Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Applied Education for Sustainable Development: A Case Study with Plastic Resource Education

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Quality Education

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

  • 83 Accesses

Definition

Applied education emphasizes the importance of learning by engaging in direct application of skills, theories, and models. The knowledge and skills are acquired in hands-on and/or real-world context. Applied education is often solution-oriented; through problem-based projects, independent or directed research, and internship, students can apply their learning to actual situations for problem-solving. Many applied learning activities occur outside of traditional classrooms, but some can be performed in-classroom.

Introduction

In this entry, a brief history of the concept “applied education” is firstly introduced, followed by its significances in the context of education for sustainable development (ESD). Different from many other subjects that focus solely on cognitive learning outcomes, it is generally accepted that ESD emphasizes on the development of both cognitive and affective attributes. With this unique nature of ESD, pedagogies that fit the concept of applied...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 699.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Amador F, Martinho AP, Bacelar-Nicolau P, Caeiro S, Oliveira CP (2015) Education for sustainable development in higher education: evaluating coherence between theory and praxis. Assess Eval High Educ 40(6):867–882

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biedenweg K, Monroe MC, Oxarart A (2013) The importance of teaching ethics of sustainability. Int J Sustain High Educ 14(1):6–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brundiers K, Wiek A, Redman CL (2010) Real-world learning opportunities in sustainability: from classroom into the real world. Int J Sustain High Educ 11(4):308–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buchs A, Blanchard O (2011) Exploring the concept of sustainable development through role-playing. J Econ Educ 42(4):388–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buissink-Smith N, Mann S, Shephard K (2011) How do we measure affective learning in higher education? J Educ Sustain Dev 5(1):101–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calder W, Clugston R (2005) Editorial: education for a sustainable future. J Geogr High Educ 29(1):7–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung YT, Chow C, So WW (2018a) A train-the-trainer design for green ambassadors in an environmental education Programme on plastic waste recycling. Int Res Geogr Environ Educ 27(1):24–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung TY, Fok L, Cheang C, Yeung CH, So WW, Chow C (2018b) University halls plastics recycling: a blended intervention study. Int J Sustain High Educ 19(6):1038–1052

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chow C, So WW, Cheung T (2016) Research and development of a new waste collection bin to facilitate education in plastic recycling. Appl Environ Educ Commun 15(1):45–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cotton D, Winter J (2010) It’s not just bits of paper and light bulbs: a review of sustainability pedagogies and their potential for use in higher education. In: Jones P, Selby D, Sterling SR (eds) Sustainability education: perspectives and practice across higher education. Earthscan, London, pp 39–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Crookall D, Oxford R, Saunders D (1987) Towards a reconceptualization of simulation: From representation to reality. Journal of SAGSET (Society for the Advancement of Games and Simulations in Education and Training) 17(4):147–171

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorn DS (1989) Simulation games: one more tool on the pedagogical shelf. Teach Sociol 17(1):1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Festinger L (1957) Theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford University Press, Stanford

    Google Scholar 

  • Fien J, Tilbury D (2002) The global challenge of sustainability. In: Tilbury D, Stevenson R, Fien J, Schreuder D (eds) Education and sustainability: responding to the global challenge. The World Conservation Union, Geneva, pp 1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Garris R, Ahlers R, Driskell JE (2002) Games, motivation, and learning: a research and practice model. Simul Gaming 33(4):441–467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giddings B, Hopwood B, O’Brien G (2002) Environment, economy and society: fitting them together into sustainable development. Sustain Dev 10(4):187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gottlieb D, Vigoda-Gadot E, Haim A (2013) Encouraging ecological behaviors among students by using the ecological footprint as an educational tool: a quasi-experimental design in a public high school in the city of Haifa. Environ Educ Res 19(6):844–863

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hattie J, Timperley H (2007) The power of feedback. Rev Educ Res 77(1):81–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman RR, Deffenbacher KA (1992) A brief history of applied cognitive. Appl Cogn Psychol 6(1):1–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Holden M, Elverum D, Nesbit S, Robinson J, Yen D, Moore J (2008) Learning teaching in the sustainability classroom. Ecol Econ 64(3):521–533

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huckle J (2009) Consulting the UK ESD community on an ESD indicator to recommend to government: an insight into the micro-politics of ESD. Environ Educ Res 15(1):1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen BB (2002) Knowledge, action and pro-environmental behaviour. Environ Educ Res 8(3):325–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jucker R (2002) “Sustainability? Never heard of it!” Some basics we shouldn’t ignore when engaging in education for sustainability. Int J Sustain High Educ 3(1):8–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerzner H (2017) Project management – a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling, 12th edn. Wiley, Hoboken

    Google Scholar 

  • Klabbers JHG (2009) The magic circle : principles of gaming & simulation. Sense Publishers, Rotterdam. 3rd and rev. edn

    Google Scholar 

  • Kopnina H, Meijers F (2014) Education for sustainable development (ESD). Int J Sustain High Educ 15(2):188–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kriz WC (2003) Creating effective learning environments and learning organizations through gaming simulation design. Simul Gaming 34(4):495–511

