Presenting an Interdisciplinary Teaching Approach to Involve …
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the group decided to focus on. Moreover, it reflects that “sustainable development is
a matter of negotiation” (Barth et al. 2007). This is special for teaching at universities
which is often characterized by disciplinary settings and socialization (Barth et al.
2007). However, interdisciplinary appreciation and skills are needed to mirror the
complex problems and demands addressed by Education for Sustainable Development (Dale and Newman 2005). To emphasize interdisciplinarity even more, this
course not only relates to the group of students and the problems they are working
on, but is also represented in the teaching staff being from different faculties of the
university and the involved experts of various fields of climate change (adaptation)
and political sciences. These experts are invited to the classroom before the students
start to work in their small groups, to share their expertise and to provide insight into
recent developments.
This more traditional way of education, i.e. experts giving talks, is used in the
curriculum to provide background information for the exploratory interdisciplinary
group work that follows and may also give opportunities for informal learning, not
explicitly intended by the curriculum (Livingstone 2001), e.g. about how to organize
as a group, which according to Schugurensky (2000) can also happen inside formal
educational institutions individually or in a group situation. In their analysis of the
development of key competencies for sustainable development in higher education,
Barth and colleagues (2007) find indications that not only formal but also informal
learning is relevant, referring to informal learning in extracurricular activities at the
universities. The authors of this paper consider this also applicable to this course as
they tried to recreate a similar setting within the curriculum by giving the student
groups the utmost freedom. However, it is up to the students themselves, if they seize
the opportunity for learning and acquiring new competencies (Barth et al. 2007).
By framing the course as a political simulation game and putting the students
into a real-life scenario where they are in charge of mapping out legislation to avoid
and reduce harmful consequences of climate change in Saxony-Anhalt, this teaching
approach starts from real life problems, which Jucker (2001) considers as crucial
basis for effective Education for Sustainable Development, based on his international
survey and review of the international debate on Education for Sustainability. In his
view, “starting from real problems and aiming at real solutions can also overcome
one of the most persistent problems of the past 30 years of conventional environmental education, namely that raised awareness and increased knowledge do not
automatically lead to more sustainable behavior”.
2 Concept of the Course
The idea and the concept for this course were developed at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg by teaching staff from the Departments of Logistics, Political Science
with Focus on Sustainable Development and Business Didactics and Didactics of
Economic Education based on previous successful collaborations. After receiving
71
the group decided to focus on. Moreover, it reflects that “sustainable development is
a matter of negotiation” (Barth et al. 2007). This is special for teaching at universities
which is often characterized by disciplinary settings and socialization (Barth et al.
2007). However, interdisciplinary appreciation and skills are needed to mirror the
complex problems and demands addressed by Education for Sustainable Development (Dale and Newman 2005). To emphasize interdisciplinarity even more, this
course not only relates to the group of students and the problems they are working
on, but is also represented in the teaching staff being from different faculties of the
university and the involved experts of various fields of climate change (adaptation)
and political sciences. These experts are invited to the classroom before the students
start to work in their small groups, to share their expertise and to provide insight into
recent developments.
This more traditional way of education, i.e. experts giving talks, is used in the
curriculum to provide background information for the exploratory interdisciplinary
group work that follows and may also give opportunities for informal learning, not
explicitly intended by the curriculum (Livingstone 2001), e.g. about how to organize
as a group, which according to Schugurensky (2000) can also happen inside formal
educational institutions individually or in a group situation. In their analysis of the
development of key competencies for sustainable development in higher education,
Barth and colleagues (2007) find indications that not only formal but also informal
learning is relevant, referring to informal learning in extracurricular activities at the
universities. The authors of this paper consider this also applicable to this course as
they tried to recreate a similar setting within the curriculum by giving the student
groups the utmost freedom. However, it is up to the students themselves, if they seize
the opportunity for learning and acquiring new competencies (Barth et al. 2007).
By framing the course as a political simulation game and putting the students
into a real-life scenario where they are in charge of mapping out legislation to avoid
and reduce harmful consequences of climate change in Saxony-Anhalt, this teaching
approach starts from real life problems, which Jucker (2001) considers as crucial
basis for effective Education for Sustainable Development, based on his international
survey and review of the international debate on Education for Sustainability. In his
view, “starting from real problems and aiming at real solutions can also overcome
one of the most persistent problems of the past 30 years of conventional environmental education, namely that raised awareness and increased knowledge do not
automatically lead to more sustainable behavior”.
2 Concept of the Course
The idea and the concept for this course were developed at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg by teaching staff from the Departments of Logistics, Political Science
with Focus on Sustainable Development and Business Didactics and Didactics of
Economic Education based on previous successful collaborations. After receiving