Learning to collaborate from diverse interactions in project-based sustainability courses

Theres Konrad; Arnim Wiek; Matthias Barth

doi:10.3390/su13179884

Learning to collaborate from diverse interactions in project-based sustainability courses

Theres Konrad^*
, Arnim Wiek
, Matthias Barth

^*Corresponding author for this work

Arizona State University

Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Project-based sustainability courses require and facilitate diverse interactions among stu-dents, instructors, stakeholders, and mentors. Most project-based courses take an instrumental approach to these interactions, so that they support the overall project deliverables. However, as courses primarily intend to build students’ key competencies in sustainability, including the competence to collaborate in teams and with stakeholders, there are opportunities to utilize these interactions more directly to build students’ interpersonal competence. This study offers insights from project-based sustainability courses at universities in Germany, the U.S., Switzerland, and Spain to empirically explore such opportunities. We investigate how students develop interpersonal competence by learning from (rather than through) their interactions with peers, instructors, stakeholders, and mentors. The findings can be used by course instructors, curriculum designers, and program administrators to more deliberately use the interactions with peers, instructors, stakeholders, and mentors in project-based sustainability courses for developing students’ competence to successfully collaborate in teams and with stakeholders.

Original language	English
Article number	9884
Journal	Sustainability
Volume	13
Issue number	17
Number of pages	15
ISSN	2071-1050
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179884
Publication status	Published - 02.09.2021

Bibliographical note

Funding:
This learning was supported by regular exchange among student groups. This means that not only the teamwork setting allows for interpersonal competence development, but the exchange among peers about their group work, too. Such exchanges took place in all three courses. The GSR and tdCS course had several groups working on one umbrella project, while the ARW course had different individual student projects. Students went through the same cycles of planning, acting, and reflecting, which constituted shared experiences and the basis for reflection and exchange.

This research was funded by Volkswagen Foundation and Niedersächsische Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, grant number A115235.

This publication was funded by the Open Access Publication Fund of Leuphana University Lüneburg.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 4 Quality Education
SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

Research areas and keywords

Interactions
Interpersonal/collaborative competence
Key competencies in sustainability
Project-based learning
Sustainability courses
Sustainability education

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Computer Science (miscellaneous)
Hardware and Architecture
Energy Engineering and Power Technology
Computer Networks and Communications
Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
Geography, Planning and Development
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Access to Document

10.3390/su13179884Licence: CC BY

DownloadFinal published version, 996 KBLicence: CC BY

EdFCA: Educating Future Change Agents - Higher Education as a Motor of the Sustainability Transformation
Barth, M. (Project manager, academic), Lang, D. J. (Project manager, academic), Halberstadt, J. (Project manager, academic) & Wiek, A. (Project staff)
Ministry of Science and Culture of the state of Lower Saxony in Germany
01.03.16 → 30.04.20
Project: Research

File

Cite this

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abstract = "Project-based sustainability courses require and facilitate diverse interactions among stu-dents, instructors, stakeholders, and mentors. Most project-based courses take an instrumental approach to these interactions, so that they support the overall project deliverables. However, as courses primarily intend to build students{\textquoteright} key competencies in sustainability, including the competence to collaborate in teams and with stakeholders, there are opportunities to utilize these interactions more directly to build students{\textquoteright} interpersonal competence. This study offers insights from project-based sustainability courses at universities in Germany, the U.S., Switzerland, and Spain to empirically explore such opportunities. We investigate how students develop interpersonal competence by learning from (rather than through) their interactions with peers, instructors, stakeholders, and mentors. The findings can be used by course instructors, curriculum designers, and program administrators to more deliberately use the interactions with peers, instructors, stakeholders, and mentors in project-based sustainability courses for developing students{\textquoteright} competence to successfully collaborate in teams and with stakeholders.",

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Learning to collaborate from diverse interactions in project-based sustainability courses

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Research areas and keywords

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Access to Document

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Projects

EdFCA: Educating Future Change Agents - Higher Education as a Motor of the Sustainability Transformation

Cite this