Assessing the sustainability content of the Nigerian engineering curriculum
International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
ISSN: 1467-6370
Article publication date: 30 May 2019
Issue publication date: 19 July 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to present an assessment of the sustainability content of the Nigerian engineering curriculum in universities.
Design/methodology/approach
Content analysis is used to generate and analyse data from three engineering documents, namely, the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards for Engineering Programmes in Nigeria and the engineering handbooks of two Nigerian higher education institutions.
Findings
The Nigerian engineering curriculum is revealed to have a low sustainability content, with environmental concepts being the most cited themes and social topics as the least stated issues.
Research limitations/implications
The sustainability assessment approach adopted in the study is constrained by the question of what constitutes a sustainability syllabus. Expert-derived sustainability themes used in the study are unavoidably incomplete and may limit the conduct of an exhaustive sustainability content assessment.
Practical implications
Based on the research outcome, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria and other stakeholders can consider ways to adequately incorporate sustainability themes in the Nigerian engineering curriculum.
Originality/value
The research is an effort to determine the presence of sustainability issues in the Nigerian engineering education, which has hitherto been scarcely documented. This study provides a baseline and a rationale for sustainability education interventions in the Nigerian engineering curriculum. It also presents a methodology for analysing sustainability content in university curriculum and contributes to the continuing sustainability education discourse, especially in relation to sub-Saharan Africa.
Keywords
Citation
Akeel, U.U., Bell, S.J. and Mitchell, J.E. (2019), "Assessing the sustainability content of the Nigerian engineering curriculum", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 590-613. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-11-2018-0217
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited