Sustainability education 101. Insights into the development, implementation, and evaluation of an online academic development course

Abstract

Higher education institutions face mounting pressure to integrate sustainability into teaching, yet instructors and academic developers frequently lack evidence-informed tools to address the complexity of this transversal agenda. This article presents Sustainability Education 101 (SE101), an eight-hour online academic development course co-developed at the University of St. Gallen to equip university instructors across disciplines with conceptual frameworks, practical design tools, and structured opportunities for reflective practice in sustainability education. Grounded in constructive alignment, generative learning, and critically reflective practice, SE101 guides participants through sustainability concepts and didactic models and scaffolds the redesign of their own courses. Drawing on qualitative content analysis of 21 course submissions—Educational Design Canvases and reflection papers—from two institutions, the study examines which course elements participants perceived as supportive or impeding, and how they applied SE101's tools and frameworks in course design. Findings indicate that the Educational Design Canvas most consistently supported professional learning, with the Pedagogical Pattern Navigator identified by a subset of participants as a distinctive resource, while cognitive load and institutional constraints impeded implementation. Participants broadened their sustainability conceptions beyond environmental framings, aligned course prototypes with sustainability competencies, and identified discipline-specific entry points for integration. The article contributes a practice-based model for academic development in complex, transversal domains and discusses implications for faculty professionalization, institutional change, and ESD 3 integration.