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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Introduction to Sustainability by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

4.8
stars
2,588 ratings

About the Course

This course introduces the academic approach of Sustainability and explores how today’s human societies can endure in the face of global change, ecosystem degradation and resource limitations. The course focuses on key knowledge areas of sustainability theory and practice, including population, ecosystems, global change, energy, agriculture, water, environmental economics and policy, ethics, and cultural history. This subject is of vital importance, seeking as it does to uncover the principles of the long-term welfare of all the peoples of the planet. As sustainability is a cross-disciplinary field of study, this foundation requires intellectual breadth: as I describe it in the class text, understanding our motivations requires the humanities, measuring the challenges of sustainability requires knowledge of the sciences (both natural and social), and building solutions requires technical insight into systems (such as provided by engineering, planning, and management)....

Top reviews

KF

Dec 18, 2016

It is a well prepared course. Contents are carefully organized and plenty of concepts and examples are included and analyzed. Overall, it is a excellent course to get an overview of sustainability.

JW

Nov 28, 2015

This was my first Coursera course, and I wasn't sure what to expect; but was very pleased with the organization, timescale things were run on, and overall neutrality of the course. Very well done!

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26 - 50 of 805 Reviews for Introduction to Sustainability

By Mohammad I

Apr 26, 2020

Content is quite good but the assessment style is quite difficult as in very hard to complete. I think there is need to rethink about the assessment strategy where passing with 90% isn't made mandatory. Got stuck in the midst of the course, still intersted to complete but unable to move on due to hard style quiz. The quiz has further links which is unaccessible in poor networks. I hope the team will understand this issue from a view of providing knowledge with minimum harrassment.

By Mai K S T

Sep 24, 2020

This course helps me to learn many things about sustainability. By this course, I am more interested in sustainable developments. I expect to learn more about this provided by Dr Johnathan Tomkin.

By Santiago L

Oct 8, 2019

This is a comprehensive basic course about Sustainability. Great starting point. The course is easy to be understood by non-native English speakers, but exams are difficult.

By Anant S

Jun 25, 2020

Course is really worth the time and a must have course. Lectures are interesting. I would recommend you all those who are reading the reviews.

By Raphaël H E S

Jan 15, 2019

Un poco repetitivo en el formato pero muy completo, te ayuda a tener una visión más clara sobre la sustentabilidad

By Kira B

Oct 4, 2015

Very informative for an introductory course. I learned a lot in a short amount of time.

By Eleonora G E

Sep 18, 2018

Excellent course. The material is a little bit old but still relevant.

By Tan J F

Oct 5, 2018

Really tough course, but it was worthwhile!

By Talles G G

Jan 15, 2019

Excelente curso!

By Sugeet M

Aug 10, 2020

The course needs to be updated to reflect the changes during the approx 8 years since it was first created. The data in the coursework and the quizzes in particular is quite dated. Additionally, the language of some of the quiz questions is vague and may not be easily understood by participants whose first language is not English.

By Gabriel M

Nov 19, 2015

I am sorry but the Prof. doesn't know how to attract students to be more curious.

By Clare S

Dec 26, 2017

This has been a great class - good information and stuff everyone should know. Thank you so much! It's also surprising how thoughtful the tests are and how they can really test knowledge. I love the peer review - it's great to read other classmates' thoughts. Areas for improvement:

a) course content really needs an update every 5 or so years. From what I can tell, the course was written up in 2005. A LOT has changed. To keep this class vibrant, content needs updating!

b) there are some really arcane test questions and despite posting Q about them, requesting an explanation, I did not receive any response from the many TAs who are assigned to the course

c) peer reviews can be made more meaningful - the 5 or so checkboxes that you fill out as a reviewer really don't go into much depth - for example, a word count? Seems like the app could check that.

By Daniel G

Dec 31, 2017

The course is great... Lots of insights... I personally am more of neo-malthusian, which results from my experience from working in African countries, so I believe the "don't worry population growth will come down" and "humans will consume less materials in the future" to be too optimistics. Anyway, I'm looking forward to be proven wrong.

Thanks for a great course!

By Cyprian L

Nov 27, 2021

Generally a great course, providing a balanced theoretical introduction to sustainability! My only real criticism is that it looks like the course materials have not been updated and the course is about 10 years old.

By Adib Z

Jul 14, 2020

The quiz sections are very lengthy and some are quite hard. It didn't seem learner friendly overall.

By Ellie H

Sep 10, 2017

decent

By Tiziana B

Sep 30, 2020

It's a complicated course where not all the concepts are clearly and straightforwardly explained. The questions I find in the quizzes I feel do not match the info that I've been studying and certain mathematical concepts (which are out of my skillset) complicate it even further for me. I've been stuck on week 3 for weeks and I feel demoralized. Never had I flunk so badly. Some of the lessons have been ok and interesting so far. I think the homeworks and tests are poorly execute and lack precision or coherence from the lessons they correspond to.

By Jennifer M L

Sep 23, 2023

Interesting, but outdated stats/ information. Needs to be updated and moderated.

By Audrey C

Mar 7, 2021

There's something wrong with the quiz answers. Even if you select the correct answer, it marks it wrong. Other stdents seem to experience this as well and it's incredibly frustrating and is annoying enough that I am dropping the course after just the second "week.".

By Marcelo D S

Oct 28, 2020

I do not recommend this course at all. Poor quality. Unnecessarily wordy and boring!

By Abhinav S

Jun 13, 2020

Worst Course!

By Muhammad T

May 16, 2024

Having embarked on numerous courses in diverse fields, I can confidently attest to the enriching experience and invaluable knowledge gained. From exploring topics ranging from data science to leadership, each learning opportunity has been a stepping stone towards personal and professional growth. The depth of content and engaging delivery surpassed expectations, earning each course a stellar rating. Similarly, the comprehensive understanding and practical exercises provided in various courses have contributed significantly to my skill set and knowledge base. Moreover, the flexibility and accessibility offered by online platforms have made learning a seamless and enjoyable endeavor. With each course, I have not only expanded my skill set but also cultivated a passion for lifelong learning. As I continue to explore new horizons, I look forward to embracing the challenges and discoveries that lie ahead.

By Mridul M

Sep 28, 2020

What an eye opener it’s been!

I thoroughly enjoyed this course – an informative and well-planned introduction into the wonderful and essential subject of sustainability. Dr. Tomkin’s succinct videos followed by the recommended readings were an ideal blend of lecture and theory, and made the subject matter easy to break down and understand. The takeaways from the course are definitely going to shape my future work.

Thank you, Dr. Tomkin for the great course!

I do suggest that that the pdf be reworked in terms of layout, typeface and leading and contrast as this version can be difficult to read off a screen.

By Aravind S

Apr 17, 2017

This is my first time doing an online certificate course from Coursera and I have to say it had been a wonderful and informative experience for me. The lectures were easy to understand and really helped me to change so many of my misconceptions on sustainability and energy. I would like to thank Prof. Jonathan for give such brilliant lectures and sharing his views. I would also like to thank my classmates for their support and also would like to congratulate them on their achievement as well along with best wishes for their future.

Thank You Coursera for such an initiative to spread knowledge

By Pauline G

Jun 2, 2020

I found this training very enriching for those new to sustainable development. I took this course in order to have a global idea of the subject. I found what I was looking for. The course is quite complete, it gives a global vision of sustainability and deals with many aspects related to the subject. Both the basic concepts and concrete examples are explained. Moreover, I appreciated the moderate vision of our Professor on the subject, which is neither in denial nor in catastrophism. Finally, the tests are not stupidly a reproduction of the course and questions of reflection are asked.