Can real-world sustainability audits provide a tool for effective responsible management education?

- Context of responsible management education - Audits and auditing - The context of responsible management education - Using the University of Worcester as a live case study for an audit - Practical use of the university for an audit - example of an environmental impact assessment activit

Using Sustainability Audits to Enhance Responsible Management Education and Develop Personally and Professionally Responsible Work-Ready Graduates

It is widely held that responsible management education within UK business schools is lagging behind the needs of graduates in the changing world of work, leaving a UK-wide skills shortage. New approaches to learning and teaching are therefore required to address this skills shortage and develop personally and professionally responsible work-ready graduates who possess the knowledge, skills and values required to deliver environmentally, socially, and economically responsible business futures that balance short term economic management with long-term responsible business practices. In response, the University of Worcester Business School has adopted real-world ISO14001 and Global Reporting Initiative sustainability audits as teaching tools to enhance responsible management education for second and third-year business management students. Engaging students in the critical and reflexive thinking and questioning required to undertake a sustainability audit of business procedures and practices can develop graduates who are personally and professionally responsible, work-ready, and have the necessary responsible management knowledge, skills, and values to identify and address any irresponsible business practices. This innovative approach to responsible management education will be of interest to educators seeking opportunities to enhance student engagement in responsible business practices and to graduate employers seeking work-ready graduates who can close gaps in sustainability skills and help to develop responsible business futures. Both of these are urgent needs in the changing world of work

Enhancing Student Engagement in Business Sustainability Through Games

Purpose: This practice-focused study explores the value students place on the Sustainable Strategies Game which seeks to improve student engagement in business sustainability through enhanced game-based learning. This game provides an alternative collaborative learning environment to the traditional instructivist approach in order to enrich Education for Sustainability learning experiences and enhance student engagement. Design/Methodology/Approach: Students’ reflections on their game-based learning experiences and suggestions for game development were collected through a short qualitative survey. Results are explored through three frameworks, the Multifaceted Student Value Model, the Dimensions of Engagement Framework and the UK Higher Education Authority Framework for Engagement Through Partnership. Findings: Research findings suggest the Sustainable Strategies Game provides game-based learning within Education for Sustainability that delivers ‘edutainment’ within an active, collaborative and experiential learning environment that the students value. It is also able to challenge thinking and emotionally engage students with the fundamentals of business sustainability. Reflection-on-action and the students’ role as co-researchers in game development allow students to become active participants in their learning as well as knowledge producers and evaluators. These outcomes deliver the UK Higher Education Authority’s core facets of student engagement through partnership. Research limitations/implications: This practice-focused study presents the self-reported results of a one-time, small study which does not offer generalised, independently validated responses. However, the findings may be of interest to educators considering the adoption of game-based learning and those seeking new learning cultures for EfS. Practical Implications: Game-based learning and teaching approaches can achieve a learner-centred active, collaborative learning environment that enhances student engagement with business sustainability. Originality/Value: Experiences gained from this study should assist others in the implementation of game-based learning to engage students in business sustainability

Evaluation of Students’ Experience of Team-based Experiential Learning through the Collaborative SAP Project

Collaborative learning and teaching pedagogies, such as team-based learning, problembased learning, and practical projects, are generally held to provide student-centred approaches that promote higher levels of engagement, enhance students’ experience develop employability skills and ultimately obtain deeper levels of learning within Higher Education. Yet, the researchers’ practical experience suggests that students are reluctant to engage in team-based learning. Understanding this value-action gap presents an opportunity to improve experiential learning within the generally instructive business school environment, enhance the students’ experience and foster a range of transferable, softer business skills all of which may in turn generate better learning outcomes. This paper presents the initial research findings from an exploration of the students’ experience of team-based learning undertaken through a University of Worcester Student as Academic Partners Project which engages students as researchers within a staff-student collaborative research project

Development of play profiles : influence of disability on children\u27s play

Occupational therapists value play as a significant occupation in a child’s life and use play both as a means and as an end in itself to support development. This thesis explores the nature of play in children with developmental disabilities, seeking to determine whether there are consistent patterns of play specific to different disability categories. An extensive literature review of play and disability was completed, and Cooper’s (2000) model of play is used to organize the literature findings. This study investigated differences in play behaviour in 50 children diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Down syndrome, Developmental Delay and Physical impairments, aged 4 to 6 years 6 months who attended educational facilities in a regional centre in South East Queensland. Quantitative and qualitative play behaviour was assessed using two measures, Revised Knox Preschool Play Scale (Knox, 2008) and the Child Initiated Pretend Play Assessment (Stagnitti, 2007) with the Australian Developmental Screening Test (Burdon, 1993) used to determine developmental age to eliminate this as a potential confounding variable when statistically analyzing the results.Cognitive, language and fine motor abilities were found to have a statistically significant impact on play ability rather than the different disability groupings. Children with Down syndrome had significantly more imitative play actions than any other disability grouping. Cooper’s (2000) model was found to be a useful tool to analyze differing play characteristics according to different disability groupings. Modifications to Cooper’s original model of play to more accurately depict play characteristics are proposed

