Sustainability Curriculum Design

SUST220, Change Leadership in Sustainability, brings together scientists, engineers, writers, actors, military veterans, parents, and retired CEOs. To tackle climate change at a systems level, cross-disciplinary discourse must begin in the classroom.

My Role

As the head Teaching Assistant, I designed and led the class through a week-long design sprint fully personalized to the common interests and areas of expertise of these 50 students.

I got to know all 50 students through conversations, LinkedIn, and personal websites. I learned their backgrounds, interests, and goals. Then, I grouped their interests into different perspectives on the climate crisis.

I then applied these groups to a circular economy case study. It showed how each perspective (policy, design, tech, or finance) could help create closed-loop solutions.

I took the class outside under the California sun. I handed out big sheets of paper, sticky notes, and markers. Students brainstormed solo, then in small groups, before coming together to share and refine their action plans.

I leveraged embodied cognition for creativity. A new setting sparked new ideas. Abundant, low-stakes materials like sticky notes encouraged risk-taking and rapid idea generation.

Students formed multi-step action plans to address climate issues from the perspective of their group's expertise.