A problem-based course in sustainable technology

Sustainable technology has been defined as technology that provides for our current needs without sacrificing the ability of future populations to sustain themselves. Approaching the synthesis of sustainably engineered solutions requires weighing the qualities of different proposals from a variety of different perspectives. Of necessity these problems must be solved from multidisciplinary perspectives. Students, therefore, need to learn not only what their own disciplines have to say about the issues, but they also need to be able to recognize the other kinds of issues that arise and to know which disciplines can contribute to their solutions. Thus, students need to learn how to recognize new issues and to work collaboratively. This points to a need for students to learn by working on cases in multidisciplinary teams. These multidisciplinary groups provide opportunities for collaboration and reflection that have the potential to greatly enhance student learning. Learning in such an environment can provide students with cases that they can recall and adapt later in their careers. We describe the curriculum of a problem-based course in sustainable development and technology (SDT) as well as discussing the technology that will be used in the future to support collaborative learning. In addition, we present some assessment data to indicate what students have learned and needs that have been identified as a result of these assessments.