Effectiveness of Hackathons to Cultivate a Sustainability Mindset among Engineering and Computing Students

Abstract

The use of hackathons to teach students problem-solving and innovation has been gaining popularity in universities in recent years. At the same time, more universities are also incorporating sustainability into their teaching and learning to teach more students about the sustainability mindset. This paper intends to investigate the effectiveness of hackathons in cultivating a sustainability mindset among engineering and computing students. A five-day hackathon has been implemented for students from two countries and nationalities. Surveys were given to the participants before and after the hackathon to review students’ feedback on whether the hackathon could achieve its goals. The analysis results are positive and indicate the potential of the hackathon to be effective in cultivating the sustainability mindset to the participants.