Project Category: UN Sustainable Development Goals

Dr. Johnson had five goals for this project. First, to develop 2-3 transdisciplinary cases about equity and environmental concerns throughout the coffee supply chain. Second, collaborate with coffee companies and organizations to build a class project that allows student groups to work with company representatives on a real-world issue related to equity throughout the supply chain. Third, to ensure that the course fits into the Sustainable Business Certificate (UG) and/or Concentration (MBA) so that it counts meaningfully and holistically for students taking the course. Fourth, to impact 60 students and 75+ instructors, and 3-5 organizations annually through the cases and class projects. These goals align most with Sustainability Next’s Education Strategy to expand SDG concepts and skills, increase the number of majors, minors, and certificates that offer exploration of SDGs, as well as grow experiential courses. 

Initially, Dr. Johnson intended to (1) create 2-3 exercises and (2) work with 3-5 coffee companies in the class during the past year, however she was only able to work with one directly. She had secured two others, but their staffing and priorities changed such that they were unable to visit with the class. Regardless, by creating and working on these exercises that drew upon the coffee industry to help course concepts “come to life,” students were able to understand the concepts better. 

Student understanding of the SDG concepts was assessed by Dr. Johnson inquiring about their understanding of concepts during class discussion before they did the exercise, and then once again upon completion of the exercise, during class discussion. 

Dr. Johnson’s work about the exercises has been presented to the Coffee Coalition for Racial Equity Education Subcommittee. 

Overall, this project focused specifically on SDG 4: Quality Education, to ensure inclusive and equitable education for all; however there are other SDG’s that fall under this umbrella, where the interconnectedness of the SDG’s came to light through researching and discussions within the classes themselves, as well as in laboratory assignments, namely: SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG 3: Health and Well-Being, and SDG 13: Climate Action. Curriculum changes to laboratory assignments in class, as well as the addition of a field trip, were included to the newly devised curriculum to facilitate learning about the various SDG’s. Ms. Ellis and her partner, Dr. Jennifer Glass, specifically put focus in their classes on water contamination cases in the United States as a poster based, art-included project; as well as the inclusion of a new laboratory assignment about water contamination in Atlanta, GA with combined sewer overflow systems and learning about the widespread contamination of PFAS (poly-fluoroalkyl substances). Ms. Ellis also conducted a field trip with the help of EAS faculty Dr. Mike Porter to allow students to learn how to test samples from the field.

There were two sections where adjustments were made in this project. The first was within designing the curriculum, the second had to do with the field trip. While designing the curriculum, Ms. Ellis and Dr. Glass had to take a step back from the more linearized and singular path of instructional content, and instead opted to focus on more of a hands-on approach to Sustainability Education through experiential pedagogy/learning in which learning comes through experience or by ‘doing’. These adjustments were in regard to the dates that were originally proposed. This was for logistical purposes and the ordering of a tour bus and laboratory supplies to ship to campus and pick up the students who participated on Monday, October 23rd. Ms. Ellis aided by Dr. Porter traveled to one location with the students. Originally, the plan was to travel to two locations for water sampling, but was cut down to one location due to time constraints. They utilized the first site to test water samples at the Cochran Shoals Trail, at the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta, Georgia, which is approximately a 15-20 minute drive from campus. The students tested the waters for ammonia, chloride, chromium, copper, nitrate, pH, phosphate, lead, and PFAS (poly-fluoroalkyl substances). Ms. Ellis has originally planned to have students do E. coli samples of the river as well, however, the equipment necessary to test that were backordered.

