1. Using Experiential Learning to Teach the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Heather Ranson, CSSI
Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria
Let’s Talk About Teaching Aug. 2017

2. Agenda Overview of experiential learning Overview of the SDGs
Biomimicry Example
Lesson evaluation
Open discussion of experiential learning and the SDGs

3. "Leadership, like swimming, cannot be learned by reading about it. "
"Leadership, like swimming, cannot be learned by reading about it." Henry Mintzberg

4. Experiential Learning is….
Learning by Doing (Kolb)
E.G.:
Learning about marketing by building a 12 month marketing plan for a product or service (with a budget!)
Learning about tax accounting by answering customer questions relating to their deductions

5. Benefits of Experiential Learning
Offers a way to deepen students’ understanding of the material
More memorable than lectures
Improves written and oral communication skills
Increases student focus in the classroom
Cantor, J. (1995) Experiential Learning in Higher Education. Washington, DC.:ASHE-ERIC Higher Education report No. 7.
Cross, K. (1994a). The Coming of Age of Experiential Education. NSEE Quarterly 19(4): 1,
Greenberg, J.D. (1995). Active Learning - Active Teaching: How Do You Get There From Here? NSEE Quarterly 20(3): 4-5,
Moon, J. (2004). A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning: Theory and Practice. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.

6. Nine Criteria for Experiential Learning
Nine Criteria for Experiential Learning Chapman, McPhee and Proudman (1995)
1. Mixture of content and process; 2. Absence of excessive judgment; 3. Engagement in purposeful endeavors; 4. Encouraging the big picture perspective; 5. Creating a role for reflection; 6. Creating emotional investment; 7. Re-examining values; 8. Presence of meaningful relationships; 9. Learning outside one’s perceived comfort zone.

7. UN Sustainable Development Goals

8. 17 Wicked Problems

9. Wicked Problems Demand
Systems thinking
Critical thinking
Team work
Inter-disciplinary knowledge
Trial and error
Suspending judgement
Re-thinking personal values
You don't understand the problem until you have developed a solution. Indeed, there is no definitive statement of "The Problem." The problem is ill-structured, an evolving set of interlocking issues and constraints.
Wicked problems have no stopping rule. Since there is no definitive "The Problem", there is also no definitive "The Solution." The problem solving process ends when you run out of resources.
Solutions to wicked problems are not right or wrong, simply "better," "worse," "good enough," or "not good enough."
Every wicked problem is essentially unique and novel. There are so many factors and conditions, all embedded in a dynamic social context, that no two wicked problems are alike, and the solutions to them will always be custom designed and fitted.
Every solution to a wicked problem is a "one-shot operation," every attempt has consequences. As Rittel says, "One cannot build a freeway to see how it works." This is the "Catch 22" about wicked problems: you can't learn about the problem without trying solutions, but every solution you try is expensive and has lasting unintended consequences which are likely to spawn new wicked problems.
Wicked problems have no given alternative solutions. There may be no solutions, or there may be a host of potential solutions that are devised, and another host that are never even thought of.

10. UVic’s Com 362 Business and Sustainability
Mandatory course in the third year core program
5 cohorts of 60 students = 300 students
Taken at the same time as finance, marketing, organizational behaviour, and accounting

11. Use a class to open a door
Business and Sustainability

12. SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Biomimicry

13. Evolution of the Biomimicry Lesson Plan
Biomes in a Jar
Fieldtrip to the Forest
Slideshow in the Classroom

14. Are Com 362 Lesson Plans Experiential?
Nine Criteria for Experiential Learning
Biomimicry
SDG 9
Human
Rights
SDG 10
Zero
Waste
SDG 12
Mixture of content and process
Absence of excessive judgment
Engagement in purposeful endeavors
Encouraging the big picture perspective
Creating a role for reflection
Creating emotional investment
Re-examining values
Presence of meaningful relationships
Learning outside one’s perceived comfort zone

15. Discussion and Questions
Heather Ranson