Climate change curricula and Pedagogical approaches under review at Kathmandu University and Purbanjal University

oskhaautufi

The ACCESS team together WUR and UTU carried out intensive preparatory review of the Climate Change and Pedagogical Approaches review between 16-20 September in Dhulikhel and Biratnagar. Altogether over 150 students and over almost 40 staff members from different faculties (from engineering to environment, public health, education, IT and forestry) were consulted on the current climate change education and pedagogical approaches in use. Furthermore the team participated as observers in the classes to map current approaches in the teaching as well as physical infrastructures and learning environments. In addition, ACCESS team visited non-academic partners, municipalities and other relevant stakeholders to examine university links to local private and public sector entities as well as local communities.

The main findings from the discussions, meetings and a survey carried out are presented below:

  • Climate change is already present in many programmes, in particular those related to engineering, environment and other topics closely related to climate. It’s not always systematic and not always in-depth/specialised.
  • There is a lot of enthusiasm and interest of students to engage in climate change-related topics. However, there is a need to localise climate change knowledge and incorporate of indigenous knowledge
  • There is capacity at the staff level to teach on climate change-related topics, which could be mobilised in the project
  • Teaching at the BSc level is (in general) still quite traditional and teacher-oriented, while there is more flexibility, interaction, smaller group sizes, and online education (mainly delivery of lectures) at the MSc level
  • There is limited collaboration between faculties and departments in course and programme delivery. Similarly, students don’t commonly work together across programmes/faculties.
  • Online education is very limited again after Covid, with only few students having experience with MOOCs (especially at BSc)
  • There are currently limited opportunities for structural engagement of students with societal actors, even though some programmes do offer internships and ad hoc opportunities for students to engage in research projects of staff members
  • Assessment at the BSc level is quite traditional, while there is more flexibility at the Masters level
  • Moodle is the main Learning Management System but mainly used for document repository and not much for other forms of interactive teaching

 

Meeting with students and faculty staff at the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, KU
Meeting with students of the MSc programme Mechanical Engineering, KU
Informal talks during campus visit KU
Visit to poorly managed waste management site near Biratnagar
Visit to well-managed waste management site near Dhankuta
Visit to PU campus
Meeting with students and staff of Public Health department at PU
Picture after classroom observation and student meeting at PU campus