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Numerous challenges in education emerge as our technology-driven society rapidly evolves and manifests more exigent requirements from engineering professionals. Higher education, nonetheless, seems to adapt to such requirements at an unequal speed, generating some tensions between industry and higher education institutions. The purpose of this paper is to share the experiences obtained through a process of assessment and redesign of a large enrollment course of programming from which the authors developed a systematic approach for course design/redesign.

A mixed method approach was deployed for data gathering and evaluation, consisting of close-ended surveys, open-ended questionnaires, information matrices and state of the art compilation. Triangulation of the information offered clear data about the necessity of curriculum redesign; therefore, a new programming course curriculum encompassed with relevant necessities in engineering and science was developed.

The authors produced a coherent and dynamic systematic path for assessment and design/redesign of course curriculum, which the authors find extremely helpful to improve negotiation processes inside higher education institutions, as it can be implemented to improve any large enrollment course curricula in engineering and science.

By following the systematic path for assessment and design/redesign of curricula the authors developed, higher education systems could embark more efficiently in the ever-challenging process of adapt their courses and programs to tackle the upcoming demands of our society.

So far, a systematic path for assessment and design/redesign of course curriculum was not published, and it supports the improvement of pedagogical approaches in academic institutions.

In England, climate change and sustainability education (CCSE) is predominantly taught with a focus on knowledge in school geography and science. However, whole-school approaches to CCSE exist which encompasses curriculum, campus, community and culture. Drawing on conceptualisations of the ecological approach to teacher agency we explored the ways in which the leadership of a whole-school approach to CCSE was implemented across four case study schools.

Four case study schools were identified as having implemented CCSE across the areas of classroom, culture, campus and community, with opportunities to share good practice. During visits to each school, we completed a series of 15 interviews with teachers who had roles leading geography (n = 4) and science (n = 4) curricular; school leaders (n = 4) and sustainability coordinators (n = 3). We engaged with a range of school curricula and policy materials and toured each site.

At the heart of an effective approach to whole-school CCSE are leaders who create the conditions for teachers to achieve agency and enact curriculum making as a social practice. School leaders themselves are critical in ensuring the culture, professional norms and expectations are established and nurtured. Over time, teachers are able to identify and create spaces of agency in relation to CCSE which reach beyond their immediate communities.

This research brings together teacher agency, curriculum making and leadership practices to better understand why some schools achieve agentic cultures as part of whole-school CCSE.

The authors designed a science and engineering curricular program that includes design features that promote student interest and motivation and examined teachers' and students' views on meaningfulness, motivation and interest.

The research approach consisted of mixed methods, including content analyses and descriptive statistics.

The curricular program successfully included all four of the US National Academies of Sciences' design features for promoting interest and motivation through scientific investigation and engineering design. During interviews, teachers and students expressed evidence of design features associated with interest and motivation. After experiencing the program, more than 60% of all students scored high on all four science and engineering meaningfulness and interest survey items.

A curricular program that extends science learning through the engineered design of solutions is an innovative approach to foster both conceptual knowledge development and interest and motivation in science and engineering.

The study aims to refine the local university’s supply chain management curriculum to meet regional industry demands, thus boosting the local economy.

Mixed-methods action research combined with neural network modeling was employed to align educational offerings with the needs of the local supply chain management industry.

The research indicates that curriculum revisions, informed by industry leaders and modeled through neural networks, can significantly improve the relevance of graduates' skills to the SCM sector.

The study is specific to one region and industry, suggesting a need for broader application to verify the findings.

Adopting the recommended curricular changes can yield a workforce better prepared for the SCM industry, enhancing local business performance and economic health.

The study supports a role for higher education in promoting economic vitality and social welfare through targeted, responsive curriculum development.

This study introduces an innovative approach, integrating neural network analysis with action research, to guide curriculum development in higher education based on industry requirements.

How can students become transformational leaders if they are left alone to grapple with the emotional toll of climate change, preparing for careers while scientists sound the alarm that business as usual is untenable? Ecoanxiety, solastalgia, and climate grief are the affective undercurrents in sustainability and environmental science classrooms. This case study discusses strategies used to support students' emotional well-being in an introductory sustainability class and a co-curricular climate change support group program at Oregon State University. Psychologists and sustainability educators created space for students and faculty to engage in authentic dialogues confronting the emotional uncertainty of the climate crisis and working together to define their roles building a resilient future.

Humanity is facing an unprecedented challenge of climate crises. Rapid changes to the physical environment and living conditions will be accompanied by challenges to mental health and well-being. Consequently, education for sustainable development should also include coping strategies for stress and anxiety. Adding intra-personal skills to the curriculum, such as self-reflection and mindfulness training, could aid in this education. This case study aims to explore the barriers to and drivers for fostering inner transitions through intra-personal skills training and mindfulness.

This case study from Lund University, Sweden, constitutes a critical case for investigating inner transitions in education. Data collection was designed around semi-structured qualitative interviews, to investigate the barriers to and drivers for intra-personal skills and mindfulness in education for sustainable development at all institutional levels of the university.

