Active Learning Approaches for Sustainable Energy Engineering Education

Abstract

International groups of stakeholders are currently involved in the redefinition of the objectives of sustainable engineering education. They are releasing different reports where clearly raise the need that the acquisition of cognitive skills must be carried out complying with the knowledge, attitudes and values of the complex demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution framework. Inherited from the past, the stiffness of the academic structures in some higher education institutions, may prove today an insurmountable barrier to the new adaptable learning approaches required by Generation Z students. During this study, engineering students received critical and creative thinking instruction to comply with the enhancement of: (i) their ability of design Net Zero Carbon 2050 strategies; (ii) their capacity to cope with uncertainty, ambiguity and volatility in sustainable energy fields; and (iii) their handling of non-routine interpersonal and analytical skills for digital transformation. The obtained results indicate that Active Learning and Challenge-based Learning approaches are highly effective for the development of sustainability thinking skills in engineering students.