DOI
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00307

Summary
In this paper, a revision to the content and delivery of first-year chemistry instruction at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus, employing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) as a thematic framework, is described.
The delivery model deliberately incorporates a range of active and interactive learning activities, including the use of personal response systems with peer discussion, small-group (∼4 students) guided-inquiry assignments, flipped-class modules, directed case studies, and collaborative two-stage exams.
A significant driving force for this revision has been the explicit inclusion of affective learning outcomes. Some of the learning outcomes that have affective components include the following:
•With examples, describe and explain the roles that chemistry has in shaping and benefiting society.
• With examples, illustrate how scientific and chemical principles can be applied to help understand and address real-world problems.
• With examples, describe how chemicals can be considered both helpful and harmful.
• Ask an interesting question that chemistry can answer
As part of an ongoing larger study to assess the impacts and success of this redesign, authors have undertaken both student surveys and semi-structured student interviews to address the following research questions about the use of the SDG framework:
(1) What are the student reactions to and satisfaction with the SDG-framed learning activities?
(2) Does the SDG framework help to demonstrate the relevance of chemistry to student experiences?
(3) To what extent do students believe the SDG-framed case study activities help them to learn and understand course concepts?
The above research questions were investigated using a mixed methods approach: both qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed.
Student responses were generally positive, indicating an appreciation for the relevance of course concepts to the global challenges described by the SDGs, and for many students, the SDG-framed learning activities aided in their understanding of course concepts.

Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
This paper deals with “system thinking” and “sustainable development” and describes the approaches and methodologies used to reimagine higher education at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus.
By incorporating a systems thinking perspective into an introductory chemistry curriculum, the relationship of chemistry to real-world contexts and its importance in developing solutions to global-scale environmental and societal issues have been explored.

Point of Strength
The point of strength of this article is that it describes how the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals can serve to the revision of University’s curriculum and to the shift of an emerging pedagogy toward the use of systems thinking in chemistry education.