The results indicate that education for sustainable development already includes elements of introspection, albeit informally. However, there is a lack in a fundamental understanding of intra-personal skills and how they relate to other key competences for sustainable development. To make intra-personal skills training a formal component of the education, it must receive the full support from all levels of the university.

The study outlines general recommendations for universities to challenge existing policies while also finding ways to work around them. In the meantime, universities should make intra-personal skills training an informal learning activity. Recognizing that the students’ prior knowledge in this area is a potential asset, universities should collaborate with their students to support student-led intra-personal skills training.

Using a Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach, this paper examines whether internships can stand as a viable alternative to Higher Degree Apprenticeships (HDAs) within the UK Higher Education (HE) context. It was a process that was undertaken to identify work-integrated schemes as a part of a curriculum portfolio transformation project. This presented itself as a strategic avenue capable of fostering a competitive advantage (strategic differentiation), particularly in enhancing graduate employability through a differentiation in pedagogy employing Work-Integrated Learning (WIL).

This paper applied a PBL approach comprising of five distinct stages based on the McMaster Five-Point Strategy. This included the Problem Identification, Generating Solutions through a review of relevant literature and a case study, using an evaluation matrix to identify the best solution to Decide a Course of Action, Implementing the Solution and Evaluating the Solution. It presents an institutional and curriculum change project.

WIL can offer both strategic differentiation, an organisational distinctiveness within HE and Pedagogical differentiation, such as embedding internships in curriculum. This can be achieved by creating clear guidelines and expected outcome frameworks, bespoke feedback templates and enhanced collaboration, Experiential Learning pedagogy in the curriculum and the inclusion of other forms of WIL to further diversify and create a WIL organisational culture.

Practitioner use of applying problem-solving models for work-integrated curriculum planning.

We present a confluence of the concepts strategic differentiation and pedagogical differentiation using WIL as a conduit. We present this using a PBL evaluative review approach. The paper’s distinct contribution manifests in the formulation of three pivotal recommendations.

The purpose of this study is to explore decision-making of elementary teachers (n = 5) specific to US/American history content and curricular resources. More specifically for this study, the author asks the following broad research question: When presented with a collection of social studies instructional resources, how do elementary teachers describe the choices they do make/may make?

In this comparative case study, fifth-grade teachers were interviewed using verbal protocol methodology, they discussed their curriculum, teaching and instructional decisions as each was presented with history/social studies resources associated with newly adopted state standards.

Findings indicate these elementary teachers have professional freedom to make instructional decisions in the ways they interpreted the standards, design instruction and select materials for social studies.

This study contributes to and extends the research in elementary social studies. Teachers' voices and decisions are presented as intellectual and pedagogical actions associated with teaching elementary school social studies.

This paper aims to clarify how business education has and should incorporate more resources, policies and stakeholder engagement towards the incorporation of sustainability, by conducting a literature review on sustainability in business and international business education and proposing future opportunities for researchers and practitioners.

The authors take a systematic, qualitative analysis approach to evaluate multidisciplinary literatures on sustainability in business education. The authors identify 192 qualifying papers published in 68 journals between 2015 and 2023.

The authors propose five categories of education solutions. Four of them are integrated, in two macro–micro levels: university (stakeholders and shared-mindset change) and student (pedagogical methods and curriculum); and one at meso level: international business (holistic integration) serving to unify the university and student levels.

The review highlights the value of applying a holistic approach and interdisciplinary pedagogical methods in future research on sustainability education in business school to effectively prepare future business leaders to contribute to a more sustainable future.

Insights from this review can usefully guide scholars and programme directors in their future research and administrative efforts towards business curriculum design, stakeholder management and policy-making.

The findings highlight how by embracing holistic perspectives, proper policies and self-awareness, business education shapes the mindsets and skill sets of the next generation of socially conscious practitioners.

The review stands out as one of the few that offers a forward-looking trajectory for the adaptation of international business education in response to sustainability challenges, through a holistic perspective.

This study aims to evaluate the current situation of education for sustainable development, climate change education and environmental education in a nationwide context. Methodologically, this study calls for more research to go beyond case studies and take a similar approach to examine university curricula and facilitate cross-country comparisons.

This paper examines the status of climate and sustainability curricula in Taiwan’s higher education system. Using the course catalog for the 2020–2021 academic year, the authors constructed a unique data set that includes 1,827 courses at 29 major universities in Taiwan. In each institution, the authors search for course titles that include “climate,” “sustainable/sustainability” and “environment/environmental” as keywords and code the courses according to their disciplines.

The finding highlights the variations across institutional types and subject matters. Public universities have an average of 4.94 related courses per 1,000 students, whereas private universities have only 3.13. In general, the relevant courses are more concentrated in the STEM and bioscience fields. The curricula, however, are seriously constrained by the disciplinary structure and foster few transdisciplinary perspectives.

The authors seek to go beyond case studies and offer one of the most comprehensive curricula samples at the national level. Taiwan adds an important data point, as the current literature focuses heavily on the USA and Europe.