Ram, S-A (2024) Understanding sustainability education within undergraduate engineering at the university of Toronto. PhD thesis, University of Toronto, Canada.
Abstract
Educating engineering students for sustainable development and environmental stewardship is an important preparatory foundation for addressing global complex problems. However, the necessary knowledge and learning for sustainability in engineering education may not be sufficient to meet these challenges. The research in this dissertation is investigating how engineers are being equipped to be sustainably responsible in their personal lives and professional practice. This research is multi-disciplinary including engineering, environmental, and education concepts. The undergraduate engineering students and curriculum at the University of Toronto (UofT) are featured as case studies. UofT is appropriate as the institution trains one of the largest cohorts of engineers in Canada, offering opportunities for engineering students to contribute positively to sustainability as future engineers in Canada.The three substantive studies represent the personal, professional and blended aspects of sustainability for undergraduate engineering students. In Study 1 – The Complex Relationship between Carbon Literacy and Pro-Environmental Actions among Engineering Students – I investigated students’ pro-environmental knowledge and actions pertaining to emissions and the relationship between them. I developed a survey and life cycle assessment-based methodology to estimate carbon footprint. The results indicated an overall weak relationship, but believing an action has high impact was associated with lower carbon footprint. In Study 2 – Crafting a Definition of Sustainability for Engineering Education and using it to Assess Curriculum – I developed a framework to describe sustainability in engineering and methodology to assess curriculum, then evaluated content in the undergraduate engineering curriculum at UofT by performing a qualitative analysis and surveying instructors. The results indicated that sustainability pillars tend to be taught in isolation rather than integrated. In Study 3 – Changes in Engineering Students’ Sustainability Perceptions and Engagement through Reflective Statements – I analyzed students’ personal statements from a sustainability related course. The results indicated a more balanced view of sustainability at the end of the course and development of broader societal thinking. Together these studies form a body of work that can be used to assess sustainability and be used to inform or recommend future plans in undergraduate engineering education programs. In addition, the instruments and generalizable methods can be extended to other institutions.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Posen, D and Tihanyi, D |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Canada; carbon footprint; case studies; education; learning; life cycle; multi-disciplinary; professional; qualitative analysis; sustainability; sustainable development |
| Index terms: | life cycle assessment, instructor, engineer, sustainable development, sustainability education, estimate, Canada, Toronto, undergraduate, program, surveying, life cycle, carbon footprint, case study, survey, engineering education, professional practice, methodology, dissertation, qualitative analysis |
| Subjects: | educational innovation, value management, research dissemination and communication, practitioner, financial and cost management, health monitoring assessment and metrics, research design and methodology, environmental impact, software systems, curriculum development, professional education, Geography, research methods, profession, health safety and environment, professional development, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Cost Management, Education, Geographical Context, Information Management, Digital Applications, Roles and Professions, Health and Safety, Project Management, Research Practice, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here