Between Flexibility And Relativism: How Students Deal With Uncertainty In Sustainability Challenges

Authors

Nina Lotte BOHM, Delft University of Technology, The NetherlandsFollow
Renate KLAASSEN, Delft University of Technology, The NetherlandsFollow
Ellen VAN BUEREN, Delft University of Technology, The NetherlandsFollow
Perry DEN BROK, Wageningen University and Research, The NetherlandsFollow

Document Type

Conference Paper

Abstract

Universities open their doors to society, inviting the complexity of the world to enter engineering education through challenge-based courses. While working on complex issues, engineering students learn to deal with different kinds of uncertainty: uncertainty about the dynamics of a real-world challenge, the knowledge gaps in the problem, or the conflicting perspectives amongst the people involved. Although we know from previous research that students are likely to encounter these uncertainties in sustainability challenges, which metacognitive strategies they use to deal with them is unclear. We interviewed nine MSc students at the end of a challenge-based course at a Dutch university of technology. We asked the students how they dealt with uncertainty in collaboration with the commissioner, their student team, and the teachers. The interviews were analyzed through grounded, consensus-based coding by two researchers. Preliminary results show students use three main strategies. First, the different perspectives from peers in their team inform the position of the student. Second, students find expectation management of the commissioner essential, yet students struggle with how to do this in a professional and timely way. Third, students frame the uncertainties they encounter as part of the learning process, which allows them to accept the possibility of failure. This study provides first insights in metacognitive uncertainty strategies and suggests those strategies should become a more prominent topic in coaching students. When uncertainty becomes an explicit part of challenge-based education, students learn to deal with both the known and unknown in the transition to a sustainable society.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21427/PCG5-D760

Recommended Citation

Bohm, N. L., Klaassen, R., Van Burren, E., & Den Brok, P. (2023). Between Flexibility And Relativism: How Students Deal With Uncertainty In Sustainability Challenges. European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI). DOI: 10.21427/PCG5-D760

Creative Commons License

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