This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Teaching Methods in Science Subjects Promoting Sustainability" that was published in Education Sciences

Exploring the important role of education in both pursuing and implementing sustainable development, this timely Handbook highlights how teaching methods at schools and universities can impact the future. It looks at ways not only to inform students about matters related to sustainable development, but also to empower them to adopt behaviours and actions that lead to more sustainable lifestyles.

This timely book explores the sustainable development goals, how well universities have been able to integrate them into their curriculum, and how universities can institutionalize the goals and sustainable development into their strategic plans and institutional culture

Currently, many states are adopting the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or are revising their own state standards in ways that reflect the NGSS. For students and schools, the implementation of any science standards rests with teachers. For those teachers, an evolving understanding about how best to teach science represents a significant transition in the way science is currently taught in most classrooms and it will require most science teachers to change how they teach. That change will require learning opportunities for teachers that reinforce and expand their knowledge of the major ideas and concepts in science, their familiarity with a range of instructional strategies, and the skills to implement those strategies in the classroom. Providing these kinds of learning opportunities in turn will require profound changes to current approaches to supporting teachers' learning across their careers, from their initial training to continuing professional development. A teacher's capability to improve students' scientific understanding is heavily influenced by the school and district in which they work, the community in which the school is located, and the larger professional communities to which they belong. Science Teachers' Learning provides guidance for schools and districts on how best to support teachers' learning and how to implement successful programs for professional development. This report makes actionable recommendations for science teachers' learning that take a broad view of what is known about science education, how and when teachers learn, and education policies that directly and indirectly shape what teachers are able to learn and teach. The challenge of developing the expertise teachers need to implement the NGSS presents an opportunity to rethink professional learning for science teachers. Science Teachers' Learning will be a valuable resource for classrooms, departments, schools, districts, and professional organizations as they move to new ways to teach science.

At the core of the Agenda 2030 are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of the SDGs is to secure a sustainable, peaceful, prosperous and equitable life on Earth for everyone now and in the future. To achieve the SDGs, education for sustainable development (ESD) aims to develop competencies that empower individuals to reflect on their own actions, taking into account their current and future social, cultural, economic and environmental impacts, from a local and a global perspective. Therefore, ESD must define new knowledge, skills, values and attitudes and evaluate effective ways towards a new pedagogy. This Special Issue focuses on empirical educational research and theoretical considerations that address transformational competences in science education in the context of the SDGs. It presents new pedagogical approaches that aim to empower learners and teachers to contribute to a sustainable future and to evaluate their effectiveness in science education. Papers can focus on, e.g., new curricula or textbooks, teacher education, classroom and informal learning, whole-institution approaches, action-oriented and transformative learning approaches in science education.

In today's rapidly evolving world, the digital learning gap presents a significant challenge, impacting the effectiveness of education and the development of essential skills for future generations. Traditional teaching methods often fail to meet students' diverse needs, leading to a skills gap between current and future workers. Additionally, the ambiguity in defining concepts such as the "heap paradox" and the inadequacies of traditional economic measures like GDP highlights the need for more nuanced and comprehensive approaches to education, environmental psychology, and sustainable development. Inclusive Educational Practices and Technologies for Promoting Sustainability offers a multifaceted solution to these pressing issues by exploring the transformative potential of Educational Technology (EdTech), the insights of environmental psychology, and the importance of holistic measures of human welfare. By showcasing how EdTech can bridge the digital learning gap, enabling teachers to employ diverse strategies and better meet students' needs, we demonstrate its potential to revolutionize education and support the growth of the next generation. The book also delves into the paradox of the heap, where logic, vagueness, and philosophy complicate our methods of thinking. It illustrates the complexities of everyday concepts and their relevance to environmental psychology while advocating for a deeper understanding of the human-nature relationship.

This volume contains a unique compilation of research and reflections representing multiple vantage points stemming from different parts of the world that can help science educators and teacher educators in finding ways to meaningfully and purposefully embed sustainability into teaching and learning. It is a rich resource for exploring and contextualizing sustainability-oriented science education. At this time we find ourselves in a situation in which the earth’s ecological system is under significant strain as a result of human activity. In the developed world people are asking “How can we maintain our current standard of living?” while those in the developing world are asking “How can we increase the quality of our lives?” all while trying to do what is necessary to mitigate the environmental problems. This volume responds to these questions with a focus on educating for sustainability, including historical and philosophical analyses, and pedagogical and practical applications in the context of science teacher preparation. Included are many examples of ways to educate science teachers for sustainability from authors across the globe. This text argues that issues of sustainability are increasingly important to our natural world, built world, national and international economics and of course the political world. The ideas presented in the book provide examples for original, effective and necessary changes for envisioning educating science teachers for sustainability that will inform policy makers.

In the face of unprecedented disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid acceleration of digital technologies, it is necessary to rethink the competences required by teachers for meeting new and flexible learning demands. Teacher training is an area constantly evolving along with emerging social challenges that are transforming educational institutions and agents. This book provides teachers with skills, innovative solutions, cutting-edge studies, and methodologies to meet education and training system demands. In our changing world, preparing teachers worldwide for the challenges and shifts of this era involves the opportunity to exchange theories, practices, and experiences such as those contained in this book.

Through out the current period of educational change, Geography education has also changed. The innovations may be the starting point to affect conceptual change and paradigm shifts. Geography education assimilates and integrates knowledge, skills and scientific methodologies. The ten articles in this book illuminate a wide range of topics of interest to Geography education. In their article, Skarstein and Wolff discuss how the interplay between the environment, society and economy pillars of sustainability thinking play out on scales of time, space and multitude and how geography teachers can support the students’ understanding of sustainability. Yli-Panula et al. analysed used teaching and learning methods to find out good ones for promoting sustainability in geography. The same idea can be found in Duffin's and Perry’s article on Place-Based Ecology Education. In their article, Dür and Keller discuss the topics of quality of life, sustainability and global justice based on the goals of Education for Sustainable Development. Evaluation is an important part of learning. It is reviewed by Schauss and Sprenger regarding climate change education. The following two articles deal with students' views of landscapes worth conserving. In both studies, students expressed concern about the state of the environment. Yli-Panula et al. found that the Mexican students seldom considered their own activities in relation to the environment while Yli-Panula et al. stated that only some of the Finnish and Swedish students act as observers while others actively care for their environment. The remaining three articles deal with teaching methods and models. Benninghaus et al. present a benchmark method, which allows statements about the quality of the maps/diagrams in general. Álvarez-Otero and De Lázaro y Torres, on the other hand, describe their Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge model. Kopnina and Saari discusses student assignments reflecting on the documentary film through critical pedagogy and ecopedagogy.

In our digital era, harnessing innovations and emerging technologies to support teaching and learning has been an important research area in the field of education around the world. In science/STEM education, technologies can be leveraged to present and visualize scientific theories and concepts effectively, while the development of pedagogic innovations usually requires collective, inter-disciplinary research efforts. In addition, emerging technologies can better support teachers to assess students’ learning performance in STEM subjects and offer students viable virtual environments to facilitate laboratory-based learning, thereby contributing to sustainable development in both K-12 and higher education.