330
L. Liu and L. Gao
on Shahe campus. It is an optional taught course under the general education module
“Science, technology and environment”. The course is intended to broaden students’
horizons and complement their major course study. Course lectures cover a number
of topics, such as the history of sustainable development, energy and environment,
economic development and social equity, population and public health, and climate
change. Students are encouraged to raise questions and share their experiences in
class. In 2016, as many as 250 undergraduate students took the course and a questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate undergraduates’ perceptions of the
course arrangement and their interests. Results showed that students had diversified
interests in sustainability topics as well as lectures in class. Although most students
had limited knowledge about the meaning of sustainable development before taking
the course, they regarded the course as useful and helpful and claimed that their
expectations were achieved after taking it (Liu 2018).
This follow-up research builds on the prior research conducted in 2016 and focuses
on investigating and discussing student engagement throughout their course study.
In the fall semester of 2017, the CUFE adjusted the general education course plan,
and the sustainability course was arranged in evenings over a period of 18-weeks, 2 h
per week. The class attracted 84 students, including 51 female and 33 male students.
Students are from 34 undergraduate programs in 15 schools. Categorized by their
grades, there are 25 freshmen (class of 2017), 54 sophomores (class of 2016), and 5
junior undergraduates (class of 2015).
In general, the pedagogical approaches changed very little from 2016 to 2017,
with the course structure consisting of the same modules (Liu 2018). Concerning
the contents of the lectures, there are some changes and updates. Previous topics
such as “indicators of sustainability measurement”, “research inquiry methods” and
“political thoughts”, as done in 2016, have been replaced in 2017 by the revised
topics of “network economy”, “ocean and polar affairs”, “sustainable community
management”, etc. The new arrangement utilizes survey findings from the 2016
class and incorporates updated knowledge and information on relevant topics.
4.2 The Questionnaire Survey
In 2016 a questionnaire survey was conducted to understand students’ perceptions
on course contents and arrangements (Liu 2018). This follow-up study is designed
to focus on the students’ class engagement in the same course in 2017. In order to
extract sufficient information on perception changes associated with learning during
the course, the questionnaire survey conducted in 2017 adopts the logic that the
baseline data of the pre-test survey are to be compared with the follow-up post-test
results after some intervention occurred. On the one hand, by focusing on the same
group of students, the two surveys in 2017 keep track of the learning progress of
each student. On the other hand, since some of the 2017 survey questions correspond
to the survey in 2016 (Liu 2018), a deeper understanding of perceptions of students
L. Liu and L. Gao
on Shahe campus. It is an optional taught course under the general education module
“Science, technology and environment”. The course is intended to broaden students’
horizons and complement their major course study. Course lectures cover a number
of topics, such as the history of sustainable development, energy and environment,
economic development and social equity, population and public health, and climate
change. Students are encouraged to raise questions and share their experiences in
class. In 2016, as many as 250 undergraduate students took the course and a questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate undergraduates’ perceptions of the
course arrangement and their interests. Results showed that students had diversified
interests in sustainability topics as well as lectures in class. Although most students
had limited knowledge about the meaning of sustainable development before taking
the course, they regarded the course as useful and helpful and claimed that their
expectations were achieved after taking it (Liu 2018).
This follow-up research builds on the prior research conducted in 2016 and focuses
on investigating and discussing student engagement throughout their course study.
In the fall semester of 2017, the CUFE adjusted the general education course plan,
and the sustainability course was arranged in evenings over a period of 18-weeks, 2 h
per week. The class attracted 84 students, including 51 female and 33 male students.
Students are from 34 undergraduate programs in 15 schools. Categorized by their
grades, there are 25 freshmen (class of 2017), 54 sophomores (class of 2016), and 5
junior undergraduates (class of 2015).
In general, the pedagogical approaches changed very little from 2016 to 2017,
with the course structure consisting of the same modules (Liu 2018). Concerning
the contents of the lectures, there are some changes and updates. Previous topics
such as “indicators of sustainability measurement”, “research inquiry methods” and
“political thoughts”, as done in 2016, have been replaced in 2017 by the revised
topics of “network economy”, “ocean and polar affairs”, “sustainable community
management”, etc. The new arrangement utilizes survey findings from the 2016
class and incorporates updated knowledge and information on relevant topics.
4.2 The Questionnaire Survey
In 2016 a questionnaire survey was conducted to understand students’ perceptions
on course contents and arrangements (Liu 2018). This follow-up study is designed
to focus on the students’ class engagement in the same course in 2017. In order to
extract sufficient information on perception changes associated with learning during
the course, the questionnaire survey conducted in 2017 adopts the logic that the
baseline data of the pre-test survey are to be compared with the follow-up post-test
results after some intervention occurred. On the one hand, by focusing on the same
group of students, the two surveys in 2017 keep track of the learning progress of
each student. On the other hand, since some of the 2017 survey questions correspond
to the survey in 2016 (Liu 2018), a deeper understanding of perceptions of students