Drawing Sustainability: Helping Students to Know What They Know
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The activity of drawing sustainability is kept simple, with clear instructions given
by the tutor. These are provided on a slide which is left on display throughout
the activity. These instructions are, “In small groups and using the paper and pens
provided (1) draw your understanding of ‘sustainability’ and (2) share your thoughts
with the class”. The first element of the task is given so that students demonstrate
their knowledge and provide a knowledge benchmark. The second element has a
number of purposes: it engages students in groupwork, collaboration, peer-to-peer
learning and peer feedback and indicates to the students that they are required to
participate as an outcome is expected. This feedback requirement is incorporated to
encourage students to take greater interest in, and responsibility for, their drawing,
its content and process of creation in an attempt to overcome the current trend for
“presenteeism”.
As learning is primarily a social activity (Dewey 1916) and current business
management students increasingly prefer active, collaborative learning (Oblinger
and Oblinger 2005; Abdel Meguid and Collins 2017), students are encouraged to
participate in the activity of drawing sustainability in small groups of between 2 and
5 colleagues to support the development of collaboration and negotiation skills. These
groups are self-forming and tend to relate to the friendship groups that are sought
by students upon entering the classroom at the start of the first lecture. However, to
ensure inclusivity is protected students preferring to work on their own may do so.
Many current students are risk adverse, which Quillin and Thomas (2015) suggest
can emerge as insecurity about their ability to draw. Therefore, to overcome the
frequent response of “I can’t draw”, the purpose of the activity and intended use
of drawings is highlighted (benchmarking knowledge), and the unimportance of
drawing skills is emphasised. Additionally, the tutor praises each group’s drawing in
some way (e.g. a particular piece of the content or the recognition of a sustainability
challenge) during the early stages of the activity to promote activity and drawing
confidence. After a few minutes, students appear to forget their initial reluctance
and fully participate in the task, even if it is only drawing with simple shapes or by
contributing ideas that another member of the group draws.
After the students complete their drawings one or more self-selected members of
each group present their group’s drawing to the class. They are asked to describe the
content of their drawing and share why they chose these items. The tutor identifies
and praises their recognition of one significant element of sustainability included in
the drawing and expands upon it to emphasise its’ relevance for sustainable futures
and its’ importance to businesses. Examples of the students’ initial drawings are
shown in the results section below.
After students present their drawings to the class, peer reflection and feedback
is encouraged through a brief class discussion. This can promote learning from
critiquing what their peers have drawn (Linn et al. 2000) and provide criteria with
which to recognise the effectiveness of a task and reflect on learning (Brooks 2005).
The same activity is conducted for the second iteration of drawing sustainability
in the last lecture of the modules. However, an additional task is included. After the
groups’ drawings are presented and discussed, the students are given their original
drawings and asked to reflect upon them and reflect on the differences. From this
223
The activity of drawing sustainability is kept simple, with clear instructions given
by the tutor. These are provided on a slide which is left on display throughout
the activity. These instructions are, “In small groups and using the paper and pens
provided (1) draw your understanding of ‘sustainability’ and (2) share your thoughts
with the class”. The first element of the task is given so that students demonstrate
their knowledge and provide a knowledge benchmark. The second element has a
number of purposes: it engages students in groupwork, collaboration, peer-to-peer
learning and peer feedback and indicates to the students that they are required to
participate as an outcome is expected. This feedback requirement is incorporated to
encourage students to take greater interest in, and responsibility for, their drawing,
its content and process of creation in an attempt to overcome the current trend for
“presenteeism”.
As learning is primarily a social activity (Dewey 1916) and current business
management students increasingly prefer active, collaborative learning (Oblinger
and Oblinger 2005; Abdel Meguid and Collins 2017), students are encouraged to
participate in the activity of drawing sustainability in small groups of between 2 and
5 colleagues to support the development of collaboration and negotiation skills. These
groups are self-forming and tend to relate to the friendship groups that are sought
by students upon entering the classroom at the start of the first lecture. However, to
ensure inclusivity is protected students preferring to work on their own may do so.
Many current students are risk adverse, which Quillin and Thomas (2015) suggest
can emerge as insecurity about their ability to draw. Therefore, to overcome the
frequent response of “I can’t draw”, the purpose of the activity and intended use
of drawings is highlighted (benchmarking knowledge), and the unimportance of
drawing skills is emphasised. Additionally, the tutor praises each group’s drawing in
some way (e.g. a particular piece of the content or the recognition of a sustainability
challenge) during the early stages of the activity to promote activity and drawing
confidence. After a few minutes, students appear to forget their initial reluctance
and fully participate in the task, even if it is only drawing with simple shapes or by
contributing ideas that another member of the group draws.
After the students complete their drawings one or more self-selected members of
each group present their group’s drawing to the class. They are asked to describe the
content of their drawing and share why they chose these items. The tutor identifies
and praises their recognition of one significant element of sustainability included in
the drawing and expands upon it to emphasise its’ relevance for sustainable futures
and its’ importance to businesses. Examples of the students’ initial drawings are
shown in the results section below.
After students present their drawings to the class, peer reflection and feedback
is encouraged through a brief class discussion. This can promote learning from
critiquing what their peers have drawn (Linn et al. 2000) and provide criteria with
which to recognise the effectiveness of a task and reflect on learning (Brooks 2005).
The same activity is conducted for the second iteration of drawing sustainability
in the last lecture of the modules. However, an additional task is included. After the
groups’ drawings are presented and discussed, the students are given their original
drawings and asked to reflect upon them and reflect on the differences. From this