Sustainable Education Starts in the Classroom

Abstract

Definitions of a sustainable higher education focus on the different factors that are critical to the continued existence of the institution, the people it serves, and the surrounding society. If higher education is assumed to be a conduit for the acquisition of knowledge and skills that can contribute to a healthy, ethical, and sustainable society, then it has to be able to induce lasting behavioral change in its primary beneficiaries (i.e., students). In the age of fake news, misrepresentation, and rejection of scientific principles and facts, we identified cognitive operations that are key to scientific reasoning (i.e., apply, analyze and evaluate), and offered sustainable practice to students enrolled in a course devoted to scientific writing. Students were classified as possessing an inclination towards a reproductive mode of learning, which could increase their vulnerability to absorb fabrications and distortions of information. The research first asked whether practice in applying, evaluating, and analyzing induces an information processing change (as measured by the content of scientific writing). Then, it asked whether environmental disruptions (e.g., shifting from face-to-face instruction, a mode familiar to students, to online instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic) would affect the likelihood of change. We found that this type of practice was an effective propeller of change in students’ scientific reasoning. A disposition towards reproductive learning did not impair scientific reasoning, whereas engagement and practice made a positive contribution. We concluded that behavioral change is blocked by neither the availability of technology, nor the learner’s use, but rather by one’s motivation to make use of opportunities for change. A sudden alteration in the learning environment may create uncertainty but does not substantially alter this motivation. The findings of the present study can be useful to the development of a sustainable education in the Middle East and beyond.