A longitudinal pedagogical evaluation conducted at the Central American University ‘José Simeón Cañas’ (UCA) in El Salvador indicates that an undergraduate course on cities and climate change fosters lasting competencies, including conceptual knowledge retention and behavioral shifts, among students in the Global South. The study, published in Frontiers of Urban and Rural Planning, draws on a five-semester teaching experience from 2020 to 2022 and tracks student outcomes through 2025. By employing a multi-phase sequential design, the research aims to determine how teaching this specific course promotes immediate effectiveness, long-term retention, and transformative competencies in a context characterized by resource constraints and digital divides.
The course, titled ‘Cities and Climate Change,’ was taken by 738 students enrolled in ten different academic programs. The pedagogical approach was designed to move beyond the simple retrieval of concepts and scenarios, instead involving students in the complexities of sustainability and the cascading consequences of global warming. The researchers sought to address the “wicked problem” of urban climate change by applying theory to concrete situations, thereby providing a holistic view of cities that contributed to other courses in the students’ curricula. This approach was particularly relevant given the scarcity of evidence showing that higher education institutions in the Global South have successfully fostered the skills and values needed for sustainable development within fragile systems.
The methodology utilized a multi-phase sequential design with a longitudinal perspective, combining quantitative and qualitative data over a five-year period. The first phase involved in-course surveys conducted during five semesters between 2020 and 2022. These anonymous questionnaires included 17 questions across five areas: the relevance and application of content, teaching methods and resources, participation and communication, organization, and evaluation and feedback. The most reliable in-course results were obtained from the 2021 cohort, Semester 01, which achieved a sampling rate of 92.1% and a margin of error of ± 3.1%, ensuring a statistically strong baseline for immediate student satisfaction and learning.
To provide qualitative depth, the second phase consisted of semi-structured interviews conducted in 2022 with six former students from the first cohort of the course. This cohort originally comprised 89 students, and the interviewees were selected voluntarily to offer in-depth insights into their lived experiences. The researchers emphasized that qualitative research prioritizes depth and information-rich cases over statistical representativeness, assessing sample adequacy based on analytic sufficiency. These interviews were triangulated with the survey data through thematic cross-analysis and dual-coder validation, helping to explain how immediate course perceptions translated into personal and professional changes.
The third phase involved ex-post surveys administered in 2025 to former students who had completed the course three, four, or five years prior. This follow-up aimed to assess long-term impact and knowledge retention, measuring sustainability of everyday practices, perceptions of cities, professional orientation, and attitudes. However, the ex-post survey reached only approximately 12% of the total student population, resulting in a margin of error of nearly ± 9.9%. The low response rate was primarily due to the unavailability of alumni contact information for many graduates. The researchers noted that non-response bias was possible, as students with stronger opinions or higher engagement levels may have been more likely to participate, a limitation that must be considered when interpreting the long-term findings.
The quantitative results from the in-course surveys indicated high levels of student satisfaction, with average evaluations above 4.4 out of 5.0. Statistical analysis using Cronbach’s alpha showed that four of the five dimensions were highly reliable, exceeding 0.80. An exploratory factor analysis supported a five-factor structure that explained 77% of the total variance, with strong loadings for relevance and organization. A one-way ANOVA revealed significant differences in relevance across semesters, with the 2021–02 second-semester cohort reporting significantly lower scores than earlier groups. Regression analysis identified teaching practices as the only significant predictor of evaluation scores, suggesting that the quality of instruction was the strongest driver of student perceptions of feedback and assessment.
The qualitative interviews revealed that students valued the course’s project-based learning, flexibility, and applied contexts as key strengths. Participants reported adopting sustainable practices in both their daily lives and professional trajectories, indicating a long-term impact of the class. However, students also identified areas for improvement, particularly in evaluation methods and the lack of interactive tools for feedback. This aligns with the survey data, where the evaluation dimension showed lower reliability and predictive power. The interviews provided a nuanced picture of how teaching strategies influenced not just immediate perceptions but also long-term behavioral and professional changes, thereby guaranteeing higher retention of the material.
The ex-post surveys from 2025 confirmed that most items were evaluated positively, with agreement levels ranging from 4 to 5 on a standard scale. This suggests a lasting impact of the course on students’ perspectives. However, the data showed a pattern where core takeaways, such as urban climate awareness and general course value, were retained more strongly than technical or policy details. Items related to climate justice, resilience, and policy frameworks appeared weaker, as students did not reach the same level of consensus on these topics. This pattern was linked to the qualitative interviews, where students indicated that conceptual and policy aspects were harder to retain than applied or awareness-based aspects.
An exploratory factor analysis of the ex-post instrument indicated that students’ long-term learning is captured across multiple dimensions. A three-factor model provided the best fit, accounting for 60% of the variance, and reflected knowledge retention, attitudinal and behavioral impact, and institutional value. This suggests that retrospective evaluations are more nuanced than immediate course feedback, encompassing knowledge, personal transformation, and perspectives on institutional policy.
The study also examined differences across academic disciplines, although without implying generalizability due to uneven voluntary participation. Average retention scores ranged from 3.11 in Electrical Engineering to 3.84 in Energy Engineering, while behavior-change indicators ranged from 3.4 to 4.33. These subtle differences suggest motivational variations across programs. The researchers emphasized that behavior-change measures rely on self-reported practices, which provide insight into perceived transformation and agency but do not represent externally validated behavioral data. Therefore, these findings should be interpreted as subjective experiences of reflective pedagogical evaluation rather than as quantified behavioral metrics.
The discussion highlights the implications of these findings for higher education policy and curriculum design in the Global South. The study demonstrates that cities and climate-change education can be effectively integrated into diverse undergraduate programs, even under infrastructure and resource constraints. The success of the course underscores the need for policy mechanisms that value and reward faculty who invest in student mentorship and sustainability education. By embedding climate literacy early in curricula, universities can serve as an early buffer before systemic climate crises, preparing students with the competencies needed to address complex urban challenges.
Despite the positive outcomes, the researchers acknowledge several limitations. The study was confined to a single institutional context, and the magnitude of the positive responses suggests the value of replicating this approach in other settings. The voluntary nature of participation in the interviews and ex-post surveys reflects an intentional characteristic of mixed-methods sequential design, reinforcing the authenticity of student reflection rather than aiming for probabilistic generalization. The findings suggest that while technical and policy content may require reinforcement, the course successfully triggered behavioral shifts in mobility, consumption, and advocacy, indicating that climate pedagogy can foster durable personal practices even in challenging educational environments.
Subject of Research: A gentle wave before the tsunami: addressing the wicked problem of cities and climate change through a pedagogical evaluation
Article Title: A gentle wave before the tsunami: addressing the wicked problem of cities and climate change through a pedagogical evaluation
Article References: Marin, M. A. (2025). A gentle wave before the tsunami: addressing the wicked problem of cities and climate change through a pedagogical evaluation. Frontiers of Urban and Rural Planning, 3(1), Article 21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44243-025-00072-3
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1007/s44243-025-00072-3
Keywords: gentle, wave, tsunami, addressing, wicked, problem, cities, climate, change, pedagogical, evaluation, scientific research
News Source: Denise Maddox. (November 11, 2026). Longitudinal Study Finds Enduring Climate Competencies in Global South Students. Scienmag.
