Assessing the infusion of sustainability principles into university curricula

open3siThe 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 ìhuman connections to the physical and natural worldî, and ìethics/valuesî. The most relevant ESD topics were: ìsustainable production/consumptionî and ìhealth promotionî. The most infused ESD pillars (competencies) were: ìlearning to knowî and ìlearning to doî. The most relevant ESD principles were: ìpracticed locallyî and ìresponds through applied learningî. 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. Keywords: education for sustainable development, higher education, professional development, curricula revision, Reorient University Curricula to Address Sustainability (RUCAS)openBiasutti, Michele; De Baz, Theodora; Alshawa, HalaBiasutti, Michele; De Baz, Theodora; Alshawa, Hal

Obstacles that face Quality Assurance Standards in Jordanian Universities from Staff Points of View

Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the obstacles of quality assurance implementation in the Jordanian Universities from the perspectives of faculties' members.  The research questions are: what are the most important obstacles of quality assurance implementation in the Jordanian Universities from the perspectives of faculties' members? Are there any differences in the obstacles of quality assurance implementation in the Jordanian Universities from the perspectives of faculties' members with respect to the university (University "A" and  "B"  and with respect to the college (Sciences Colleges and humanist colleges)? A questionnaire with 47 items was developed and collected from 274 university faculties' members (134 participants from Private Amman University and 140 participants from University of Jordan). The researchers applied the following statistical tools: means, standards deviations, percentage, and t-test. The findings indicated that the most important obstacles of quality assurance implementation in the Jordanian Universities from the perspectives of faculties' members were connected to scientific research.  Furthermore, there were no significant differences between the obstacles of quality assurance implementation in the Jordanian Universities from the perspectives of faculties' members neither with respect to the university nor with respect to the colleg