Course overview

Part 1: For students, lecturers and academic designers

Part 1 introduces students, lecturers and academic designers to the key sources of energy consumption and carbon emissions in higher education, and the type of carbon reduction programmes that may be undertaken.

Part 2: For students

Part 2 provides students with an understanding of the environmental impacts associated with their learning activities.

You will explore the likely carbon impacts associated with your learning activities in higher education.

You will learn how to apply a Carbon Calculator tool that has been specifically designed to assess the impacts associated with course activities in a UK HE institution. This will help you to explore the key sources of your own carbon impacts, and how these impacts could be reduced by changing some aspects of your learning activities and use of materials.

You will be able to consider making changes to your activities to address sustainability issues.

Part 3: For lecturers and academic designers

Part 3 provides lecturers in higher education with an understanding of the environmental impacts associated with their teaching activities on courses, as well as the learning activities of their students.

You will explore the likely carbon impacts associated with your teaching activities in higher education. You will also be able to help students on your courses to explore the key sources of carbon impacts associated with their learning.

You will learn how to apply two Carbon Calculator tools that have been specifically designed to assess the impacts associated with course activities in a UK HE institution.

You will be able to consider how these impacts could be reduced by changing some aspects of your course-related activities and use of materials to address sustainability issues.

Part 4: For lecturers and academic designers

Part 4 examines the carbon-based environmental impacts associated with different systems and models of providing higher education teaching and learning.

It introduces a classification for HE teaching models that are using ICTs and other teaching delivery methods, and explains the factors that need to be considered when designing and developing more sustainable higher education teaching models.

It introduces a suite of innovative tools which have been designed to help you to explore and assess the likely carbon impacts associated with the teaching models underpinning your work on courses and qualification programmes.

You will be able to explore these tools and assess key sources of energy consumption and carbon impacts associated with your model of teaching in HE.

Using the tools will help you to identify how these impacts could be reduced with new teaching and learning designs and to develop your thinking about sustainability in higher education.