Auditing the University: Promoting Business Education …
309
5 Audit-Based Learning in Practice
The Business Sustainability module’s learning environment presented in this paper
has been constructed to deliver the expectations, hopes and demands of the three
key actors within EfS. It provides a practical introduction to business sustainability
through a competence-orientated approach to EfS, which aligns theory and practice using the module as a ‘living lab’ and the university as a real world learning
environment. Developing competence through ABL can develop capability to collect, collate, analyse and utilise the available information that Vare and Scott (2007)
argue can develop learners’ knowledge and skills to make sustainable choices in an
environment of inherent complexity and future uncertainty. The author aims to deliver
this by using real world business tools (the sustainability audit framework and auditing processes) and practical, collaborative activities to achieve this. Incorporating
an audit as the assignment and focus of in-class activities provides an authentic task
in a supportive but challenging environment that Savery and Duffy (1995) argue is
required for learners to accept the learning relevance. This challenging task and environment also supports the development of higher order cognitive skills that Sadler
(2016) argues are missing in many current graduates.
The first six of the of the module’s twelve, weekly 3-hour taught sessions focus on
specific business sustainability topics including, but not limited to, as environmental
management, social responsibility and economic responsibility to engage students
in the basic sustainability knowledge appropriate for second year undergraduates.
The next 3 taught sessions focus on embedding this knowledge and exploring the
effect sustainable and unsustainable behaviours can have on businesses, including
their responses to internal and external pressures from, and impacts on, stakeholders.
The module concludes with consideration of potential solutions to the sustainable
and unsustainable issues and implementation strategies. Training for auditing is provided throughout the module in formal and informal training sessions with practical,
participatory in-class activities designed to support formal audit training.
In place of extensive slide based lectures feeding knowledge to the students,
which is likely to promote just-in-time learning and short-term knowledge retention
(Emblen-Perry et al. 2017), the author introduces practical activities such as treasure hunts, sustainability communication filmmaking, quizzes, the Environmental
Impact Assessment Game etc. that engage students in individual and peer-to-peer
learning through discovery. These activities are designed for students to explore the
University’s sustainability practices in a fun and engaging learning environment and
develop an understanding of real world practices and behaviours.
These activities provide students with examples of sustainable and unsustainable business practice, process and strategy within the student’s immediate and personally relevant environment; the university. In-class working with the university’s
business processes offers two advantages; it exposes students to real world sustainability processes and enables ongoing face-to-face support and formative feedback
that current students expect (Ramsden 2013). It also provides opportunities for the
author to encourage students to collect information for the assessed audit on a phased
309
5 Audit-Based Learning in Practice
The Business Sustainability module’s learning environment presented in this paper
has been constructed to deliver the expectations, hopes and demands of the three
key actors within EfS. It provides a practical introduction to business sustainability
through a competence-orientated approach to EfS, which aligns theory and practice using the module as a ‘living lab’ and the university as a real world learning
environment. Developing competence through ABL can develop capability to collect, collate, analyse and utilise the available information that Vare and Scott (2007)
argue can develop learners’ knowledge and skills to make sustainable choices in an
environment of inherent complexity and future uncertainty. The author aims to deliver
this by using real world business tools (the sustainability audit framework and auditing processes) and practical, collaborative activities to achieve this. Incorporating
an audit as the assignment and focus of in-class activities provides an authentic task
in a supportive but challenging environment that Savery and Duffy (1995) argue is
required for learners to accept the learning relevance. This challenging task and environment also supports the development of higher order cognitive skills that Sadler
(2016) argues are missing in many current graduates.
The first six of the of the module’s twelve, weekly 3-hour taught sessions focus on
specific business sustainability topics including, but not limited to, as environmental
management, social responsibility and economic responsibility to engage students
in the basic sustainability knowledge appropriate for second year undergraduates.
The next 3 taught sessions focus on embedding this knowledge and exploring the
effect sustainable and unsustainable behaviours can have on businesses, including
their responses to internal and external pressures from, and impacts on, stakeholders.
The module concludes with consideration of potential solutions to the sustainable
and unsustainable issues and implementation strategies. Training for auditing is provided throughout the module in formal and informal training sessions with practical,
participatory in-class activities designed to support formal audit training.
In place of extensive slide based lectures feeding knowledge to the students,
which is likely to promote just-in-time learning and short-term knowledge retention
(Emblen-Perry et al. 2017), the author introduces practical activities such as treasure hunts, sustainability communication filmmaking, quizzes, the Environmental
Impact Assessment Game etc. that engage students in individual and peer-to-peer
learning through discovery. These activities are designed for students to explore the
University’s sustainability practices in a fun and engaging learning environment and
develop an understanding of real world practices and behaviours.
These activities provide students with examples of sustainable and unsustainable business practice, process and strategy within the student’s immediate and personally relevant environment; the university. In-class working with the university’s
business processes offers two advantages; it exposes students to real world sustainability processes and enables ongoing face-to-face support and formative feedback
that current students expect (Ramsden 2013). It also provides opportunities for the
author to encourage students to collect information for the assessed audit on a phased