Disciplinary Trends In Sustainability EducationAs Interpreted by STARS Gold Participants

Makayla J. Bonney MS Candidate, GeographySouthern Illinois University

Overview• Background• Research Questions• Results• Using STARS as a research tool• Looking Forward• Question and Discussion

Background• Liu, 2011: AASHE 2006-08 Sustainability Across

Curriculum Leadership Workshop study

• Literature both within and outside the discipline identifies geography as a “highly appropriate home for sustainability studies”, however, the geography community has not developed a lead role in sustainability education

NCSE Findings• 2012 Census of Sustainability Education Programs

(degrees, minors, certificates)

Administrative Location

Proportion

Multi-unit Program 38%

Department 25%

School/College 11%

Center/Institute 11%

Other 15%

Discipline/Field Proportion

BA/Mgmt. 25%

Enviro. Studies, Sci., Mgmt.

16%

ENGR/Tech 13%

Ag./Hort. 12%

Architecture 10%

Natural Resources/Ecology

5%

Planning 5%

Public Policy 4%

Geography 3%

Other (Anth., Chem., Econ., Edu., Geosci., Law, Tourism)

7%

Background

Research Questions:

1. How do Gold rated STARS participants approach sustainability education?

• What roles does Geography have in sustainability education?

2. What is the applicability of STARS as a research tool?

• What is Geography’s role?

• Are Business, Environmental Science leading?

Methodology• Focus: Gold rated institutions (n=48)

• 18.4% of all STARS institutions• Minimum score to achieve Gold: 65• Average score of dataset: 67.45

• Sustainability Focused Courses

1. Distribution of Sustainability Focused Courses in Institutions which offer Geography (n=23)

2. Distribution of Sustainability Focused Courses in all Gold Institutions

Middlebury CollegeRating Score

Gold 66.9

Education and Research 73.70%

Co-Curricular Education 17.5 / 17.75

Curriculum 26.69 / 51.00

Research 25.80 / 27.00

Operations 50.23%

Planning, Admin., Engagement

65.36%

Innovation 4 pts.

CurriculumSustainability Focused Courses

Course Total

32 757Geography 3 (n), 9.3%

Environmental Studies (Interdisc.)

6 (n), 18.6%

ETC.

Methodology Contd. • Course groupings by discipline

• Business: includes Administration, Management, Leadership• Minority Studies: includes Africana Studies, Women’s Studies,

Native American Studies• Architecture: Structural and Landscape• Engineering: Civil, Environmental, Structural• Biology: Ecology, Plant Biology, Microbiology • Other: University-specific program, outliers

ResultsInstitution

Sustainability Curriculum

Lead Department

# of Departments hosting majority

American University 17% INTL. Studies 2

Appalachian State U. 27% TECH 3

Ball State U. 1% ARCH 3

Middlebury College 24% ENVS 4

New Mexico State U. 29% AG 5

Northern Arizona U. 17% FORST 4

Oregon State U. 15% ECON 4

Portland State U. 2% PLAN 4

The U. of Arizona 15% GEOG 4

U. Colorado Boulder 9% ENVS 4

U. Iowa 8% GEOG 4

U. Denver 25% BUS & ADMIN 2

U. New Hampshire 19% NREM 3

U. Northern Iowa 18% UCOL 4

U. Wisconsin Stvns. Pnt. 23% NREM 2

Results

Discipline/FieldAverage Proportion of Courses

Architecture 16%*

Earth Science (Unclassified)

11%

Forestry 12%

Fish and Wildlife 12%

Geography 12%

Global or Intl. Studies 16%*

Natural Resource Environmental Management

28%*

Planning 11%

• Average discipline involvement across all schools

Discipline Breakdown ComparisonAverage Role At Individual Schools; Frequency Across All Schools

ANTH

ARCH

BIO

BUS

ECON

ENGR

ENVS

EARTH SCI (Unclassified)

FORST

FW

GEOG

GOVT/Polisci

GOBL or INTL Studies

HEALTH

HIST

NREM

PHIL

PLAN

SOCY

Other

40% 20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

4%

16%

7%

8%

5%

8%

9%

11%

12%

12%

12%

2%

16%

3%

3%

28%

2%

11%

3%

4%

73%

20%

87%

67%

93%

67%

67%

20%

20%

20%

80%

80%

27%

73%

73%

20%

47%

27%

60%

100%

% of Total Sustainability Curriculum

Frequency for All Schools

Outliers

• Ball State University

Architecture, 35%

• American University

Global Studies, 39%

• University of Wisc. Stevens Point

Nat. Resource Mgmt., 42%

Discipline/FieldAverage Proportion of Courses

Architecture 16%*

Global or Intl. Studies 16%*

Natural Resource Environmental Management

28%*

Using STARS Data As A Research Tool

• Limitations• Reporting inconsistencies• Course sum inconsistencies• Dead links• Course department/discipline not listed

• Solution: Calling institution’s STARS liaison• Data cleaning• Flagging feature (did not use)

Limitations Contd.: Definition of “Sustainability Focused Course”

Looking Forward: STARS 2.0

STARS 1.2 ER 6

• Sustainability focused courses: concentrate on the concept of sustainability including its social, economic, and environmental dimensions, or examine an issue or topic using sustainability as a lens

STARS 2.0 AC 1

• Sustainability courses: the primary and explicit focus is on sustainability and/or solving one or more major sustainability challenge (e.g. the course contributes toward achieving principles outlined in the Earth Charter).

• Foundational courses• Application of sustainability within

a field (usually interdisciplinary)• Courses providing

skills/knowledge directly related to solving or understanding sustainability challenges

Increased Accountability FeaturesFlagging featureEntry spot-checking

Looking Forward• Next Step in Research:

1. “Bulk up” Geography-offering schools data-set via phone calls, emails

2. Analyze remainder of Gold-rated institutions

Does departmental size, department influence at institution, department budget correlate to proportion of sustainability course offerings?

Does institutional mission contribute to sustainability course offerings?

What is the future for sustainability courses? What is the role of stakeholder demand?

Questions and Discussion

Makayla BonneySIU Graduate FellowMS Candidate, Geographymakayla.bonney@gmail.com309/331.3617

Background

• National Geographic and Geography Education Standards• 1984: Five Themes of Geography• 1994: Geography Education National Standards Project

• Two Perspectives of geography education:• Spatial and ecological

• 2011-Present: Daniel Edelson, VP Education• Geoliteracy: required an understanding of:

• Interactions: Human and natural systems• Implications: forward thinking, cost v. benefit• Interconnections: Place, systems thinking, global perspective