Gala: An Open-Access Platform for Interactive Learning With Sustainability Case Studies

Meghan Wagner,Cameron L Bothner,Ivan Eastin,Bret Fickes,Emily Rau,Pearl Zhu Zeng,Megan A Czerwinski,Edward H Waisanen,Rebecca D Hardin

doi:10.1109/tlt.2022.3148723

Meghan Wagner, Cameron L Bothner + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1109/tlt.2022.3148723

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Abstract

Sustainability science has been gaining traction within academic research and teaching over the past few decades, and it is now entering a phase of greater maturity as a discipline, with links to sectors beyond the academy including energy, finance, advocacy, development, design, construction, agriculture, and healthcare. Concurrently, the growth of the internet has spurred innovation in platform development. This convergence has generated technology-enabled opportunities for training sustainability scholars and practitioners grounded in active learning pedagogies. Case studies are one active learning strategy becoming established within the fields of environment and sustainability. However, the traditional case study form and mode of delivery, which excel at a retroactive analysis of strategic decision-making and outcomes, can create challenges for teaching about issues involving emergent technologies and rapidly changing scientific and social dimensions. This article describes one novel platform, called Gala, for teaching and learning about sustainability science through case studies that address these challenges. Gala closely integrates text and multimedia components, is easily updated, and embraces content consumers as content creators and vice versa. We also report here the results of one pilot study that investigated differences between graduate and undergraduate student interactions with different case components. Results indicate that both groups heavily used the case narrative, but varied in their use of multimedia components. Such insights into patterns of case use are informing decisions about improvements to Gala and directions for future case production, teaching, and assessment, in order to create better tools for teaching and learning about sustainability.

Highlights

SUSTAINABILITY science harnesses the power of the scientific method to understand interactions between human and natural systems, and to chart pathways for meeting human needs over multiple generations while reducing poverty and maintaining Earth’s life support systems [1], [2]
The field is homing in on a set of competencies for graduates of sustainability programs [8]–[11], and there is general agreement that effective sustainability education must prioritize active and experiential learning over more passive pedagogies [12]– [15]
Case studies are one active learning strategy that has been identified as promising for sustainability education [10], [16]

Summary

Introduction

SUSTAINABILITY science harnesses the power of the scientific method to understand interactions between human and natural systems, and to chart pathways for meeting human needs over multiple generations while reducing poverty and maintaining Earth’s life support systems [1], [2]. Case studies are one active learning strategy that has been identified as promising for sustainability education [10], [16] They are not a new method, as they have long-established pedagogical use in fields such as law, business, and medicine, but in recent years they have found increasing use and relevance in teaching for sustainability and environmental education. Static text is more difficult to update, which creates challenges for timely teaching about dynamic sustainability issues

Results

Discussion

Conclusion