Education for sustainable development through mathematical modelling in higher education: conceptual considerations, empirical explorations and implications

Education for sustainable development (ESD) is becoming increasingly important as an interdisciplinary task for all disciplines at all levels of education, including mathematics education. However, what is meant by ESD quite often remains unclear or is regarded as a highly contested construct. Based on these considerations, this article addresses two issues: (1) Firstly, it discusses the conceptualisation of ESD as a construct in the field of tension between instrumental and emancipatory approaches. Based on these discussions, it is highlighted (focusing on the example of mathematical modelling in mathematics education) that mathematics must be seen as an indispensable part of ESD, especially in higher education. (2) Since there are few concepts for concrete interdisciplinary implementation of ESD, and it is largely unclear how learners’ awareness of the importance of mathematical modelling for sustainability issues can be promoted in educational processes, this article secondly presents a conceptually based and empirically demonstrated concept of a university seminar on mathematical modelling of sustainability issues. The implementation of the seminar was scientifically monitored by means of an intervention study, investigating the extent to which university students’ beliefs and self-efficacy changed while participating in such a seminar. Empirical results highlight positive effects of this intervention.