Examining the impacts of a graduate course on sustainable development using ecological footprint analysis

This study evaluates the degree to which learning about sustainable development in a graduate course can change students’ perceptions and behaviors.  The graduate course utilized a problem based learning approach to explore sustainable development topics such as designing a sustainable community and addressing adverse effects of a subdivision development.  The researchers used ecological footprint analysis to measure changes in students’ perceptions and behaviors before and after the course as compared to a control group.  Results of the ecological footprint surveys were analyzed using paired tests of means to assess pre-post changes for both the study and control groups. In addition, multiple regression analyses were used to identify the most influential factors contributing to participants’ ecological footprint changes.  Independent variables examined in the multiple regression analyses included group (study or control), gender, age, income, environmental awareness and distance between home and work.