History-enhanced ICT For Sustainability education: Learning together with Business Computing students

TL;DR

This study integrates historical perspectives into ICT For Sustainability education, demonstrating increased student interest and perceived relevance, through interdisciplinary collaboration and survey-based evaluation.

Contribution

It is the first empirical study applying history to enhance ICT4S education, providing insights into interdisciplinary teaching methods and student engagement.

Findings

Students saw increased relevance to their careers.

Interest in history among students increased.

Interdisciplinary collaboration improved teaching approach.

Abstract

This research explores the use of History to enhance education in the field of ICT For Sustainability ICT4S in response to a challenge from the ICT4S 2023 conference. No previous studies were found in ICT4S but the literature on History and Education for Sustainable Development is reviewed. An ICT4S lecturer collaborated with History lecturers to add an historic parallel to each weeks teaching on a Sustainable Business and Computing unit for final year undergraduate BSc Business Computing students. A list of the topics and rationale is provided. Student perceptions were surveyed before and after the teaching and semi-structured interviews carried out. A majority of students saw relevance to their degree and career. There was an increase in the proportion of students with interest in History. The paper explores the lessons learned from the interdisciplinary collaboration, including topic choice, format and perceived value. The project has enhanced the way we approach our subjects as computing and history educators. We believe this is the first empirical, survey-based study of the use of history to enhance ICT4S education. The team will extend the research to a larger unit covering a wider range of computing degrees.