Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.32633/eb.10.2
Knowledge of Sustainable Development Goals among future biology and chemistry teachers
Mirela Sertić Perić
orcid.org/0000-0002-4744-7884
; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Zagreb, Hrvatska
*
Petra Pintarić
; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Zagreb, Hrvatska
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
In the context of increasing human impact on nature and society, it is becoming increasingly important to raise awareness of the principles of sustainable development, defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising future generations. Sustainable development encompasses social, economic and environmental dimensions, and the unequal distribution of resources is a major obstacle to achieving balance. The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be divided into three groups: environmental, social and economic. In accordance with UNESCO guidelines, sustainable development was included in the Croatian curriculum as a cross-curricular topic in 2019. At the Department of Biology at the Faculty of Science in Zagreb, the course Sustainable Development in Teaching Natural Sciences enables students to understand all aspects of sustainable development. The aim of this paper is to analyze the initial knowledge about the 17 SDGs of the university's integrated undergraduate and graduate students in biology and chemistry education who participate in the Sustainable Development in Teaching Natural Sciences course. The analysis of the KWL (Know, Want to know, Learn) tables showed that students are generally familiar with most of the SDGs, but are less informed about SDG 11 and SDG 17. These results show that a stronger focus on the economic and social dimension of sustainable development in teaching is needed and that it is important to integrate sustainable development topics into higher education in order to achieve the goals of education for sustainable development through the vertical of the education system.
Keywords
education for sustainable development; inequality; sustainability; cross-curricular topic; sustainable development
Hrčak ID:
322905
URI
Publication date:
28.11.2024.
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