Measuring the Effectiveness of Sustainability-Related Course …
535
According to Wehrmeyer and Chenoweth (2006), the implementation of sustainable development by society is partly determined by individuals being informed and
educated about the interactions of environmental, social and economic issue. The
Malaysian policy framework recognises that education development plays an evergrowing role in building a sustainable, resilient and competitive society (UNESCO
2011). In a report on ESD implementation in East and Southeast Asia, Didham
and Ofei-Manu (2012) stated that policy endorsement for ESD in Malaysia is most
prevalent in environmental education and the National Policy on the Environment. In
Malaysia, ESD implementation is jointly managed by the Curriculum Development
Division of the Ministry of Education and the Department of Environment of the
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Mathe 2014).
Higher education institutions (HEI) like universities have an integral responsibility to transform sustainable development from abstract to reality by introducing
and integrating ESD into the curriculum across the courses offered. Universiti Sains
Malaysia (USM) has always been the spearhead of sustainability among universities
in Malaysia through several milestone initiatives. In parallel with the establishment
of DESD, USM was accorded as a Regional Centre of Excellence on Education for
Sustainable Development (USM-RCE) by the United Nations University in Nagoya
University, Japan, on 29 June 2005, the only one in the Asia Pacific region (Universiti Sains Malaysia 2008). The USM-RCE inception has created a stimulus for
sustainability implementation and provided a platform for USM to engage with the
community (Sanusi and Khelghat-Doost 2008). In 2008, USM was awarded the
Malaysia’s Accelerated Programme for Excellence (APEX) status, a far-reaching
higher education transformation roadmap which vision underpins sustainability targets (Razak 2009).
The integration of sustainability into the heart of a university’s system demands an
undivided system enterprise that bridges major sustainability challenges on one end
with different educational approaches on the other. The sustainability challenges have
to be determined very thoughtfully by each institution. Presently, the mainstreaming
of sustainability across the entire of operations of USM followed a sustainability
integration model which is encapsulated in Fig. 1. The model incorporates the major
sustainability challenges founded on three pillars of sustainability, viz. economy,
society and environment. Meanwhile, the educational approach instituted three pillars of education, viz. teaching, research, and community engagement. The specific
sustainability challenges to be attended are itemized in the middle box. This offers
diverse combinations of engagement for any given sustainability issue through a
variety of educational approaches. Besides, this model allows an entry point for all
sections of both academic and non-academic staff to be involved in sustainability
activities, regardless of the section of the university for which they work.
In its vision to become a world class sustainability-led university, Center for
Global Sustainability Studies (CGSS) at USM has developed a formal curriculum
called WSU 101 (Sustainability: Issues, Challenges and Prospects), an elective sustainability course for undergraduates (UNESCO Green Citizens 2017). Students are
exposed to the latest developments in the sustainability studies agenda through the
study of global case studies and examples drawn from sustainability programme
535
According to Wehrmeyer and Chenoweth (2006), the implementation of sustainable development by society is partly determined by individuals being informed and
educated about the interactions of environmental, social and economic issue. The
Malaysian policy framework recognises that education development plays an evergrowing role in building a sustainable, resilient and competitive society (UNESCO
2011). In a report on ESD implementation in East and Southeast Asia, Didham
and Ofei-Manu (2012) stated that policy endorsement for ESD in Malaysia is most
prevalent in environmental education and the National Policy on the Environment. In
Malaysia, ESD implementation is jointly managed by the Curriculum Development
Division of the Ministry of Education and the Department of Environment of the
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Mathe 2014).
Higher education institutions (HEI) like universities have an integral responsibility to transform sustainable development from abstract to reality by introducing
and integrating ESD into the curriculum across the courses offered. Universiti Sains
Malaysia (USM) has always been the spearhead of sustainability among universities
in Malaysia through several milestone initiatives. In parallel with the establishment
of DESD, USM was accorded as a Regional Centre of Excellence on Education for
Sustainable Development (USM-RCE) by the United Nations University in Nagoya
University, Japan, on 29 June 2005, the only one in the Asia Pacific region (Universiti Sains Malaysia 2008). The USM-RCE inception has created a stimulus for
sustainability implementation and provided a platform for USM to engage with the
community (Sanusi and Khelghat-Doost 2008). In 2008, USM was awarded the
Malaysia’s Accelerated Programme for Excellence (APEX) status, a far-reaching
higher education transformation roadmap which vision underpins sustainability targets (Razak 2009).
The integration of sustainability into the heart of a university’s system demands an
undivided system enterprise that bridges major sustainability challenges on one end
with different educational approaches on the other. The sustainability challenges have
to be determined very thoughtfully by each institution. Presently, the mainstreaming
of sustainability across the entire of operations of USM followed a sustainability
integration model which is encapsulated in Fig. 1. The model incorporates the major
sustainability challenges founded on three pillars of sustainability, viz. economy,
society and environment. Meanwhile, the educational approach instituted three pillars of education, viz. teaching, research, and community engagement. The specific
sustainability challenges to be attended are itemized in the middle box. This offers
diverse combinations of engagement for any given sustainability issue through a
variety of educational approaches. Besides, this model allows an entry point for all
sections of both academic and non-academic staff to be involved in sustainability
activities, regardless of the section of the university for which they work.
In its vision to become a world class sustainability-led university, Center for
Global Sustainability Studies (CGSS) at USM has developed a formal curriculum
called WSU 101 (Sustainability: Issues, Challenges and Prospects), an elective sustainability course for undergraduates (UNESCO Green Citizens 2017). Students are
exposed to the latest developments in the sustainability studies agenda through the
study of global case studies and examples drawn from sustainability programme