Vol. 3 - 2026
Achieving sustainable education requires rethinking traditional instructional approaches and embedding pedagogies that promote critical reflection, innovation, and real-life application of knowledge. This study examined lecturers and undergraduate students in Nigerian universities regarding their awareness, perceptions, engagement, and challenges with innovative pedagogies—Problem-Based Learning (PBL), flipped classrooms, blended learning, collaborative projects, and digital tools—for sustainability education in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) era. A descriptive survey design was adopted. The population of the study comprised all university undergraduates in Osun State. Among all the universities in Osun State, two universities were randomly selected. From each of the university 130 undergraduates and 60 lecturers across different faculties were purposively selected, totally 260 undergraduates and 120 lecturers. This sampling technique was adopted because students (excluding 100 level students - the newly admitted) and lecturers who were at the reach of the researchers during the data gathering process formed the sample of the study. Two questionnaires tagged Lecturers’ Awareness, Perception, Engagement and Challenges of Innovative Pedagogies For Sustainable Education (LAPEIPSE) and Students’ Awareness, Perception and Engagement of Innovative Pedagogies for Sustainable Education with four subscales (awareness, perception, engagement, challenges), yielding high reliability (Cronbach's α: 0.76 and 0.79 respectively). Data gathered were analysed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage and mean) and inferential statistics (MANOVA). Descriptive analyses showed lecturers' high awareness, good perceptions, and moderate engagement, strongest in digital tools and collaboration but weaker in flipped preparation. Students displayed poor levels across these domains, notably in active participation and pre-class tasks. Both groups reported moderate challenges like infrastructure deficits, time constraints, development gaps, resistance, and group conflicts, surmountable via mobile adaptations and contextrelevant projects. One-way MANOVA confirmed significant status differences (Wilks' Lambda=0.905, F(4,375) = 9.803, p<.001), with lecturers exceeding students in awareness, perceptions, and engagement; challenges were equivalent. Univariate follow-ups highlighted lecturers' 9% variance edge in awareness. Findings reveal an implementation gap, positioning lecturers to lead innovations pedagogies amid students' deficits. Recommendations urge university management to partner with tech firms/government for blended platforms; mandate hands-on training in PBL/flipped/digital integration, tied to promotions; launch students’ orientations with PBL templates to reduce resistance; and embed pedagogies in policies.
Innovative Pedagogies, Sustainable Education, Problem-Based Learning, Flipped Classroom
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