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambrechts W, Mulà I, Ceulemans K, Molderez I, Gaeremynck V (2013) The integration of competences for sustainable development in higher education: an analysis of bachelor programs in management. J Clean Prod 48:65–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leal Filho W, Manolas E, Pace P (2015) The future we want: key issues on sustainable development in higher education after Rio and the UN decade of education for sustainable development. Int J Sustain High Educ 16(1):112–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leemkuil H, de Jong T, de Hoog R, Christoph N (2003) KM QUEST: a collaborative internet-based simulation game. Simul Gaming 34(1):89–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lozano R, Merrill MY, Sammalisto K, Ceulemans K, Lozano FJ (2017) Connecting competences and pedagogical approaches for sustainable development in higher education: a literature review and framework proposal. Sustainability 9(10):1889–1904

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu J, Hallinger P, Showanasai P (2014) Simulation-based learning in management education. J Manage Dev 33(3):218–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masudul AC, Korvin G (2001) Sustainability in knowledge-centered socio-scientific systems null. Int J Sustain High Educ 2(3):257–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murrin B (2016) The applied education concept. [on-line]. Retrieved from: http://www.appliededucationfoundation.org/images/essays/The%20Applied%20Education%20Concept.pdf. Accessed 28 Oct 2018

  • Rieckmann M (2012) Future-oriented higher education: which key competencies should be fostered through university teaching and learning? Futures 44:127–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowe D (2007) Sustainability. Education for a sustainable future. Science 317(5836):323

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan RM, Deci EL (2000) Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. Am Psychol 55(1):68–78

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Scholz RW, Lang DJ, Wiek A, Walter AI, Stauffacher M (2006) Transdisciplinary case studies as a means of sustainability learning. Int J Sustain High Educ 7(3):226–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schrier K (2015) Ethical thinking and sustainability in role-play participants: a preliminary study. Simul Gaming 46(6):673–696

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schumacher EF (1997) This I believe: and other essays. Green Books, Devon

    Google Scholar 

  • Shephard K (2008) Higher education for sustainability: seeking affective learning outcomes. Int J Sustain High Educ 9(1):87–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shephard K (2015) Higher education for sustainable development. Palgrave Pivot, Basingstoke

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Shephard K, Harraway J, Jowett T, Lovelock B, Skeaff S, Slooten L, Strack M, Furnari M (2015) Longitudinal analysis of the environmental attitudes of university students. Environ Educ Res 21(6):805–820

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sipos Y, Battisti B, Grimm K (2008) Achieving transformative sustainability learning: engaging head, hands and heart. Int J Sustain High Educ 9(1):68–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer H (1890) Education: intellectual, moral and physical. Williams and Norgate, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Stauffacher M, Walter AI, Lang DJ, Wiek A, Scholz RW (2006) Learning to research environmental problems from a functional socio-cultural constructivism perspective. Int J Sustain High Educ 7(3):252–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sterling S (2010) Learning for resilience, or the resilient learner? Towards a necessary reconciliation in a paradigm of sustainable education. Environ Educ Res 16(5):511–528

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stern MJ, Powell RB, Hill D (2014) Environmental education program evaluation in the new millennium: what do we measure and what have we learned? Environ Educ Res 20(5):581–611

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tilbury D (2007) Monitoring and evaluation during the UN decade of education for sustainable development. J Educ Sustain Dev 1(2):239–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2006) Framework for the UNDESD International Framework Scheme. [on-line]. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001486/148650E.pdf. Accessed 15 Oct 2018

  • United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2009) Learning for a sustainable world: review of contexts and structures for education for sustainable development. [on-line]. Retrieved from http://www.unevoc.unesco.org/up/DESD_key_findings_and_way_forward_23March09.pdf. Accessed 15 Oct 2018

  • Wiek A, Withycombe L, Redman C (2011) Key competencies in sustainability: a reference framework for academic program development. Sustain Sci 6(2):203–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiek A, Xiong A, Brundiers K, van DL (2014) Integrating problem- and project-based learning into sustainability programs – a case study on the school of sustainability at Arizona State University. Int J Sustain High Educ 15(4):431–449

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiek A, Bernstein MJ, Foley RW, Cohen M, Forrest N, Kuzdas C (2016) Operationalising competencies in higher education for sustainable development. In: Barth M, Michelsen G, Thomas I, Rieckmann M (eds) Routledge handbook of higher education for sustainable development. Routledge, London, pp 241–260

    Google Scholar 

  • World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) (1987) Our common future. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeung SK, So WW, Cheng NI, Cheung TY, Chow CF (2017) Comparing pedagogies for plastic waste management at university level. Int J Sustain High Educ 18(7):1039–1059

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zint MT, Dowd PF, Covitt BA (2011) Enhancing environmental Educators’ evaluation competencies: insights from an examination of the effectiveness of the “my environmental education evaluation resource assistant” (MEERA) website. Environ Educ Res 17(4):471–497

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Siu-Kit Yeung

  2. Department of Science and Environmental Studies and Centre for Education in Environmental Sustainability (CEES), The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong

    Cheuk-Fai Chow

Authors
  1. Siu-Kit Yeung
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cheuk-Fai Chow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Siu-Kit Yeung .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. European School of Sustainability Science and Research, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Anabela Marisa Azul

  3. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo University, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Brandli

  4. Istinye University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Pinar Gökçin Özuyar

  5. University of Chester, Chester, UK

    Tony Wall

Section Editor information

  1. Journal of Advanced Cognitive Engineers, Society of Cognitive Engineers, MELBOURNE, USA

    Olivia A. M. Freeman

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Yeung, SK., Chow, CF. (2020). Applied Education for Sustainable Development: A Case Study with Plastic Resource Education. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A.M., Brandli, L., Özuyar, P.G., Wall, T. (eds) Quality Education. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95870-5_84

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation