THEME: SDG Education - An interview with the project leader Caroline Zoffmann Jessen on the new SDG course for first-year studentsew
Project leader Caroline Zoffmann Jessen explains her role in the implementation of the new SDG course for first-year students in this interview.
Starting this September, SDU now offers 1st year students a Danish and an English version of the Introductory Course on SDGs. What has been your role in the development of this course?
I have been the project coordinator, keeping track of everyone delivering what they should, held meetings with the different faculties and I have also been collaborating with SDUUP and received help to set up a pedagogical course that keeps the students engaged.
SDU piloted the first iteration of the course last year. Please share some examples of how the current version of the course has been changed, especially in light of student feedback from the pilot?
We received a lot of great feedback from the pilot on selected courses and it drove us in the right direction on what to do different next time. The texts can be even more catchy. We have edited a lot since then so that it was ready for this September where it has been an integrated part of the first-year course.
What are the different ways that Study Programmes are integrating the course?
Everyone takes the same course, and it always takes place online because it would be too difficult to get everyone together at the same time. This way, the students can read about SDGs on their own time. Most faculties integrate the course as a part of their first-year courses but some choose to wait because it fits well with a course later on.
The course includes modules on poverty, climate change, the environment, inequality in health and innovation. Could you tell us more about why some of the modules include interdisciplinary research projects? What is important about this approach?
It is important to approach wicked problems like this across subject disciplines, because one profession would not be enough to shed light on the complicated issues. Solving these wicked problems demands a multi-subject approach. Everyone has welcomed this approach and we can and will do even more. It is good that SDU shows new students that interdisciplinary approaches are important – we can all contribute differently when it comes to SDGs and sustainability.
Have any more questions? Please contact Caroline Zoffmann Jessen via czj@sdu.dk.