Does commuting to university influence students’ personal and professional development and the likelihood of graduate level employment?

The current UK university system is based on the traditional home-university model of transition that has customarily seen students moving away from home to study for their degree. However, within the current massified and marketised conditions of higher education the number of students choosing to commute to study whilst living at home is increasing annually. This may be driven by a number of pressures, including the costs of university life, part-time work, family responsibilities and/or personal confidence. Whilst commuting to study may be a financially rational decision that provides commuter students with a different way of attending to meet their distinctive learning needs, research suggests that commuter students may also experience emotional and social challenges that may influence their personal and professional development, which in turn may impact on their ability to access and contribute to graduate employment. This paper explores the potential benefits and challenges experienced by commuter students and suggests that their personal circumstances and the tensions between home and university life may influence the likelihood of, and their ability to, develop personally and professionally in the way that graduate employers expect and desire. Consequently, commuter students may secure fewer graduate roles than their peers opting for the traditional home-university model of transition and employers may miss good candidates who possess the different but equally valuable employment skills and experience that commuter students are able to offer. This paper may be of interest to universities, current undergraduates and potential employers seeking the personal and professional development of future graduate employees

Promoting Education for Sustainability Through Game-based Learning : Using the Sustainable Strategies Game to Improve Students’ Knowledge and Skills of Sustainable Business Practices

The need to ensure that learners acquire the knowledge and skills required to promote sustainable development and evolving preferences for experiential and collaborative learning within Higher Education are reshaping approaches to Education for Sustainability. In response the Sustainable Strategies Game seeks to provide experiential game-based learning and teaching for business sustainability within Worcester Business School. The Sustainable Strategies Game aims to stimulate collaborative engagement in business strategy making that promotes sustainability literacy skills, the adoption of sustainable practices, the sustainable use of common resources (freshwater) and encourages students to explore the equitable sharing of benefits gained from the use of this generic resource. This paper presents qualitative evidence from research conducted into student perceptions’ of the effectiveness of SSG as a new way to learn and think about business sustainability. It utilises the HEA Framework for Engagement through Partnership and the Framework for Engagement in Game-based Learning and Teaching to explore the value the Sustainable Strategies Game has for experiential and collaborative learning for Education for Sustainability and its ability to engage students in the complexities of integrating social, environmental and economic impacts of consuming natural resources within business operations. The findings suggest that the Sustainable Strategies Game provides an entertaining learning environment that challenges sustainability thinking and behaviours and encourages students to engage with the key principles of business sustainability and investigate business strategies that carry less impact on society and the environment

Auditing a case study: Enhancing case-based learning in education for sustainability

Case-based learning is a long-standing pedagogic practice involving students undertaking a single dimensional, independent analysis of a text case study which feeds forward into a class discussion. However, this poses several challenges for education for sustainability within the current culture of Higher Education; learners are required to analyze interlinked, multi-faceted aspects of sustainability whereas a traditional text case study generally presents a single situation for consideration; students are reluctant to prepare for classes; a text case study promotes backward reasoning rather than the forward thinking that education for sustainability requires to develop work ready graduates who are change agents for sustainable futures; case-based learning cannot substitute for the active, experiential learning that students find engaging. This paper presents the findings of a three-year research study into enhancing case-based learning within education for sustainability. It proposes utilizing an extensive mixed media case and facilitating multi-dimensional analysis through the completion of a sustainability audit in an active learning environment to overcome the challenges of traditional case-based learning. The inclusion of an audit to frame the case study analysis may enhance case-based learning as it provides a more immersive experience that guides students through the collection, collation, synthesis, and communication of case study information. The study's findings suggest students are more engaged and develop the knowledge skills and values required for work readiness and to become sustainability change agents through their immersion in an audit. Consequently, this paper may be of interest to educators seeking an innovative approach to education for sustainability that may overcome the challenges of traditional case-based learning and promote active, experiential learning of the multi-faceted aspects of sustainability