476
E. Michalopoulou et al.
Feedback notes positive attitudes towards all areas queried across all questions
duplicated in both runs of the unit (range: 67.5–75% positive alignment). The changes
made between the first and second run of the unit were successful, as each criterion shows improvement (Table 2). The percentage of students who neither agreed
nor disagreed either remained static or decreased. The criteria relating to online
content showed the least variability, reflecting the small-scale changes made to this
material between runs. Additional qualitative questions were posed to ensure that
students could highlight areas not considered by the teaching team. The most frequent
observed criteria related to feedback and the range of interactions with staff. As
such, adaptations made to the unit for the second run were reflected in the additional
feedback questions posed at the end of the unit (Table 3).
On the second run of the unit, high satisfaction is observed with 76% of students
reporting that they were happy or very happy with the unit and 100% noting opportunities to work with other students. Other strong areas of positive responses concerned
how staff explain the subject matter (82% positive), opportunities to explore ideas
and concepts in depth (81% positive), opportunities to apply learning (91% positive),
clarity of marking criteria (75% positive), timetabling efficiency (78% positive),
communications (88% positive), and a sense of community (81% positive).
5 Conclusion
In early 2020 the eyes of the world’s population focused on Australia, where recordbreaking temperatures and a prolonged, severe drought have resulted in vast bushfires across the south-eastern states of Victoria and New South Wales. As of 21
January 2020, these fires killed 30 people (including four firefighters) and burnt over
100,000 km
2 of forest, bush and property (BBC 2020). While attributing these fires
to anthropogenic climate change is a challenging work in progress (Phillips and
Nogrady 2020), the experience of Australians in January 2020 is widely asserted to
be a sign of a new normal in a climate-changed world (McGrath 2020). It is within
this context that governments and public institutions across the globe are declaring
a climate emergency and a recalibration of society’s behaviour, consumption and
activity—and, with it, patterns of social-environmental interaction.
The University of Bristol declared a climate emergency in April 2019. In making
such a declaration, the institution not only affirmed the urgency of addressing and
mitigating climate change (by becoming carbon neutral by 2030) but also acknowledge the “deep concerns of our students, many of whom are worried about what the
future holds in store for them” (University of Bristol 2019b). Sustainable is an institutional priority, evidenced in the University’s Vision and Strategy, its commitment
to the global Sustainable Development Goals Accord and its recent award for the
publicly-accessible, online Sustainable Futures unit (University of Bristol 2019a).
It is within this institutional context that the SDU has been redesigned, refocused
and made available to students across the University of Bristol. The SDU is an
optional, credit-bearing and open unit. From the outset, an interdisciplinary team
E. Michalopoulou et al.
Feedback notes positive attitudes towards all areas queried across all questions
duplicated in both runs of the unit (range: 67.5–75% positive alignment). The changes
made between the first and second run of the unit were successful, as each criterion shows improvement (Table 2). The percentage of students who neither agreed
nor disagreed either remained static or decreased. The criteria relating to online
content showed the least variability, reflecting the small-scale changes made to this
material between runs. Additional qualitative questions were posed to ensure that
students could highlight areas not considered by the teaching team. The most frequent
observed criteria related to feedback and the range of interactions with staff. As
such, adaptations made to the unit for the second run were reflected in the additional
feedback questions posed at the end of the unit (Table 3).
On the second run of the unit, high satisfaction is observed with 76% of students
reporting that they were happy or very happy with the unit and 100% noting opportunities to work with other students. Other strong areas of positive responses concerned
how staff explain the subject matter (82% positive), opportunities to explore ideas
and concepts in depth (81% positive), opportunities to apply learning (91% positive),
clarity of marking criteria (75% positive), timetabling efficiency (78% positive),
communications (88% positive), and a sense of community (81% positive).
5 Conclusion
In early 2020 the eyes of the world’s population focused on Australia, where recordbreaking temperatures and a prolonged, severe drought have resulted in vast bushfires across the south-eastern states of Victoria and New South Wales. As of 21
January 2020, these fires killed 30 people (including four firefighters) and burnt over
100,000 km
2 of forest, bush and property (BBC 2020). While attributing these fires
to anthropogenic climate change is a challenging work in progress (Phillips and
Nogrady 2020), the experience of Australians in January 2020 is widely asserted to
be a sign of a new normal in a climate-changed world (McGrath 2020). It is within
this context that governments and public institutions across the globe are declaring
a climate emergency and a recalibration of society’s behaviour, consumption and
activity—and, with it, patterns of social-environmental interaction.
The University of Bristol declared a climate emergency in April 2019. In making
such a declaration, the institution not only affirmed the urgency of addressing and
mitigating climate change (by becoming carbon neutral by 2030) but also acknowledge the “deep concerns of our students, many of whom are worried about what the
future holds in store for them” (University of Bristol 2019b). Sustainable is an institutional priority, evidenced in the University’s Vision and Strategy, its commitment
to the global Sustainable Development Goals Accord and its recent award for the
publicly-accessible, online Sustainable Futures unit (University of Bristol 2019a).
It is within this institutional context that the SDU has been redesigned, refocused
and made available to students across the University of Bristol. The SDU is an
optional, credit-bearing and open unit. From the outset, an interdisciplinary team