AESS 2017 Draft Conference Session Schedule
Making Switches Stick in Sustainability Studies education?: Requiring a psychology course to enhance efforts to improve environment, wellness, and community
Abstract
Influencing more sustainable behaviors that can improve the environment, enhance wellness, and build community is commonly thought to be best achieved through educating and providing information, but as many sustainability professionals know, the story is much more complex. Recognizing the need for a more sophisticated understanding of human behavior, a course in “Sustainability Behavior, Education, and Communication” was developed first as an elective as a way of preparing students with techniques and understanding that most effectively address human behaviors and decision making. In adaptive management of the curriculum, making this a required course for all students is explored. This paper highlights the structure of the course, key learning outcomes, ways those outcomes are met, student insights, and areas to improve to bring this skill set most effectively to this group of current and future sustainability professionals.
Primary Contact
Keith McDade, Ph.D., Lenoir-Rhyne University
Presenters
Keith McDade, Ph.D., Lenoir-Rhyne University
Title of paper
Making Switches Stick in Sustainability Studies education?: Requiring a psychology course to enhance efforts to improve environment, wellness, and community