Sustainable community development through peer-to-peer learning in the online and in-person classroom
International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
ISSN: 1467-6370
Article publication date: 8 April 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Prior research suggests that collaboration is key to sustainable community development and environmental management, and peer-to-peer learning (P2PL) may facilitate community building and collaborative learning skills. This study aims to examine the effect of P2PL on the enhancement of environmental management and sustainable development skills, community building and social capital (i.e. connectedness) and understanding of course learning objectives.
Design/methodology/approach
Quantitative and qualitative longitudinal survey data was collected in a sustainable development focused course offered at a large American public university that uses P2PL to explicitly facilitate community building and collaborative skills. Safety precautions and changing locational course offerings due to the COVID-19 pandemic in years 2020, 2021 and 2022 provided an opportunity to evaluate the impact of P2PL on these skills during both virtual and in-person formats. Additionally, this study compared in-course student evaluations with students taking other sustainable development-related courses with collaborative learning aspects to understand the wider effectiveness of this course structure.
Findings
This study finds that course format (virtual vs in-person) overall made no difference in either connectedness or conceptual understandings, and that students in both formats felt more connected to others than students taking other courses with P2PL. Scaffolding P2PL and supplemental peer support can yield improved connectedness and learning among students taking environmental coursework.
Originality/value
Sustainable development requires group collaboration and partnership building skills. Issues are consistently raised about the challenges to teaching these skills in higher education. The students and instructors in this research study identify P2PL strategies to address these challenges for in-person and virtual classroom settings.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Thank you to the following instructors who contributed to the community development peer-topeer learning activities in the course featured in this article: Katie Brokenshire, Jazz Glastra, Matt Griffin, Chas Parise, Clair Bullock, Travonya Kenly, Kelly McCurry, Martiza Pierre, Anjelica Blair, Carly Cox, Itzel Alvarez-Garcia, Rachel Woodruff, Ritvik Shukla, Keyana Aghamirzadeh, Hannah Comune, Thelma Velez, Andy Moffit, Sarita Gara, Georgia McLachlan, Liz Vukovic, Cole Soldo, Grace Gutierrez, Victoria Abou-Ghalioum, Jamie Rye, Maggie Mullaney, Ashley Malenfant, and Emma Poorman with special thanks to Jeff Sharp, Josh Fergen, and Anna Jenderedjian for their role in enhancing its quality and delivery.
Citation
Campbell, J., Shaul, K., Slagle, K.M. and Sovic, D. (2024), "Sustainable community development through peer-to-peer learning in the online and in-person classroom", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-07-2023-0321
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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