Enhancing Student Engagement
in a Sustainability Class: A Survey Study
Liguang Liu and Lianhong Gao
Abstract Student engagement in the classroom influences learning outcomes. As
part of the initiatives towards higher education for sustainable development (HESD),
it is important to create general education courses that focus on sustainability and is
open to all majors and grades. It is also important to conduct and assess pedagogical
practices to increase student engagement in such courses. Taking teaching of a sustainability course at the Central University of Finance and Economics in China as a
case, this paper provides an assessment of the factors that influence student engagement in the classroom. By combining survey results of students’ perceptions and
teachers’ reflections on engagement, this chapter suggests approaches of enhancing
student engagement by absorbing students’ contributions, improving communication
and pedagogy and adopting a whole-institution approach.
Keywords Student engagement · Sustainability · Higher eduction institutions ·
China
1 Introduction
Education has an important role to play in the promotion of sustainable development.
In 2005, the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) was declared
by the United Nations to integrate principles and practices of sustainable development into education. With the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) replaced by
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the links between development and sustainability have been made much clearer, calling for greater emphasis on education
for sustainable development (ESD) efforts. With a roadmap for implementation of
ESD, the Global Action Program (GAP) has since been launched to enable strategic
focus to educational efforts in shaping a sustainable future (UNESCO 2014).
L. Liu (B)
Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE), Beijing, China
e-mail: liuliguang@cufe.edu.cn
L. Gao
China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), Beijing, China
e-mail: lgao002@fiu.edu
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities as Living Labs for Sustainable Development,
World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15604-6_20
323
in a Sustainability Class: A Survey Study
Liguang Liu and Lianhong Gao
Abstract Student engagement in the classroom influences learning outcomes. As
part of the initiatives towards higher education for sustainable development (HESD),
it is important to create general education courses that focus on sustainability and is
open to all majors and grades. It is also important to conduct and assess pedagogical
practices to increase student engagement in such courses. Taking teaching of a sustainability course at the Central University of Finance and Economics in China as a
case, this paper provides an assessment of the factors that influence student engagement in the classroom. By combining survey results of students’ perceptions and
teachers’ reflections on engagement, this chapter suggests approaches of enhancing
student engagement by absorbing students’ contributions, improving communication
and pedagogy and adopting a whole-institution approach.
Keywords Student engagement · Sustainability · Higher eduction institutions ·
China
1 Introduction
Education has an important role to play in the promotion of sustainable development.
In 2005, the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) was declared
by the United Nations to integrate principles and practices of sustainable development into education. With the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) replaced by
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the links between development and sustainability have been made much clearer, calling for greater emphasis on education
for sustainable development (ESD) efforts. With a roadmap for implementation of
ESD, the Global Action Program (GAP) has since been launched to enable strategic
focus to educational efforts in shaping a sustainable future (UNESCO 2014).
L. Liu (B)
Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE), Beijing, China
e-mail: liuliguang@cufe.edu.cn
L. Gao
China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), Beijing, China
e-mail: lgao002@fiu.edu
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities as Living Labs for Sustainable Development,
World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15604-6_20
323