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Scientific literacy, quantitative reasoning, and systems thinking are essential components of developing a sustainability mindset, and thus should form elements of introductory courses in sustainability so that such mindsets can be cultivated from the outset of a student’s academic studies, particularly in engineering. Evaluations of selected student works (9 respondents from 22 enrolled students) suggest that engineering students demonstrate proficiency with well-structured quantitative tasks, and can make progress adopting mathematical habits such as using estimations and orders of magnitued. However, as the activities become less well prescribed, such as in drawing concept maps to illustrate earth systems cycles, they are not as fluent. Further, they need to develop more practice to do “higher order” tasks, such as interpreting, cross-checking, citing, and communicating ideas outside of their routine. Nevertheless, the results of self-assessment surveys are generally positive and suggest that students are aware of the need to achieve the higher order expectations. The results open questions indicate that several students authentically learned scientific and quantitative elements of sustainability thinking, as evidenced by their articulation of specific details about systems thinking, chemistry, and mathematics. 

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) are important elements of a sustainability mindset. As part of an initiative to develop a new program in Sustainability Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, and to evaluate the growth of a sustainability mindset among participants, we performed a qualitative analysis of results from a cohort of first year students (5 men, 2 women) who completed a 1-credit JEDI seminar as part of their enrollment in the program. Based on coding student essays, we identified three themes that students expressed that indicate their development of understanding JEDI principles: (a) Diversity and Inclusion: Integration of Diverse Perspectives; (b) Equity, Justice, and Accessibility; and (c) Community-Centric Approach, although the evidence also suggests that not all students fluently apply these ideas in a problem-solving context. Overall, the results suggest that the 1-credit seminar is effective to build essential literacy of JEDI, which will be instrumental in future work in sustainability engineering and design. 

This article reviews the notion of a Sustainability Mindset in comparison to sustainability competencies in the context of a study of a first year cohort of students beginning a minor in Sustainability Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez. A framework of Knowledge (K), Skills (S), Attitudes (A), Behaviors (B), and Attitudes (A) is adopted to capture the students' developing mindsets broadly the context of Sustainability. A detailed open-form survey was administered after the first semester and was completed by 9/11 participants. Results show mature growth in the domain of sustainability (e.g., broad knowledge of the concept of sustainability to encompass the three 'pillars' of environmental, equity, and economic factors, and deep knowledge regarding ideas such as circular economy and earth systems cycles). Further growth is also demonstrated in academic and personal development (e.g., improved study skills, time management, and research skills). Future work will endeavor to continue observing the evolution of the mindset at the KSBA level and at finer levels of detail. 

Sustainability is an overarching challenge for the 21st century at local, national, and international levels. A new generation of engineers trained in sustainability is crucial to ensure the quality of life for current and future generations. To meet this challenge, the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (UPRM), with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE): Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program, aims to create a new Minor in Sustainability Engineering, as a precursor to a bachelor's degree in the same area. This paper describes a recently awarded project comprising the design and implementation of a Sustainability Engineering (SE) Minor at UPRM