Interdisciplinary education for sustainable health and the environment

Lucas, G; Gough, Georgina

Abstract

This session will include a presentation of a pilot teaching and learning project designed to facilitate collaborative learning between students from separate discipline areas. This was done via a 3 hour voluntary, but curriculum-driven, session which centred on the application of the UN Sustainable Development Goals to professional practice (in this case, the practice of Nursing and Midwifery).
The activity enabled students to share their respective discipline and profession-specific knowledge and to jointly explore issues aligned to professional practice. Students from the Department of Geography and Environmental Management reflected on their understanding of the concept of sustainability and had to identify non-specialist language to use to explain the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to healthcare students. Similarly, students from the Department of Nursing and Midwifery reflected on their discipline-specific knowledge and produced a summary of the professional practice of a nurse or midwife. Students then worked together to produce an advice sheet for sustainable healthcare practice. The project aimed to enhance the student experience of both groups of students, to create an opportunity for students to experience interdisciplinary engagement, to promote self-awareness in relation to knowledge and skills and to encourage students to consider their future professional practice.
In this session, we will share our experience of organising and running such an activity with a view to enabling colleagues to learn from our experience. Student feedback on the activity will also be presented. Following a summary presentation, a workshop will be facilitated which will enable participants to consider collaborations which they might explore in order to similarly develop opportunities for sharing knowledge, interdisciplinary engagement and enhancing both the student experience and sense of purpose of learning.

• Presentation Conference Type: Other
• Conference Name: Inclusive not Exclusive! Designing and Delivering Curricula for All
• Acceptance Date: Jun 20, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 7, 2019
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: education for sustainable development, midwifery education, health and sustainability, teaching and learning
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/885820
• Additional Information: Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : Inclusive not Exclusive! Designing and Delivering Curricula for All. UWE ANNUAL LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE 20th June 2017