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Sustainable Education in Higher Education: Reflective and Cooperative Learning

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Education and Approaches".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2023) | Viewed by 20255

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Dolors Cañabate

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Guest Editor

Department of Specific Didactics, University of Girona, Girona, Spain
Interests: physical education; cooperative learning; STEAM education; primary education; education for sustainable development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Jordi Colomer Feliu

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Guest Editor

Department of Physics, University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Spain
Interests: reflective learning; STEM education; tertiary education; education for sustainable development; science education; curriculim building student skills
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Remigijus Bubnys

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Guest Editor

Institute of Education, Šiauliai Academy, Vilnius University, 76352 Šiauliai, Lithuania
Interests: reflective learning; educational psychology; professional development; life-long learning methodologies; qualitative research

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Sustainability, entitled 'Sustainable Education in Higher Education: Reflective and Cooperative Learning', is seeking research (educational, professional, etc.) in actual or simulated settings addressing cooperative and reflective learning.

Educational programs that address some of the dimensions of sustainability in the educational, cultural, and environmental domains, through reflective or cooperative learning, are especially important. Some examples include the following: learning and teaching in primary, secondary, and tertiary systems; participation of students at all levels (i.e., from primary to tertiary systems) in activities that promote readiness; activation of sustainable competences through cooperative and reflective learning; technology-enhanced applications through cooperative programs; development of STEM and STEAM education through cooperation, or reflective and cooperative literacy.

Prof. Dr. Dolors Cañabate
Prof. Dr. Jordi Colomer Feliu
Prof. Dr. Remigijus Bubnys
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

cooperative learning
reflective learning
education for sustainable development
sustainable competences
STEAM education

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 811 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Critical Reflection in Students’ Critical Thinking Teaching and Learning Experiences

by Valdonė Indrašienė, Violeta Jegelevičienė, Odeta Merfeldaitė, Daiva Penkauskienė, Jolanta Pivorienė, Asta Railienė and Justinas Sadauskas

Sustainability 2023, 15(18), 13500; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813500 - 8 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2655

Abstract

This manuscript deals with the problematic question of how students’ critical reflection is manifested when reflecting on their experiences of learning critical thinking in higher education. Critical reflection is understood as the fusion of personal experience with new knowledge and study content, leading to a new understanding and a new sense of the meaning of oneself, one’s learning, studies, and phenomena in the wider environment. A qualitative research method was chosen to reveal the extent of critical reflection. Sixteen students participated in the research: aged 19–49 at the time of the research, from six higher education institutions, representing eight fields of study. A semi-structured interview was chosen for the research and the qualitative content analysis method for the research data analysis, allowing for valid conclusions upon an objective and systematic review of the transcribed interview text. The findings show that in reflections on the critical thinking teaching and learning experiences, students emphasize the process of interaction with others and interaction with themselves, focusing not on the external object but rather on the subject—the thinking person—and their relation to their own thinking. In reflection on teaching and learning, students emphasize applying theoretical knowledge in practice, modelled by the teacher. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Education in Higher Education: Reflective and Cooperative Learning)

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19 pages, 322 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Education Professionals’ Cooperative Learning for the Development of Professional Capital

by Milda Damkuviene, Jurate Valuckiene, Sigitas Balciunas and Evandzelina Petukiene

Sustainability 2023, 15(14), 10972; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151410972 - 13 Jul 2023

Viewed by 815

Abstract

This article presents the research results on developing professional capital in Lithuanian schools during the national project “Time for leaders”. The longitudinal national initiative aimed to develop professional capital as the synergy of human, social and decisional components of schools through educational professionals’ various cooperation-based learning experiences. Using the descriptive case study approach, the article investigates the question of how the cooperative learning approach, applied in a long-term professional development project for education professionals, develop individuals’ professional capital. The paper provides an overview of project interventions (i.e., activities that stimulated cooperative learning of educational professionals) in the light of cooperative learning principles. The assessment of change over two project years in education professionals’ perceptions of professional capital, which is presented using Cohen’s d effect size measure. The measurement sample consisted of teachers (n(I) = 5105; n(II) = 4683) and school leaders (n(I) = 439; n(II) = 405) from 189 schools in 30 Lithuanian municipalities. The findings show a statistically significant medium positive change in professional capital. The most considerable change was estimated in the social and decisional capital dimensions and the relative smallest in the field of human capital. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Education in Higher Education: Reflective and Cooperative Learning)

30 pages, 10913 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Deploying SDG Knowledge to Foster Young People’s Critical Values: A Study on Social Trends about SDGs in an Educational Online Activity

by Roberto Feltrero, Leire Junguitu-Angulo and Sara Osuna-Acedo

Sustainability 2023, 15(8), 6681; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086681 - 14 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1580

Abstract

Educational tasks for the development of competencies on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) pose a challenge to educators due to the multidisciplinary and complex nature of these goals. It is necessary to develop innovative educational resources and tools that holistically account for this complexity and highlight the environmental and social components of these goals on an equal footing. A learning tool based on the serious games methodology, called BotBusters, is used to inoculate this type of knowledge and skills among young Europeans through a specific news verification activity. This game has been designed to collect interaction data (logs) and thus perform an analysis of players’ behavior, which allows us to understand their preferences and knowledge of the SDGs (specifically 3, 12, 13 and 15). The data collected yield interesting conclusions about the educational needs of young people in this field, showing their preferences for topics related to the environmental SDGs. This indicates that there is a need to promote awareness of the SDGs on social issues, especially those that require a more collective type of agreement and intervention. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Education in Higher Education: Reflective and Cooperative Learning)

