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K. Emblen-Perry
this study suggest ABL is also able to promote skills for sustainability advocacy and
generate the students’ outputs and student support systems that can achieve the 21st
Century learning, enabling students to be productive learners and successful in life,
work and citizenship. These 21st century learning student outputs have been achieved
by the design and delivery of an innovative approach to EfS which is grounded in
a real world context and utilises active learning for relevant topics that can engage
students in deeper learning, enhance knowledge and skills for sustainability advocacy
and employment skills. Together these can further the development of sustainable
futures.
The research findings suggest ABL may encourage students to develop new ways
of thinking and empower students to evaluate the evidence provided in the live case
study, in-class activities, taught sessions and audit meetings with sustainability practitioners to make informed judgements of the university’s sustainability performance.
This may produce the new learning culture that can initiate the new ways of learning
and thinking advocated by Rieckmann (2011) and Molthan-Hill (2014) to enable
students to make the responsible and ethical management decisions recommended
by Stough et al. (2018).
Students’ reflections on their experience of auditing suggest ABL can contribute
to the development of sustainability knowledge and skills that are considered a
vital contribution of universities in developing sustainable futures (Chalkley 2006;
Rieckmann 2011; Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education 2014) and
help meet society’s demands for responsible business (Adomssent et al. 2014).
ABL can also contribute to the provision of employment-ready graduates through
the closure of the sustainability skills gaps and equip students with the sustainability
business skills demanded by organisations (Docherty 2014). Through preparing and
undertaking an audit and reflecting on findings to propose improvement actions,
ABL may also encourage the generation of students’ higher cognitive skills such as
reasoning, synthesising, conceptualising, evaluating and communicating. This can
help close the cognitive skills gap identified by Sadler (2016).
The opportunity for ABL to develop research skills alongside sustainability
knowledge and skills emerged in the analysis of survey responses. The independent research required for the assignment, peer-to-peer learning and tutor-to-student
learning incorporated within the module may generate these research and sustainability skills. This will be valuable for students to feed forward into their future academic
career, particularly their independent research project undertaken at Level 6.
The author recognises that this one-time study may have some limitations. The
small study size limits firm conclusions being made and anonymity of participants
prevents the specific development of knowledge being validated. However, the study
offers an innovative approach to EfS and a novel methodology for business sustainability LTA as well as insights to others in the sustainability community developing
experiential LTA in a real world environment. Future studies will address these limitations to validate further the findings of this study.
K. Emblen-Perry
this study suggest ABL is also able to promote skills for sustainability advocacy and
generate the students’ outputs and student support systems that can achieve the 21st
Century learning, enabling students to be productive learners and successful in life,
work and citizenship. These 21st century learning student outputs have been achieved
by the design and delivery of an innovative approach to EfS which is grounded in
a real world context and utilises active learning for relevant topics that can engage
students in deeper learning, enhance knowledge and skills for sustainability advocacy
and employment skills. Together these can further the development of sustainable
futures.
The research findings suggest ABL may encourage students to develop new ways
of thinking and empower students to evaluate the evidence provided in the live case
study, in-class activities, taught sessions and audit meetings with sustainability practitioners to make informed judgements of the university’s sustainability performance.
This may produce the new learning culture that can initiate the new ways of learning
and thinking advocated by Rieckmann (2011) and Molthan-Hill (2014) to enable
students to make the responsible and ethical management decisions recommended
by Stough et al. (2018).
Students’ reflections on their experience of auditing suggest ABL can contribute
to the development of sustainability knowledge and skills that are considered a
vital contribution of universities in developing sustainable futures (Chalkley 2006;
Rieckmann 2011; Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education 2014) and
help meet society’s demands for responsible business (Adomssent et al. 2014).
ABL can also contribute to the provision of employment-ready graduates through
the closure of the sustainability skills gaps and equip students with the sustainability
business skills demanded by organisations (Docherty 2014). Through preparing and
undertaking an audit and reflecting on findings to propose improvement actions,
ABL may also encourage the generation of students’ higher cognitive skills such as
reasoning, synthesising, conceptualising, evaluating and communicating. This can
help close the cognitive skills gap identified by Sadler (2016).
The opportunity for ABL to develop research skills alongside sustainability
knowledge and skills emerged in the analysis of survey responses. The independent research required for the assignment, peer-to-peer learning and tutor-to-student
learning incorporated within the module may generate these research and sustainability skills. This will be valuable for students to feed forward into their future academic
career, particularly their independent research project undertaken at Level 6.
The author recognises that this one-time study may have some limitations. The
small study size limits firm conclusions being made and anonymity of participants
prevents the specific development of knowledge being validated. However, the study
offers an innovative approach to EfS and a novel methodology for business sustainability LTA as well as insights to others in the sustainability community developing
experiential LTA in a real world environment. Future studies will address these limitations to validate further the findings of this study.