Brief Description
This project assessed the impact of criticism on students’
awareness of environmental issues by means of questionnaires and focus
groups. It aimed to assess the baseline awareness of environmental
issues in English undergraduates at Bath Spa University and see how
taking different modules modified it. It also aimed to disseminate
examples of best practice in education for sustainable development
Background
Promoting (ESD) is an urgent moral and political priority. Within
English, the field of criticism has been slowly growing in
recognition, with the publication of introductory undergraduate texts
and the development of organizations such as the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment
of which there is a UK branch. A number of HEIs now offer undergraduate
modules in criticism and related topics. In the USA, where criticism has had more of an impact on English, ASLE has encouraged
and published research into the pedagogy of ESD, but there has thus far
been no research in this area in the UK.
Methodology
A survey of ESD pedagogy was undertaken, along with a detailed
analysis of the place of criticism in the curriculum at Bath Spa
University. Quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (focus group)
evidence of ESD awareness was gathered before and after students taking
certain modules. The selection included 3 modules in which ESD awareness
might be thought to increase, and 2 controls with no specific overcritical content. We also conducted in-depth semi-structured
interviews with students taking the module ‘Writing and Environmental
Crisis’. The quantitative analysis gave a broad but crude sense of the
impact of ESD (with controls), while the qualitative analyses explored
in more detail just what the students learned, and why and how they
learned it. The interviews also questioned students about their broader
commitments to sustainability, and invited suggestions as to how it
might be promoted more successfully in the subject.
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