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16 pages, 318 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multimodal Approaches to Math and Physical Education within Cooperative Learning to Enhance Social Attitudes

by Marcel Bassachs, Teresa Serra, Remigijus Bubnys, Dolors Cañabate and Jordi Colomer

Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16961; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416961 - 17 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2117

Abstract

This study investigates cooperative learning educational approaches that support preservice teachers’ (PSTs) academic and social attitudes. The extent of positive interdependence between PSTs during multimodal cooperative physical and mathematical activities was measured using a validated questionnaire on attitudes (academic and social) toward cooperative learning attitudes. The multimodal activities triggered positive PSTs’ interdependence characterized by teaching dimensions such as encouraging learner-to-learner interactions, intersubjective skills, and sociocultural awareness. PSTs believed that the cooperative activities helped to form peer-to-peer relationships among team members, which in turn fostered professional judgments. While social and affective attitudes were rated higher than academic ones, the difference was not significant. Hence, this study emphasizes that the multimodal approaches (based on both mathematical and physical development) triggered deeper social rather than academic attitudes, thus underscoring the importance of promoting key competences and the role they play in sustainable education. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Education in Higher Education: Reflective and Cooperative Learning)

10 pages, 280 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Implementation of Cooperative Learning and Its Relationship with Prior Training of Teachers, Performance and Equity in Mathematics: A Longitudinal Study

by Jose Antonio Prieto-Saborit, David Méndez-Alonso, Ana Fernández-Viciana, Laxmi J. Dixit Dixit and Paloma Nistal-Hernández

Sustainability 2022, 14(23), 16243; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142316243 - 5 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1901

Abstract

Active pedagogies and specifically cooperative learning have been described as effective tools for inclusion and educational equity, a key concept in objective 4 within the Sustainable Development Goals. The aim of this study was to test the temporal stability of a cooperative learning (CL) over two academic years and to analyse its effects on achievement in mathematics. The sample consisted of 6456 students enrolled in school in Spain, aged between 10 and 15 years. The results showed some consistency in the use of this methodology during two school years. Mathematics scores correlated positively with all elements of CL in each of the separate school years. However, logistic regression data showed a significant drop in mathematics. In contrast, during the same period, four of the five elements of CL correlated positively with the results. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Education in Higher Education: Reflective and Cooperative Learning)

22 pages, 1226 KiB

Open AccessArticle

AI-Based Chatbots Adoption Model for Higher-Education Institutions: A Hybrid PLS-SEM-Neural Network Modelling Approach

by Noor Irliana Mohd Rahim, Noorminshah A. Iahad, Ahmad Fadhil Yusof and Mohammed A. Al-Sharafi

Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12726; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912726 - 6 Oct 2022

Cited by 49 | Viewed by 8363

Abstract

Chatbot implementation for assisting customers as a virtual agent can be seen as a tool in helping an organisation to serve better customer service. Malaysia is among the countries forging ahead with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. One of the core technologies mentioned is adopting artificial intelligence tools such as chatbots. In the last few years, there has been a growing interest in AI-based chatbot adoption in the non-HEI context. However, most higher-education institutions (HEIs) are reported not ready to adopt AI-based chatbots as one of the solutions for virtual student services support. The research of chatbot adoption in the HEI context is still new and is a less explored and examined topic in the information systems domain. Moreover, most of the existing research regarding chatbot adoption in the HEI context focuses more on the benefit of chatbot usage and is not specialised in a student services solution perspective. Furthermore, most of the studies were not guided by the information systems (IS) theories. Therefore, this study aims to identify factors that influence the effectiveness of chatbot adoption in the HEI context by adapting the UTAUT2 model as the IS theory reference. A survey method was applied using the purposive sampling technique. For 3 months, data were collected online from 302 users of Malaysia’s HEI postgraduate students from various public and private universities. A two-stage analytical procedure (SEM-ANN) was used to validate the research model and assess the presented research hypotheses. This research reveals that perceived trust is influenced by interactivity, design, and ethics. Meanwhile, behavioural intention is influenced by perceived trust, performance expectancy, and habit towards the use of chatbot applications in the HEI context. Lastly, the findings of this study can be helpful to the HEI student services unit and can be a guide towards productivity and marketing strategy in serving the students better. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Education in Higher Education: Reflective and Cooperative Learning)

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Review

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18 pages, 753 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Critical Review of Studies on Coopetition in Educational Settings

by Minwei Chen, Cixian Lv, Xinghua Wang, Linlin Li and Peijin Yang

Sustainability 2023, 15(10), 8370; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108370 - 22 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1702

Abstract

The benefits and limitations of utilizing collaborative and competitive activities within and between groups to facilitate learning are well known. Typically, these two concepts are viewed as mutually exclusive approaches, where one is favored over the other in the classroom. However, utilizing an approach that takes advantage of the strengths of both while minimizing each one’s weaknesses, could greatly enhance students’ learning. This approach is called coopetition. Because of the dominance of collaboration and competition, the number of studies investigating coopetition in learning environments is rather limited. Therefore, this article reviews the extant studies using a coopetitive approach to provide a fuller understanding of this concept. Altogether, 33 articles were retrieved and analyzed using a grounded constant-comparative approach. As a result of the analysis, three categories of research topics emerged: (a) organization of coopetition, including zero-sum coopetition and social comparison coopetition, (b) medium and coopetition, including coopetition conducted in conventional face-to-face settings and computer-mediated settings, and (c) application of coopetition in education, which covers multiple areas such as cognitive, affective, and social domains, as well as educational management. The review discusses each category in detail, highlighting implications for future educational research and practice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Education in Higher Education: Reflective and Cooperative Learning)

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