SDG-related activities to enhance students’ academic skills

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a global call to take action to protect our planet, eradicate poverty, and ensure that by 2030 people of the world enjoy peace and comfort. The goals realize that social, economic, and environmental sustainability must be balanced. Because of the importance of attaining the SDGs in securing a prosperous future, many academic institutions worldwide have started teaching them with a view to creating a generation that appreciates the necessity to attain and maintain these goals.

This presentation, therefore, shares five activities that have been used to enhance freshmen students’ academic skills, mainly academic written and verbal communication, critical reading, reasoning, academic integrity and data analysis. The activities, which have been used with four SDGs but can be employed with all SDGs, are practiced either individually or collaboratively. The activities aim to help students transfer learning across the disciplines. They include, among many things, action-oriented research, where students explore the SDGs at both the local and global levels, suggesting ways they can be better implemented.

The presenter will begin with an overview of the importance of incorporating SDGs in an academic program. She will then present the five activities and the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they developed in students. Suggestions on how and when to implement other SDG-related activities will be discussed. Ideas for involving the administration of academic institutions, as well as professional development coordinators, with faculty and students to reach better outcomes will be shared with the audience.