Ciências e Tecnologia | Capítulos/artigos em livros internacionais / Book chapters/papers in international books
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Browsing Ciências e Tecnologia | Capítulos/artigos em livros internacionais / Book chapters/papers in international books by Author "Azeiteiro, Ulisses"
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Attitudes, barriers and motivators as factors for sustainability of higher education e-Learning programmes at Universidade Aberta, PortugalPublication . Nicolau, Paula Bacelar; Caeiro, Sandra; Martinho, Ana Paula; Azeiteiro, UlissesIn higher education distance learning institutions, where studies are carried on through a variety of distance learning regimes, from the correspondence and earlier forms of distance education to fully online e-learning programmes, and where planners and administrators seize the effective adoption and deployment of technology-enabled education, student attitude and motivation assume considerable significance. Attitudinal pre-dispositions, institutional and allied barriers (including appropriate policy initiatives), besides the scientific and pedagogical quality of degree programmes are assumed to play a crucial role in sustainability of higher education systems. This article reports the findings of a study conducted at Universidade Aberta, Portugal—the Portuguese Distance Learning Education University—to examine student attitudes towards e-learning and to identify barriers and motivators of e-learning adoption, which are key factors for decreasing dropout rates of a 2nd cycle degree e-learning programme, analysed as a case study.
- Sustainability science and education for sustainable development in universities : a way for transitionPublication . Disterheft, Antje; Caeiro, Sandra; Azeiteiro, Ulisses; Leal Filho, WalterThe debate about sustainable development (SD) in higher education institutions has expanded over the past decades. It has been recognized that universities play a pivotal role in promoting sustainability principles, contributing to the paradigm shift toward a more sustainable present and future. Campus sustainability—commonly understood in a broad sense that includes the physical, educational (teaching, curricula, research), and institutional dimensions—is an evolving study field, as indicated by the growing number of articles in academic journals, conferences, awards, and books (like the present one) dedicated to the subject. From the academic point of view, the emergent fields of sustainability science and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) have advanced the efforts of mainstreaming sustainability and implementing concrete practices in universities. But despite some progress and good examples, only a few institutions follow a SD implementation process holistically. A one-sided trend of ‘‘going green,’’ driven by market requirements, marketing advantages, and economic benefits, increases the risks of greenwashing. Reductionist models and misconceptions may cause sustainability initiatives to be wrongly reduced to single aspects of SD like environmental initiatives, losing meaning and credibility. This chapter addresses the question of what role the emerging fields of sustainability science and ESD can play within the transition to more sustainable universities. It aims to contribute to a more holistic perception of SD and examines some of the trends being observed in the higher education sector. Universities are challenged to reflect about educational objectives and strategic goals in their sustainability implementation processes, if they aim to educate the academic community beyond eco-efficiency and recycling. ESD and sustainability science are normative academic fields, action-oriented and close to society. Along with universities as democratic institutions, these fields constitute essential vehicles to investigate, test, and develop conditions for truly transformative change.
- Training and employability, competences from an e-learning undergraduate programme in environmental sciencesPublication . Martinho, Ana Paula; Caeiro, Sandra; Caetano, Fernando J. P.; Azeiteiro, Ulisses; Nicolau, Paula BacelarThe trail to sustainability requires revolutionising the way environmental professionals perceive and solve environmental problems. The challenge is to prepare them to cope with societal economic and technical changes, to maintain a job and a positive role in the quest for sustainability. The environmental sector is gradually moving from an ‘end-of-pipe’ approach to environmental management holistic, process-based approaches, which require an entire new set of technical, social and individual skills and competences. Environmental professionals have to acknowledge the different dimensions and complexity of environmental issues, through a more proactive attitude and development of integrated solutions. In a globalisation context, environmental professionals have to develop social, ethical, creative, personal and interpersonal skills in addition to technical competences to be of value in attaining sustainability. These skills are also necessary for university environmental graduates to enter the labour market and improve their employability. This study aims to assess the development and acquisition of key skills and competences in the 1st cycle degree programme of Environmental Sciences at the Universidade Aberta, the Portuguese Distance Learning University, and their contribution to the employability of its graduates. For the assessment a questionnaire survey was conducted to the graduated students. The results are discussed within the European Tuning framework for higher education programs.