Sustainability: Teaching an Interdisciplinary Threshold Concept through Traditional Lecture and Active Learning

One of the difficulties in teaching global sustainability in the introductory political science classes is the different emphases placed on this concept and the absence of the consensus on where the overall balance between environmental protection, economic development, and social justice should reside. Like many fuzzy concepts with which students struggle, teaching sustainability lends itself to pedagogical examination within the scholarship of threshold concepts. This article investigates students’ understanding of sustainability in the seven semesters when the concept of sustainability was introduced via role-playing simulation and compares it with the similar data from a more recent semester when simulation was supplemented with traditional lecture and classroom exercises. Ultimately, our research question is twofold: (1) How do students define a multi-faceted concept like global sustainability and (2) what is the better way to teach it – active learning only or active learning in combination with traditional instruction? Certaines des difficultés rencontrées quand on enseigne la durabilité mondiale dans des cours de base de sciences politiques sont les divers accents mis sur ces concepts et l’absence de consensus sur la question de savoir où devrait se situer l’équilibre général entre la protection de l’environnement, le développement économique et la justice sociale. Tout comme c’est le cas avec de nombreux concepts flous qui donnent des difficultés aux étudiants, l’enseignement de la durabilité se prête à un examen pédagogique au sein de la recherche sur les concepts de seuil. Cet article se penche sur la manière dont les étudiants ont compris la durabilité pendant les sept semestres au cours desquels le concept de durabilité a été présenté par le biais de simulation de jeux de rôles et il la compare aux données semblables recueillies lors d’un semestre plus récent au cours duquel la simulation a été supplémentée par des cours magistraux traditionnels et des exercices de classe. En fin de compte, notre question de recherche est double : 1) Comment les étudiants définissent-ils un concept qui présente de nombreuses facettes tel que la durabilité mondiale, et 2) Quelle est la meilleure manière de l’enseigner - exclusivement par un apprentissage actif ou par le biais d’un apprentissage actif combiné à une instruction traditionnelle

Values In Translation: How Asking The Right Questions Can Move Translational Science Toward Greater Health Impact

The speed and effectiveness of current approaches to research translation are widely viewed as disappointing given small gains in real population health outcomes despite huge investments in basic and translational science. We identify critical value questionsethical, social, economic, and culturalthat arise at moments throughout the research pathway. By making these questions visible, and promoting discussion of them with diverse stakeholders, we can facilitate handoffs along the translational pathway and increase uptake of effective interventions. Who is involved with those discussions will determine which research projects, populations, and methods get prioritized. We argue that some upfront investment in community and interdisciplinary engagement, shaped by familiar questions in ethics, social justice, and cultural knowledge, can save time and resources in the long run because interventions and strategies will be aimed in the right direction, that is, toward health improvements for all. Clin Trans Sci 2012; Volume 5: 44545