Biomimicry Lessons for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-134-0_12How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Biomimicry; Innovation; Nature; Sustainability; Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Teaching and Learning (T&L) in higher education is an important discourse that determines the teacher and learner's experience, effectiveness, and efficiency in the classroom. Biomimicry, a practice that draws inspiration from nature's forms, strategies, and systems to solve human challenges has the potential to inform curriculum design, pedagogical practices, and assessment strategies that promote sustainability, creativity, and critical thinking skills among learners. This paper presents a conceptual framework for applying biomimicry principles to T&L in higher education. Drawing from the core principles of biomimicry, the paper provides examples of nature-inspired teaching methods, such as experiential learning, collaborative learning, and real-world problem-solving. It acknowledges that incorporating biomimicry into higher education may require rethinking traditional educational paradigms, addressing faculty and institutional resistance, and overcoming logistical and resource constraints. The paper also highlights the potential challenges and limitations of incorporating biomimicry thinking into higher education but argues that the benefits of biomimicry-inspired T&L outweigh the challenges. Overall, this paper highlights the potential of biomimicry as a guiding framework for transforming T&L practices in higher education, preparing students to address complex challenges in the 21st century. Finally, this paper revealed that biomimicry can guide curricula development that integrates interdisciplinary approaches, inspires innovative teaching methods that promote active engagement, and informs the development of assessment strategies that align with the principles of biomimicry. Further research and experimentation are needed to fully explore the potential of biomimicry as a guiding framework for T&L in higher education.

Copyright

© 2023 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Olusegun Oguntona
AU  - Clinton Aigbavboa
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/11/06
TI  - Biomimicry Lessons for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
BT  - Proceedings of the 10th Focus Conference (TFC 2023)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 172
EP  - 183
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-134-0_12
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-134-0_12
ID  - Oguntona2023
ER  -