Promoting sustainable human development in engineering: Assessment of online courses within continuing professional development strategies

Abstract

a b s t r a c tHigher Education Institutions play a critical role in societies transition towards sustainable development, educating future professionals and decision makers. In the last few decades, a number of technical universities have devoted major efforts to integrating sustainable development into engineering curricula. There is still, however, an increasing need to further transform learning and training environments and build capacity of educators and trainers on sustainable development issues.Against this background, this paper assesses the role of online training courses, within continuing professional development strategies, in promoting sustainable human development in engineering degrees. It was built upon the implementation of a European initiative, the Global Dimension in Engineering Education, promoted by a transdisciplinary consortium of technical universities and nongovernmental organisations.In terms of method, this study analyses two sets of quantitative and qualitative indicators to assess i) the perceived quality/relevance of the training proposals, and ii) the learning acquisition of participants. Quantitative indicators were complemented by a descriptive analysis of findings from a semi-structured survey. The results provide evidence that online learning can be an effective approach for continuing professional development of academics. The findings also suggest that participants perceived online courses' contents and curricula, developed jointly by academics and practitioners of non-governmental organisations, as relevant and useful for integrating sustainability principles in teaching activities. To conclude, authors recommend the leaders of higher educational institutions to explore the integration of online courses addressed to faculty into university policy and strategies, as a way to promote professional development and the engagement of academics on sustainable development.

Key characteristics of academics promoting Sustainable Human Development within engineering studies

“…The pedagogical approach, based on the previous works of project partners (Boni and Pérez-Foguet, 2008;Pérez-Foguet et al, 2005), has been extensively described elsewhere (Pérez-Foguet et al, 2018;Trimingham et al, 2016). For the purpose of this research, it is worth mentioning that the project strategy was based on a continuous professional development approach addressing academics focused on three main areas: competences, connectivity and collaboration.…”

Investigating Students’ Sustainability Awareness and the Curriculum of Technology Education in Pakistan

“…Providing sustainability awareness to students requires educational institutes to adapt their vision, policy, teaching, and in particular their curriculum [22]. As the sustainability concept is expanding in the technology industry [23], the sustainable mindset of young graduates must be nurtured through education.…”

Green chemistry & chemical stewardship certificate program: a novel, interdisciplinary approach to green chemistry and environmental health education

“…Online learning is an effective modality for delivering continued and professional education to working professionals, especially when offered with interactive delivery methods, discussion boards, and multiple audio/ visual resources (12)(13)(14)(15)(16). New paradigms of teaching and course development that engage the learner, integrate different disciplines into core content, and cover professional competencies are emerging that offer crosscutting experiences to promote sustainability and health at all levels: individual, population, and global (17)(18)(19)(20)(21)5).…”