Setting up an Authentic Learning Environment in Hybrid Setting for Transformative Learning: Experiences from a Field Exercise Course in Higher Sustainability Education

There is an increasing emphasis on making higher sustainability education more effective by using transformative learning. One of the major environmental factors to bring transformative learning into practice is by creating an authentic learning environment in the classroom. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic many universities shifted from online to completely digital or hybrid (mix of digital and face-to face) teaching practice. The current research is an attempt to explore how an authentic learning environment can be fostered in a digital setting by incorporating the critical characteristics of authentic activities in a hybrid setting during a field exercise course at the University of Tokyo. The study describes the design and implementation of a field exercise course and captures the participants' perspectives using semi-structured interviews on their experiences. The participants' perspectives indicate a positive response towards hybrid authentic learning environment set up during the course. The study concludes that the field exercise course successfully offers learning experiences aligned to the characteristics of the authentic learning environment in a hybrid setting. The research can offer concrete practice, pathways, and lessons for program development, with authentic learning environment, in a hybrid setting.