriculum; 2) to utilize a cross-disciplinary approach to sustainability that includes perspectives from other disciplines (science, social science, education, humanities) in order to give engineering students a comprehensive understanding for solving sustainability problems; and 3) to create a personalized instructional approach that focuses on individual values and behaviors. The final deliverable will be a first iteration of a low-cost global model for sustainability research, instruction, and assessment. This model will allow universities to examine their programs to determine the content and methodologies they employ to teach sustainability, and consequently, determine appropriate methods for integrating cross-disciplinary instruction based on values and behaviors into their curricula.The model will provide an inexpensive, scalable, and transferable model for integrating systems and cross-disciplinary instruction based on individual values and behaviors into an engineering course or curriculum. In the university, this project will make more visible the important research and instructional implications of sustainability in engineering, science, social science, education, and the humanities. Faculty and students involved in this effort (approximately 400 over three years) will have a greater understanding of a realistic systems approach to sustainability they will take with them into their adult lives and careers.