Practice-Based Program Evaluation in Higher Education for Sustainability: A Student Participatory Approach

Article Article scientifique Article Practice-Based Program Evaluation in Higher Education for Sustainability: A Student Participatory Approach eng 2021-09-29 2021-09-29 author Curtis Helen Lee 834513 author Gabriel Lucas Catalani 0000-0002-7157-9721 author Sahakian Marlyne 0000-0003-0196-7865 637082 author Cattacin Sandro 0000-0002-7685-2037 27172 10816 10.3390/su131910816 2071-1050 https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/19/10816 While learning competencies in education for sustainable development are increasingly recognized as important, few empirical studies consider competencies delivered at a program level. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how a program evaluation can be approached through a participatory approach, and what this means for learning competencies for sustainability. The innovative method chosen was to implement a student-led evaluation of the program or a form of practice-based learning whereby students engaged in a participatory evaluation of their own program. This evaluation involved a mixed-methods research design and engaging with different actors—from other students and teachers in the program to alumni, administrators and employers. Students agreed on what competencies to evaluate against, then designed their assessment to gauge how and in what way five key competencies were being delivered. The program delivers competencies for sustainable development, yet there was some discrepancy between what students experienced in the program and what teachers believed to be delivering in the classroom. The learning-by-doing approach suggests that a sixth competency—implementation skills—is relevant to teaching for sustainable development. A participatory, student-led approach to evaluating a Master program is a novel contribution to the literature, which in itself led to the development of competencies for sustainability, particularly strategic, interpersonal and implementation skills. Dewey 301 122 Département de sociologie T4 197 Institut de recherches sociologiques TG false Sustainability 13 19 469d3d44-9520-4834-893b-e5e9bddd1d65 Article (Published version) Public sustainability-13-10816.pdf 242907 application/pdf CC BY openAccess Faculté des sciences de la société / Département de sociologie Faculté des sciences de la société / Institut de recherches sociologiques

Title	Published in	Access level	OA Policy	Year	Views	Downloads

Practice-Based Program Evaluation in Higher Education for Sustainability: A Student Participatory Approach	Sustainability			2021	277	631

Archive ouverte UNIGE

Curtis, Helen Lee