There were two sections where adjustments were made in this project. The first was within designing the curriculum, the second had to do with the field trip. While designing the curriculum, Ms. Ellis and Dr. Glass had to take a step back from the more linearized and singular path of instructional content, and instead opted to focus on more of a hands-on approach to Sustainability Education through experiential pedagogy/learning in which learning comes through experience or by ‘doing’. These adjustments were in regard to the dates that were originally proposed. This was for logistical purposes and the ordering of a tour bus and laboratory supplies to ship to campus and pick up the students who participated on Monday, October 23rd. Ms. Ellis aided by Dr. Porter traveled to one location with the students. Originally, the plan was to travel to two locations for water sampling, but was cut down to one location due to time constraints. They utilized the first site to test water samples at the Cochran Shoals Trail, at the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta, Georgia, which is approximately a 15-20 minute drive from campus. The students tested the waters for ammonia, chloride, chromium, copper, nitrate, pH, phosphate, lead, and PFAS (poly-fluoroalkyl substances). Ms. Ellis has originally planned to have students do E. coli samples of the river as well, however, the equipment necessary to test that were backordered.

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This project in the School of Computing Instruction hopes to leverage the campus as a living-learning environment and platform for transdisciplinary research and education: It aims to provide a holistic understanding of ethical considerations in AI by integrating ethics-oriented problem sets into Machine Learning class. This is in alignment with using the campus as a transdisciplinary platform where students from different disciplines can engage with ethical AI practices in a practical, hands-on manner, thereby enhancing the educational experience beyond the traditional settings of an AI class. The project hopes to enhance access, equity and inclusion on campus: It’s approach to teaching ethical AI involves creating assignments that emphasize fairness, unbiased datasets, and the reduction of model bias. This educational method promotes equity by preparing students to develop AI models that avoid perpetuating existing social biases, thereby contributing to more equitable outcomes in AI application. The project’s goals emphasize the development of assignments that prepare students to think critically about the ethical implications of AI, using sustainability and equity as core principles. This is achieved through the expansion of course coverage to include ethical AI principles, practical implementation of these principles in homework assignments, and fostering critical reflection among students about the societal impacts of AI. These goals resonate with the strategies of leveraging educational platforms for transdisciplinary research and enhancing equity and access, as they are designed to cultivate a generation of AI practitioners who are not only technically proficient but also ethically conscious and socially responsible.

The original plan for the project was focused on incorporating reflection questions to prompt students to think about the ethical implications of AI. However, as the project progressed, it became clear that technical questions were also necessary to provide a comprehensive understanding of the subject. This adjustment was made to ensure that students not only reflected on the ethical considerations but also applied these considerations technically in their work with AI systems. The incorporation of technical questions aimed to enhance students’ ability to practically apply ethical principles in their AI and machine learning models. This change was vital in helping students to critically engage with the coursework and develop skills that are directly relevant to the challenges they will face in the field. By including both reflective and technical components, the course design became more robust and well-rounded. Furthermore, addressing SDG 3 (Good health and well-being), SDG 5 (Gender Equity), and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) was added to the agenda.

The redesign process necessitated a deep consideration of the ethical implications of AI, which broadened the scope and depth of instruction. The effectiveness of these changes was assessed through a survey comparing the responses from the control group in Fall 2023 to those after the changes in Spring 2024. Questions in the survey assess students’ understanding of the SDGs, their ability to handle ethical challenges in AI, the effectiveness of the curriculum in conveying sustainability concepts, and project efficacy. As showcased by the results, students are now more equipped to identify and mitigate biases in datasets and understand the importance of fairness in AI. The redesigned assignments seem to have allowed students to critically reflect on AI’s societal implications, thus ingraining a sense of responsibility as future practitioners. The effect of the final project on student learning was not significant. To change that, we plan to propose the following questions to be put into perspective: (1) How does the project address the sustainability concepts (ethical considerations, addressing environmental impacts, and economic considerations)? (2) Did your solution contribute to a more sustainable response (e.g. reduce biases and promote ethical approaches in practice, address environmental impacts by introducing a more efficient way, or introduce a way that is more economically efficient)? Overall trends indicated increased familiarity with SDGs, more positive views on AI’s sustainability impact, and a greater emphasis on ethical considerations in the curriculum from Fall 2023 to Spring 2024. The most significant change was in how homework assignments encouraged ethical thinking. The syllabus for Fall 2023 onwards will be modified to emphasize the importance of sustainability in student projects. 

