Service Learning as an Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Teaching Strategy: Design, Implementation, and Evaluation in a STEM University Course

Abstract

The continuous deterioration of the environment is one of the major concerns that societies are facing nowadays. As a response to this challenging situation, the general assembly of the United Nations (UN) created the 2030 Agenda, proposing 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to foster sustainable development. Thus, the significance of educating in values related to sustainability and care for the environment must acquire a relevant importance in the education system to provide an Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate teaching methodologies that are able to connect with students and to generate enriching experiences. In this regard, it can promote knowledge of the environment and provide a service to the community to ensure sustainable development. This research presents the design, implementation and evaluation of a Service Learning (SL) methodology as an ESD strategy in a university course. Precisely, it describes the development and evaluation of an SL project implemented in a general science subject during a 2020/2021 course taught at the Teacher Training College of the University of Extremadura (Spain). A total of 46 students participated in the study on a voluntary basis. A pre- and post-test methodology was used to assess the suitability of SL as an ESD strategy, resulting in a significant increase in the students’ knowledge about the innovative teaching strategies to work with suitable contents after the project, as well as in their knowledge about SDGs. Moreover, the students’ participation in the SL project made them aware of the community implications in maintaining the environment and generating benefit for the whole community. In addition, this research shows how the SL teaching methodology is an important tool for the achievement of both curricular competences and environmental awareness, since theoretical knowledge is applied to tangible work to perform a real community service, and therefore is a very suitable teaching strategy to be applied in EDS.

Service-Learning as an Approach to Educating for Sustainable Development

“…The European Commission's Renewed Agenda for Higher Education [59] encourages higher-education institutions to develop strong civic functions and underlines the importance of working with local communities. Many service-learning experiences have been developed [53,[60][61][62][63][64][65]; however, there is still a lack of a clear regulatory framework that would facilitate its definitive implementation.…”

“…Secondly, service-learning produces results of great interest for higher education. Studies show that service-learning contributes to the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills [51,52], motivation to learn [53], civic engagement [54], social responsibility and value development [38,46], and self-efficacy and confidence [52]. It increases students' awareness of social justice [55,56], teaches them to question society from a critical perspective, and emphasizes social change rather than charity [46].…”

“…There is no doubt that service-learning is a powerful tool because it makes it possible to solve real problems by linking curricular learning with practice. But it is necessary to move forward and explicitly link this methodology with education for sustainable development in the higher-education context through a systemic approach [53,73].…”

A Keyword Co-Occurrence Analysis of Research on Service Learning: Conceptual Foci and Emerging Research Trends

“…Moreover, many of these recent service learning documents cover a wide range of topics that higher education has faced in recent years. Some of the frequently researched topics include sustainability and sustainable development [138][139][140][141], social innovation and entrepreneurship [142][143][144][145], graduate employability (e.g., Refs. [146][147][148]), and university social responsibility [149][150][151].…”

Teacher’s and Student’s Perceptions of Green Chemistry and its Principles in Chemistry Learning in High Schools

“…This policy is realized by implementing the Independent Curriculum with recommendations for strengthening student character. The characters in question include concern for the environment to support education for sustainable development (EoSD) (Sánchez et al, 2022). The environment is one of the three pillars of sustainable development which is relevant in the formation of character values in the education system.…”