Assessing the infusion of sustainability principles into university curricula

Abstract

The current paper presents the assessment of the infusion of sustainability principles into university curricula at two Jordanian universities. The peer review process of revising the curricula infusing sustainability principles is also discussed. The research methodology involved quantitative methods to assess the revised courses. The results revealed the following: the most relevant ESD themes in the revised curricula were "human connections to the physical and natural world", and "ethics/values". The most relevant ESD topics were: "sustainable production/consumption" and "health promotion". The most infused ESD pillars (competencies) were: "learning to know" and "learning to do". The most relevant ESD principles were: "practiced locally" and "responds through applied learning". The findings offered a rich scenario of the strategies applied by the university professors in revising the curricula, providing evidence of a mental attitude to adopt ESD strategies, as well as a goal-oriented approach in curriculum planning. The paper also discusses the implications of the study results for syllabus revision and development, as well as the refinement of the teaching methods that focus on infusing sustainability into university curricula.