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1. Redesign the course ARCH 4823/6160/6352: Race, Space, and Architecture in the US to examine equity, economy, and the environment through the lens of the Penn Center on St. Helena Island, SC. This study places the only two National Historic Landmark Districts (NHLD) focused on African American history and culture in conversation: the Penn Center (NHLD est.2017) in St. Helena Island, SC, and Sweet Auburn (NHLD est.1976) in Atlanta, GA. By exploring methodological approaches, this project serves as a case study for building capacity and may support the development of a Preservation Technology lab/degree at the College of Design that would be the first of its kind in the United States. 
2. Develop an interdisciplinary learning model for architecture, leveraging expertise in engineering, building construction, computation, equitable historic interpretation, and sustainability.
3. Advance the Sustainability Next Focus Area 1: Be a global sustainability thought leader by:
   • Increasing breadth and depth of sustainability research and strengthening transdisciplinary research efforts;
   • Growing, diversifying, and cultivating doctoral, postdoctoral, and faculty talent dedicated to scientific discover, the development of business, policy, and technology solutions and humanistic approaches to addressing critical local and global challenges; 
   • Developing deep and sustained local, government, and industry collaborations that center community expertise, equity, and the public good in solution development and adoption; 
   • Convening and coordinating diverse partnerships that connect research, education, and economic development to define and implement tomorrow’s solutions for climate mitigation, resilience, sustainability, and regeneration; and
   • Developing, validating, and disseminating innovative and effective course design and pedagogy in Education for Sustainable Development.

Through fieldwork at the National Park Service Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. birth home in Atlanta and the National Historic Landmark District Penn Center on St. Helena Island, SC, students in this seminar explored preservation technology practices as a catalyst for resiliency, sustainability, and heritage tourism. Despite federal recognition, both sites are under severe development threat and need to invest in place-keeping, preservation education, and community-based policy development to ensure the sites’ intact survival and resiliency. Beyond shared NHLD designations, these sites are extrinsically linked: missions of education and empowerment, organizational sites during the Civil Rights Movement, and interpersonal connections. For example, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote the “I Have a Dream” speech at the Penn Center. The grant enabled a four-day field visit to the Penn Center that was essential to experiential learning. In addition, this project served as the foundation to a NEH Preservation and Access Education and Training grant (submitted May 28) to continue work at the site and bring in institutional partners from Carnegie Mellon, Claflin, UGA, and USC.

It was critical that the site visit to the Penn Center happened in the first few weeks of the semester, although this was difficult to schedule so quickly with the students in the new year. Our work was able to contribute essential components to the Penn Center from a workable site plan, floor plans for enhancing residency planning for other students and programs, new tourist brochures and postcards, a series of Wikipedia pages to enhance Google search visibility for the site, proposals for the cannery (a currently underused and structurally precarious area of the campus), and a physical model that will be used in the visitor center. We hope that our website plans will be implemented at the site, and we will be working through these proposals during the May 15-19 residency tied to a UGA-Mellon Fellowship. The website refresh includes new oral history interviews, building ‘biographies’, a site timeline, new site maps, and a more user-friendly interface for mobile viewing.

A sample student reflection:

Throughout the research and field work to construct the physical model, we were surprised to discover the varying stages of upkeep, modification, and development of the buildings on the Penn Center campus… The class plan and sequence of events worked really well in helping us learn about the site. We appreciated having a site visit first to get a general understanding of the scale of the buildings and the general feel and layout of the campus. Having sufficient time afterwards for deeper research then allowed us to carefully plan the model, how best to represent the buildings, and how best to go about with the construction… The history of the Penn Center deserves to be told and to remain in living memory, it needs to be visited regularly either through student trips or by directing tourism to it. Additionally, as it grows, one needs to consider ways to ensure that the campus and its buildings reflect the history of the site. In light of this, another pertinent question is how do we protect the cultural and historical heritage of the site during restoration, development, and growth?

