Abstract Book of the 9th International Academic Conference on Education
Year: 2025
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The Integration of Sustainable Thinking into Course Design – A Case Study of Problem-based and Project-based Learning
Prof. Dr. Mei-Chiung Chi
ABSTRACT:
More and more scholars are concerned with the sustainability education, especially the creation and implementation of sustainable curricula and teaching methods. (Hays & Reinders, 2020; Schneider, et al., 2018; Thomas, 2009)
This case study aimed to integrate sustainable thinking into university sophomore students’ course “Consumer Behavior & Advertising Psychology” curriculum design. Applying John Dewey’s idea of “learning by doing” (Ko, 1991) and the methods of problem-based learning (Hanney & Savin-Baden, 2013) and project-based learning (Gwen, 2003), students work with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to observe real-world problems faced by authentic business environments and come up with creative solutions through the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) oriented approach.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up the vast majority of businesses in Taiwan, and unlike large corporations, they do not have specialized sustainability professionals to assist in their sustainable development. Therefore, the student projects have practical values for SMEs.
This study was conducted in a quantitative and qualitative manner. The eight elements of PBL proposed by Buck Educational Institutions (BIE, 2017) were used to construct the learning effectiveness questionnaire. A five-point Likert Scale with 5 dimensions was used as the assessment tool. In addition, student opinions were collected through self-reports. The result shows, among the various PBL learning elements, students highly agree with “close to the real business environment” and “better understand of consumers and business”.
From the student reports also prove that PBL approaches produced positive learning outcomes and allowed students to gain a sense of fulfillment in the project learning process. This research can serve as an applied reference for the development of sustainable education.
Keywords: sustainability, problem-based learning, project-based learning, learning by doing, ESG