Redesigning seminars in the subject sustainable development and environmental ethics for the new on-line higher education scenario due to COVID-19

Abstract

[EN] Covid-19 has changed the global agenda this year 2020 and particularly since March when the disease disseminated and affected the whole world. Then, confinement strategies started in most of the countries affecting important humankind aspects such as economy, society, and many others. In an educational point of view, higher education has been suddenly forced to change from a traditional presential education structure to a non-presential learning-teaching framework based on virtual/on-line educational strategies. Particular efforts have been done at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and in its Design Engineering School (ETSID) to adapt their educational model to this unexpected situation. This paper shows the work conducted to redesign seminars in the subject Sustainable Development and Environmental Ethics according to the requirements of this new scenario. A preliminary SWOT analysis allowed to focus our redesigning efforts in specific aspects of the seminar: assuming the nonpresential scenario and adapting to this new reality, an appropriate and more effective information sharing, some visual aspects associated to the specific teamworking dynamics in the classroom, structure and seminar schedule were some of the aspects to be on in the redesigning process. Students¿ opinions and point of view were particularly considered in redesigning as they are intensively experiencing on-line education since confinement started. Finally, structure, tasks, schedule, attendance, results compilation and sharing, and assessment were completely reconsidered and adapted. After this season¿s experience, development, results and students¿ feedback have been studied in depth. As a conclusion, the new redesigned seminar rises as a successful improved version of the activity being more dynamic, participative, and educationally functional. Although, there are important aspects that have been lost because they are linked to presential attendance and real teamworking in the classroom. Further efforts will be focused in diminishing these disadvantages.