Sample CIOS comments:

• The multi day trip to the Penn Center was one of the BEST experiences of my time at Tech. This course engages the world outside Georgia Tech extremely well.
• The course was incredibly informative, offering firsthand stories, site visits, guest lectures, and unique readings. It broadened my horizons on the topics of race, gender, and space, and I believe this newfound knowledge will stay with me for the rest of my personal and academic journey. The site visit was particularly amazing, allowing me to absorb the context of the course material and hear firsthand stories. The visit was managed very well, and I enjoyed every second of it.
• Going on a field trips to historical sites, especially the Penn Center, did an excellent job of allowing students to understand the historical and cultural significance of those locations. Engaging in various projects thereafter to present at an exhibition further helped students develop ways to communicate that significance. The many classroom discussions on readings helped stimulate a lot of discussion and critical thinking surrounding important topics pertaining to race and social justice and allowed students to share lived experiences. This was an enriching experience that broadened the perspectives of many of us.

Georgia Tech’s 2024 SDG Week: Teaching with the SDGs Pecha Kucha Panel Presentation (March 7, 2024)

The course redesign project supported a revision of BIOS 1107/1207, the introductory biological science course offered every term to roughly 650 students a year. The course used a flipped class model that included pre-class readings and videos and in-class team-based problem solving. The pre-readings in the department-developed, open-access web textbook were re-written to explicitly incorporate the UN SDGs as they related to course concepts.

The course redesign plan was slightly altered due to Dr. Weigel not being assigned to Introductory Biology in Fall of 2023 due to course instructor needs. As a result, she needed to incorporate the entire Introductory Biology Faculty Committee in the textbook revisions and through the recruitment of subjects for study in Spring of 2023, Summer of 2023, and Fall of 2023 semesters. The department also offered an unprecedented 3 sections of the approximately 150-person course in Fall of 2023 in order to accommodate demand, which meant that, although the textbook was common, the courses would not be taught identically. For this reason, materials were shared for potential adoption across all instructors, and the common thread remained the textbook with/without (depending on the semester) SDG revisions. Dr. Weigel also submitted an amendment to an existing IRB study that explored sustainability behaviors/beliefs to add questions directly related to the SDGs.

Students who took and will take 1107/1207 will have learn about biology connections to the SDGs through this course. The revisions explicitly link biology content to each goal and mention diverse careers/applications of SDGs and course content to solving large problems. Because of buy-in needed for the textbook changes, 10 faculty, rather than the original 6, utilized SDGs through the Intro Bio committee. Students were also surveyed prior to the textbook changes, at the start of the course once textbook changes were in place, and after completing the course with the revised textbook. The overall survey included student ability to recall SDGs, connect the SDGs to potential career aspirations, sustainability beliefs and behaviors, and perceptions of how well GT encourages sustainability efforts, and on the post-survey only, some demographic information. Dr. Weigel is in the process of analyzing the data now, however preliminary results seem to indicate that, while students using the revised textbook only marginally improved in recalling SDGs, they showed significant progress in linking SDGs to their major and adopting sustainable behaviors.

Dr. Weigel will be presenting this project at the National Association of Biology Teachers in November of 2024 and in September of 2024 at KSU’s SOTL conference.

The redesigning of the course, SPAN 4350, in order for it to be better aligned with the teaching of SDG 11 and its interaction with other SGs. It expanded SDG concepts and skills by engaging students in the study of Local Voluntary reports produced by Latin American cities to measure the implementation of SDGs at the local level. The media project allowed students to engage in experiential and community engaged learning via collaboration with Soccer in the Street, which included an onsite visit of the program. The Comparative reports helped students to investigate the role of business, community, education, and government initiatives in solving urban problems and creating innovative responses to global challenges. 

