Constructivist approach in teaching sustainability and business ethics: a case study

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to explore methods of teaching sustainability and business ethics, relevant to the modern demand for student’s skills and knowledge. The study explores the challenges of teaching a business school undergraduate-level course and argues that a constructivist pedagogy is a suitable epistemological approach for designing a course unit concerning sustainability and ethics. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents case study findings drawn upon course feedback and course reflections aimed at making sense of what the most effective pedagogic approaches were that influenced students’ learning. Findings Results indicate that students appreciate active forms of learning via practical assignments and discussions. As knowledge of sustainability and business ethics is important for the student’s future career path, students need to develop skills of applying conceptual knowledge to practice via constructive pedagogical methods. Practical implications This empirical study contributes to the literature of constructivist pedagogics, which is explored in the context of sustainable development and business ethics teaching. Practically, it contributes to the analysis of teaching methods and frameworks applied in the course emphasizing the necessity of engaging in interactive and personalized learning and teaching processes. Originality/value Issues of teaching ethics and sustainable development are known concerns, but they have to be addressed systematically because of the changing business environment. This study explores the constructivist pedagogy based on empirical evidence and highlights its value in the educational process.

Higher Education and the Sustainable Knowledge Society: Investigating Students' Perceptions of the Acquisition of Sustainable Development Competences

“…Regarding section 2, the survey focused on innovative pedagogies to develop and apply SD competences (De Kraker et al, 2007;Cörvers et al, 2016;Tejedor et al, 2019;Dziubaniuk and Nyholm, 2020), and on the extent to which these pedagogies allow students to develop and mature a multiscale (local to global), interdisciplinary, multi-stakeholder, and long-term oriented vision. In particular, respondents were asked to identify if and to what extent they applied innovative pedagogies.…”

“…More recent studies based on the constructivist approach to the development of SD competences include those of Vintere (2018), Wilhelm et al (2019, and Dziubaniuk and Nyholm (2020). Vintere (2018), analyzing the perceptions of mathematics students on SD competence development, favors a constructivist approach that links teaching and learning to everyday life; a condition which is met when students learn in interaction with others, learn to apply knowledge in real-life situations, are motivated by an understanding of how to use this knowledge in a future profession, and are encouraged to engage with self-directed learning (Vintere, 2018).…”

“…Constructive alignment with the design of learning outcomes is deemed promising and should focus on the extent to which (a) teaching and learning activities foster learning outcomes, (b) the educational environment allows students to become change agents, and (c) the assessment methods provide knowledge on the attainment of learning outcomes (Wilhelm et al, 2019). Dziubaniuk and Nyholm (2020), after analyzing the teaching of SD and business ethics in a business school and focusing on students' course feedback, found that students' participation in seminars and group work on creative assignments enhanced their development of critical thinking and incentivized collective learning. Increased motivation, thanks to course activities, also reflected in positive sustainability behaviors that students exhibited in their personal lives.…”

“…Irrespective, the students acknowledged the need for more discussion during conventional lectures, specifically to further their active role in knowledge co-creation. Dziubaniuk and Nyholm (2020) also encourage exploratory research on the suitability of pedagogical approaches that teach sustainability from both a quantitative and a qualitative perspective, and on the efficacy of these approaches in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic as it may have affected the provision of teaching and learning opportunities. Since studies on pedagogies' effect on the acquisition and implementation of SD competences are still limited (Tejedor et al, 2019), more research is also required on the use of these pedagogies in different contexts, so as to shed light on didactic approaches that HEIs could adopt to enable students becoming change agents (Lozano et al, 2019).…”

“…In addition, the survey also covers the extent to which the new pedagogies (De Kraker et al, 2007;Cörvers et al, 2016;Dziubaniuk and Nyholm, 2020) directed at SD competences were applied at the university, both before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because the pandemic favored the transition of HEI activities to virtual platforms, this paper investigates if the use of e-learning similarly favors the adoption of new SD pedagogies.…”