Interactive and situated learning in education for sustainability

Purpose This study aims to explore the opportunities offered by interactive and situated learning (e-learning and m-learning) in support of education for sustainability in disciplines of the built environment. Design/methodology/approach The paper illustrates the development of an online po...

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Main Authors: Altomonte, Sergio, Logan, Brian, Feisst, Markus, Rutherford, Peter, Wilson, Robin
Format: Article
Published: Emerald 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35423/
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author Altomonte, Sergio
Logan, Brian
Feisst, Markus
Rutherford, Peter
Wilson, Robin
author_facet Altomonte, Sergio
Logan, Brian
Feisst, Markus
Rutherford, Peter
Wilson, Robin
author_sort Altomonte, Sergio
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Purpose This study aims to explore the opportunities offered by interactive and situated learning (e-learning and m-learning) in support of education for sustainability in disciplines of the built environment. Design/methodology/approach The paper illustrates the development of an online portal and a mobile app aimed at promoting students’ motivation and engagement with sustainability in design, and discusses the outcomes of their testing, investigating users’ acceptance, comparing academic results and analysing feedback. Findings The findings add empirical evidence to the view that information and communication technology-enhanced pedagogies can substantially contribute to the agenda of sustainability in higher education, primarily due to their affordance of interactive communication and contextualisation of knowledge, while guaranteeing flexible time and pace of learning. Research limitations/implications The study solely focused on the development and testing of e-learning and m-learning tools to foster students’ competence of sustainability in design studio work. The tools trialled were mostly at their prototypical stage and their testing included a relatively short-term evaluation and a narrow, self-selected, user base. However, the approach and findings are felt to be applicable to a much wider range of educational contexts. Originality/value Interactive and situated pedagogical methods and tools have the potential to prompt a departure from transmissive educational models, encompassing at once theoretical, experiential and analytic learning processes. This is of value to education for sustainability in disciplines of the built environment due to the requirement to holistically consolidate multi-/inter-/trans-disciplinary knowledge into a coherent design whole.
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institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
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publishDate 2016
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spelling nottingham-354232020-05-04T17:39:56Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35423/ Interactive and situated learning in education for sustainability Altomonte, Sergio Logan, Brian Feisst, Markus Rutherford, Peter Wilson, Robin Purpose This study aims to explore the opportunities offered by interactive and situated learning (e-learning and m-learning) in support of education for sustainability in disciplines of the built environment. Design/methodology/approach The paper illustrates the development of an online portal and a mobile app aimed at promoting students’ motivation and engagement with sustainability in design, and discusses the outcomes of their testing, investigating users’ acceptance, comparing academic results and analysing feedback. Findings The findings add empirical evidence to the view that information and communication technology-enhanced pedagogies can substantially contribute to the agenda of sustainability in higher education, primarily due to their affordance of interactive communication and contextualisation of knowledge, while guaranteeing flexible time and pace of learning. Research limitations/implications The study solely focused on the development and testing of e-learning and m-learning tools to foster students’ competence of sustainability in design studio work. The tools trialled were mostly at their prototypical stage and their testing included a relatively short-term evaluation and a narrow, self-selected, user base. However, the approach and findings are felt to be applicable to a much wider range of educational contexts. Originality/value Interactive and situated pedagogical methods and tools have the potential to prompt a departure from transmissive educational models, encompassing at once theoretical, experiential and analytic learning processes. This is of value to education for sustainability in disciplines of the built environment due to the requirement to holistically consolidate multi-/inter-/trans-disciplinary knowledge into a coherent design whole. Emerald 2016-03-29 Article PeerReviewed Altomonte, Sergio, Logan, Brian, Feisst, Markus, Rutherford, Peter and Wilson, Robin (2016) Interactive and situated learning in education for sustainability. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 17 (3). pp. 417-443. ISSN 1467-6370 Higher education Sustainability e-Learning Student-centred learning Deep learning m-Learning http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-01-2015-0003 doi:10.1108/IJSHE-01-2015-0003 doi:10.1108/IJSHE-01-2015-0003
spellingShingle Higher education
Sustainability
e-Learning
Student-centred learning
Deep learning
m-Learning
Altomonte, Sergio
Logan, Brian
Feisst, Markus
Rutherford, Peter
Wilson, Robin
Interactive and situated learning in education for sustainability
title Interactive and situated learning in education for sustainability
title_full Interactive and situated learning in education for sustainability
title_fullStr Interactive and situated learning in education for sustainability
title_full_unstemmed Interactive and situated learning in education for sustainability
title_short Interactive and situated learning in education for sustainability
title_sort interactive and situated learning in education for sustainability
topic Higher education
Sustainability
e-Learning
Student-centred learning
Deep learning
m-Learning
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35423/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35423/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35423/