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Sowing the seeds of change: educating emerging textile and apparel professionals on sustainability from cotton industry perspective

Geetika Jaiswal, Elizabeth Newcomb Hopfer, Devona L. Dixon

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education

ISSN: 1467-6370

Article publication date: 3 November 2023

Issue publication date: 19 February 2024

302

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to promote sustainability-based education in fashion design and merchandising program to enhance students’ knowledge, skills and attitude about sustainability development, organizational responsibility and personal responsibility from the cotton industry perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

To conduct this study, three learning components were considered: learning from experts, learning by doing and outreach activity. Sustainability-related topics were strategically incorporated in different courses for one year; project-based learning approach was adopted; and pre–posttest survey was conducted to study the impact of sustainability-based education on student learning outcome. Rand’s principles-attributes matrix was applied to analyze the impact of sustainable education on student learning outcomes.

Findings

The results of course projects indicated enhanced student’s abilities on using use different types of cotton materials in product development, creative use of cotton in visual merchandising and development of business plans focused on sustainability. The two-group mean comparisons showed a significant positive impact on students’ knowledge in cotton and sustainability, followed by students’ skills and attitudes.

Originality/value

In response to the lack of systematic approach to incorporate sustainability-related topics in textile and apparel design discipline, this study offered an opportunity to involve approximately 110 students in various sustainability-based teaching and learning projects.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the funding received from Cotton Incorporated to implement the project-related research activities.

Since acceptance of this article, the following author has updated their affiliation: Geetika Jaiswal is at the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Citation

Jaiswal, G., Hopfer, E.N. and Dixon, D.L. (2024), "Sowing the seeds of change: educating emerging textile and apparel professionals on sustainability from cotton industry perspective", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 649-668. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-08-2022-0282

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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