Gardens as an Interdisciplinary Pedagogical Strategy to Enhance the Learning Experience in Higher Education
Keywords:
University gardens, environmental education, experiential learning, higher education, interdisciplinarityAbstract
This paper presents an interdisciplinary pedagogical experience at UNAN-Managua through the elective course "Garden Design and Maintenance." The initiative responds to national guidelines for quality education, inclusion, and sustainability, integrating experiential learning, constructivism, and environmental education. Fifty-nine students from diverse disciplines participated in design activities, visual soil analysis, species selection, and plant establishment. A descriptive-correlational quantitative methodology was used based on Likert-type questionnaires and descriptive and classification analyses. Student motivation, development of technical skills, collaborative work, and environmental sensitivity were strongly evident. Significant correlations were observed between methodological quality and performance, highlighting pedagogical coherence as a key factor. University gardens function as effective tools for linking theory and practice, fostering environmental values, and promoting community college participation.
0
References
Blair, D. (2009). The Child in the Garden: An Evaluative Review of the Benefits of School Gardening. The Journal of Environmental Education, 40(2), 15–38. https://doi.org/10.3200/JOEE.40.2.15-38
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203771587
Cörvers, R., Wiek, A., de Kraker, J., Lang, D.J., y Martens, P. (2016). Problem-Based and Project-Based Learning for Sustainable Development. In: Heinrichs, H., Martens, P., Michelsen, G., Wiek, A. (eds) Sustainability Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7242-6_29
Creswell, J. W., y Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach (5th ed.). SAGE Publications. https://www.ucg.ac.me/skladiste/blog_609332/objava_105202/fajlovi/Creswell.pdf
Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., y Wenderoth, M. P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(23), 8410–8415. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1319030111
Field, A. (2018). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Gravetter, F. J., Wallnau, L. B., Forzano, L.-AB, y Witnauer, J. E. (2020). Fundamentos de estadística para las ciencias del comportamiento (10.ª ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Hein, G. E. (1991). Constructivist Learning Theory. Ponencia presentada en la Conferencia del CECA (Comité Internacional de Educadores de Museos), Jerusalén, Israel, 15-22 de octubre de 1991, pp. 1-10.
Kim, T. K. (2015). T test as a parametric statistic. Korean Journal of Anesthesiology, 68(6), 540-546. https://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.2015.68.6.540
Krasny, M. E., y Delia, J. (2015). Natural area stewardship as part of campus sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production. 106, 87–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.04.019
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice-Hall.
Kozlowski, S. W. J., y Bell, B. S. (2013). Work groups and teams in organizations: Review update. In N. Schmitt, S. Highhouse, y I. B. Weiner (Eds.), Handbook of psychology: Industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 12, pp. 412–469). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118133880.hop212017
Lakens, D. (2013). Calculating and reporting effect sizes to facilitate cumulative science: A practical primer for t-tests and ANOVAs. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 863. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00863
Leal Filho, W., Shiel, C., y Paco, A. (2016). Implementing and operationalising integrative approaches to sustainability in higher education: the role of project-oriented learning. J. Clean. Prod. 133, 126–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.05.079
Malberg Dyg, P., y Wistoft, K. (2018). Wellbeing in school gardens – the case of the Gardens for Bellies food and environmental education program. Environmental Education Research, 24(8), 1177–1191. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2018.1434869
Ministerio de Educación de Nicaragua. (2024). Estrategia Nacional de Educación 2021-2026 [PDF]. Gobierno de Reconciliación y Unidad Nacional. https://www.mined.gob.ni/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/documento-completo.pdf
Mukaka M. M. (2012). Statistics corner: A guide to appropriate use of correlation coefficient in medical research. Malawi medical journal: the journal of Medical Association of Malawi, 24(3), 69–71. 23638278
Corrochano, D., Ferrari, E., López-Luengo, M. A., y Ortega-Quevedo, V. (2022). Educational Gardens and Climate Change Education: An Analysis of Spanish PreserviceTeachers’ Perceptions. Education Sciences, 12(4), 275. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12040275
Sauvé, L. (2005). Currents in Environmental Education Mapping a Complex and Evolving Pedagogical Field. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 10(1), 11–37. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ881772.pdf
Tavakol, M., y Dennick, R. (2011). Making sense of Cronbach’s alpha. Medical Teacher, 33(7), 635–636. 10.5116/ijme.4dfb.8dfd
Takkouch, M. (2025). Soil to Sustainability: School Gardens as a Pedagogical Approach for Promoting Experiential Learning in Science and Environmental Education in K-12 Canadian Schools (Tesis doctoral. The University of Western Ontario). https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/10734/
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua, Managua. (2021). Diseño curricular para desarrollar competencias.
Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (2017). Education for Sustainable Development Goals: Learning Objectives.
Williams, D. (2018). Garden-Based Education. En Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.188
