XXX-X-XXXX-XXXX-X/XX/$XX.00 ©20XX IEEE Engineering Students’ Conceptualizations of Sustainability Jens Kabo Communication and Learning in Science Chalmers University of Technology Gothenburg, Sweden jens.kabo@chalmers.se Dean Nieusma Engineering, Design, and Society Division Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO, USA nieusma@mines.edu Caroline Baillie Shiley Marcos School of Engineering University of San Diego San Diego, CA, USA cbaillie@sandiego.edu Abstract— While the integration of a sustainability lens within engineering education is increasingly urgent, the appropriate conceptual underpinnings for such integration remain under debate. The study presented follows an investigation of one small group of students in a course that addressed sustainability in the context of technology design. Our goal was to explore the range of student conceptions of sustainability. Using a phenomenographic approach, we observed and interviewed students in the course and identified seven categories of sustainability. These findings can be used as parts of a tool for scaffolding students’ learning experiences. Keywords— engineering, sustainability, phenomenography, students I. INTRODUCTION While the integration of a sustainability lens within engineering education is increasingly urgent, the appropriate conceptual underpinnings for such integration remain unclear. We argue that an important component of such integration is to explore the diversity of ways in which sustainability is understood by students in order to design more relevant and impactful learning experiences in engineering educational contexts. The study presented follows an investigation of one small group of technical students in a course that addressed sustainability in the context of technology design, whose aim was expanding students’ appreciation for the concept’s complexity. Our goal was not to evaluate the outcomes of the course per se, but rather to ask: What range of conceptions is held by the students at a collective level? And can this inform sustainability’s integration into engineering education? In order to achieve our goal, we employed the qualitative research approach, phenomenography, which focuses on the different ways students talked about “sustainability”, especially in the context technology design. Using this approach, we identified seven qualitatively distinct categories, ranging from “Sustainability as other people’s unrealistic ideals” to “Sustainability as integrated problem solving”. The categories were organized and related to one another according to three dimensions of variation, which were themselves emergent from the data. As elaborated below, the dimensions of variation overlap with key themes of the course, most notably including the recognition that multiple dimensions of sustainability often exist in tension with one another, sometimes fundamentally so. While several studies exist that explore sustainability, including some that focus on students’ conceptions and others using phenomenography as research methodology, few studies lie at the intersection of engineering, sustainability, and phenomenography (see Table 1). Our study addresses that gap, resulting in both empirical and practice-oriented contributions to the field of engineering education research. Specifically, the findings can be used as parts of a tool for scaffolding students’ learning experiences: by using our quotes as mirrors for students’ own ideas about sustainability; by developing an assessment tool based on the categories of description or by highlighting critical aspects of sustainability through structured variation around the three dimensions of variation identified. However, we also urge caution in interpreting our findings, based as they are on undergraduate student conceptions, excluding more complex understandings of sustainability held by practitioners or scholars. Hence, if the aim is to push students’ understanding far beyond current dominant constructs, for examples those concerning economic growth [1], we would need an expanded range of categories. II. LITERATURE REVIEW: EXPLORATIONS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY A literature review was conducted to explore intersections among sustainability, engineering, and phenomenography. In March 2020, we performed several literature searches using Scopus and employing different combinations of relevant key terms (see Table I). For the combinations deemed most relevant for this study—Phenomenography + Sustainability respective Engineering + Sustainability + Conceptions + Students—we conducted additional complimentary searches using Web of Science and IEEE Explore as well as in the Papers on Engineering Education Repository for combinations involving all three main key terms (see Table I for details). For each key term, several variations were used; for example, sustainability was supplemented by sustainable W/4 development and sustainable W/4 design. Field codes and search operators were adapted according to the specific database standards. The abstracts from the most specific and relevant searches were assessed for eligibility. After removing duplicates, 202 abstracts were screened (by author 1) for inclusion or exclusion using Rayyan [2]. Relevant papers were then reviewed in detail. TABLE I. RESULTS FROM LITERATURE SEARCHES USING DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS OF RELEVANT KEY TERMS Engineering and/or Phenomenography Sustainability (only) + Conceptions + Conceptions + Students Neither 363 099 a 13 412 a 683 a Engineering 37 987 a 1 193 a 165 b Phenomenography 33 b 11 b 7 b Both 12 c 1 c 1 c a. Result of search in Scopus on 9 th March 2020. b. Same as a. + Web of Science + IEEE Xplore. Abstracts screened for inclusion. c. Same as b. + Papers on Engineering Education Repository. Abstracts screened for inclusion.