Beyond awareness: instilling environmental sustainability knowledge through cooperative problem-based learning

Efforts to instil environmental sustainability among first year engineering students in an Introduction to Engineering course using Cooperative Problem-Based Learning (CPBL) is presented. CPBL integrates Cooperative Learning principles into the Problem-Based Learning process to engage students in collaboratively constructing their understanding while solving environmental challenges. To examine the impact, reflective journals from three cohorts were analysed thematically based on the four forms of knowledge of ecological behaviour: declarative, procedural, effectiveness, and social. The results indicate that CPBL supports students across cohorts in constructing all four forms of knowledge in an integrated manner. Students’ perspectives of sustainability were transformed, highlighting CPBL’s potential as a scalable and adaptable model for embedding sustainability into engineering education. By cultivating a holistic understanding of sustainability, CPBL supports the formation of engineers capable of embedding sustainable thinking into real – world design and decision-making, advancing both educational quality and professional practice.