Originally, the plan was to focus exclusively on Latin American capital cities, but the decision was made to include the city of El Alto in Bolivia with an indigenous population to familiarize students with urban challenges faced by rural immigrants with specific ethnic backgrounds, communities that move to cities, face discrimination, and have to reconstruct their traditions in the new urban setting.

The impact was assessed by embedding reflections as part of the Media and Comparative report projects.

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To transform the course from a Lecture-Based course into a course that uses Problem-Based learning that embeds the UN’s SDGs into learning. A complete redesign of homework assignments away from textbook-based exercises to empirical exercises analyzing SDG-relating datasets. To switch from paid software to open software for statistical analysis. Introduce a course-long research proposal related to at least one of the SDGs. Introduce class presentations of research proposal at the end of the semester.

The goals of these redesigns are naturally connected with Sustainability Next’s strategy of expanding sustainability and SDG concepts by improving skills and in-depth exploration of the SDGs. The first phase was accomplished this semester through student immersion in problem sets that used SDG-related datasets, questions, and motivations. When moving on to the second phase, switching to the open-source software, it was discovered that the paid software was used in a prerequisite course, as a result the department has come to an agreement to switch all courses to the proposed open-source software, effectively standardizing the software across all ECON courses. The final redesign elements will be finalized in Summer of 2024 and the new redesign in its entirety will be rolled out in Fall of 2024.

The project in its entirety will not be implemented until Fall of 2024, however the effectiveness of the problem sets was able to be assessed. The effectiveness was measured through a 10-minute “comments and suggestions” session at the beginning of class, the day the problem sets were due. The discussions were centered around the following three questions: “Was the length of the problem set reasonable?” “Was the content related to class lectures?” and “Did the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) angle hinder learning and method implementation?” With the third and final question being the most crucial. The general feedback from students indicated that the SDG angle didn’t impede learning econometric models. In fact, it helped students connect these abstract models to real-world contexts more effectively. 

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Dr. Brown’s goal was to spend time in the Summer of 2024 revising two of her syllabi to center the UN SDGs. As it is an institute-wide commitment to raise awareness to the SDGs and encourage their realization, sociology as a discipline is well-positioned to assist in this effort. Since the subject matter of sociology often centers issues of inequality — and environmental sociology focuses on the human side of sustainability — she decided that these two courses in her regular rotation would be a good place to teach the SDGs.

Dr. Brown states that she did not make any changes to the original plan. Sociology already engaged knowledge related to the SDGs, so centering them seemed fairly natural. The only change she elected to make was that she chose not to include any environmental SDGs in her intro class, despite the fact that she used to teach a section on environmental sociology. After adding Health and Well-Being, she no longer had time for environmental sociology in Intro. However, since she was also revising her Environmental Sociology syllabus, she put the remaining SDGs there.

Dr. Brown states that she did not make any changes to the original plan. Sociology already engaged knowledge related to the SDGs, so centering them seemed fairly natural. The only change she elected to make was that she chose not to include any environmental SDGs in her intro class, despite the fact that she used to teach a section on environmental sociology. After adding Health and Well-Being, she no longer had time for environmental sociology in Intro. However, since she was also revising her Environmental Sociology syllabus, she put the remaining SDGs there.

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The primary objective of this project focused on aligning with Sustainability Next’s Education Strategies, particularly the initial strategy aimed at enhancing sustainability awareness in software engineering. There were three main goals: Enhancing Sustainability Awareness, Providing Practical Application Opportunities, and Developing Skills for Sustainable Software Development. Within these overarching goals, there were subgoals. In regards to Enhancing Sustainability Awareness, Dr. Roy and her team aimed to raise awareness of sustainability principles among students by integrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the curriculum. This involved teaching the importance of sustainability in software development and the impact of software on the environment and society. To successfully Provide Practical Application Opportunities, they incorporated practical projects and coursework that focused on sustainable software engineering practices. These projects included tasks like computing the energy consumption and carbon footprint of code, designing energy-efficient algorithms, and implementing sustainable solutions in real-world scenarios. For the final goal, Developing Skills for Sustainable Software Development, the team aimed to equip students with the necessary tools and techniques to integrate sustainability into their software development practices. This included training on efficient coding, optimized cloud deployment, and evaluating the social and environmental implications of their projects. By focusing on these three key goals, their project directly supported the broader aims of Sustainability Next’s Education Strategies, which seeks to embed sustainability into all aspects of education and foster a culture of sustainability across the campus. 

Dr. Roy and her team did not make any major changes to their plans across it’s implementation as they had already predetermined which semesters would be control and intervention and created course content accordingly. They were planning for three courses, CS 3300, 3311, and 3312. They prepared the intervention materials for all three, however as Dr. Roy has not yet taught 3312, and is not assigned to teach it in Fall 2024 or Spring 2025, that portion of the intervention is currently on hold.

Students demonstrated increased awareness of sustainability issues and the importance of integrating sustainability into software development. They learned to consider the environmental and social impacts of their projects, aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Students also developed valuable skills in writing energy-efficient code, optimizing cloud deployments, and evaluating the social and environmental implications of their work. These skills are crucial for developing sustainable software solutions. The project encouraged students to think critically about the sustainability of their software projects. They learned to analyze and evaluate different approaches to minimize the environmental impact and maximize social benefits. Through practical assignments and projects, students had the opportunity to apply their knowledge in real-world scenarios. This hands-on experience reinforced their learning and provided them with a practical understanding of sustainable software engineering. In order to assess the impact, Dr. Roy filed an Institutional Review Board (IRB) application for all three courses involved in the project. This approval allowed her to collect and analyze data on student learning and perceptions. She also created and administered surveys to assess the perceived impact of the project on student learning. The surveys included questions on students’ awareness of sustainability, their confidence in applying sustainable software development principles, and their overall learning experience.

Dr. Roy plans to present the results of this research at conferences such as the Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) and the International Computing Education Research (ICER) conference. The work was also presented briefly at the USG T&L conference.

Dr. Oh’s class is titled “Creative Reuse of Useless,” and the goal of it is to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the complex relationships among prototyping smart products, environmentally responsive design, and the circular economy by the end of the semester. The class aligns with several of Sustainability Next’s education strategies: (1) connecting SDG concepts to class activities (case studies and projects); (2) facilitating community engagement by partnering with a local recycling organization, Live Thrive, for field trips and material sourcing for students’ upcycling projects; and (3) connecting with Georgia Tech’s Office of Sustainability program manager, Steve Place, for a campus recycling facility tour with his lecture on Georgia Tech’s recycling ecosystem.

When redesigning the course, Dr. Oh decided to move the SDG case study activity to an earlier portion of the semester due to how it enhanced students’ comprehensive understanding of sustainability. By doing this, she also emphasized the role of creative individuals contributing to each of the SDGs in their case studies. This approach empowered the students to recognize the critical contributions they can make through their design practices, rather than thinking that all important sustainability-relevant decisions are made by politicians.

When assessing the final outcome, Dr. Oh believes it to be a ~70% success as 8 out of 11 students demonstrated competitive sustainable design projects that connected their personal interests with sustainability themes and applied upcycling design and fabrication methods. In her report, she goes on to discuss one of the strong student projects, titled “Renew” developed by a senior Industrial Design student, Hope Rackers. Renew is a backpack that can be transformed to a bed for the homeless made from upcycled plastic bags. The School of Industrial Design holds an annual design competition called the Richard Martin and Barbara Rose Humanitarian Design Award for all undergraduate Industrial Design majors. Hope submitted Renew, which was developed by bridging SDG themes #11(Sustainable Cities and Communities) and #12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and received third place.

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