Sustainability results from the ability to
transform through creating next practices of
future-needs’ learning and doing-acting-performing.
praxiSDG – a combination of praxis, i. e. in
the philosophical sense a way of doing sth. or the
use of sth. in a practical way, and the acronym of the
Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs of the United
Nations 2030 Agenda – is a
service-learning module intending to
attract participants with a strong sustainability agenda across
disciplines and study semesters.
Designed, commissioned and customized for different
higher-education institutions, praxiSDG engages
participants in a proactive, self-determined and
experiential way through projects that live up to
partner-organizations’ needs and expectations
in a predefined scope. Hence, praxiSDG is understood
as a next practice of learning and doing, which aims
at enabling participants to strengthen and unfold their ability
to transform as a basis for sustainability action.
praxiSDG is a service-learning course open to students
of all disciplines and study semesters that...
- provides theoretical-conceptual background in the areas of
volunteerism and civic engagement, e. g. rural-urban commons,
co-creation, common public interest, service learning and
sustainability-related terminology, e. g. SDGs
- enables insights into different opportunities for
sustainability-oriented commitment in
institutionally-structured, non-profit fields of activity; and
- facilitates a specifically contextualized commitment
determined by the need of the partner organization, e. g.
through campus-community partnerships.
Furthermore, praxiSDG fosters...
- analysing individual, discipline-specific and professional
strategies of engagement;
- reflecting of experiences in a structured and
systematically-guided way;
- preparing professional presentations of one’s genuine
service-learning experiences; and
- practicing project-based, interdisciplinary team work with
heterogeneous needs and prerequisites.
notion | what makes
praxiSDG a unique learning experience
praxiSDG is a one-semester – usually
three to four months – service-learning course open to students
of all disciplines and study semesters.
Willingness to actively engage in an innovative study format
and interest in becoming part of a self-effective
sustainability challenge are the few prerequisites for
participation.
Thanks to a blended-learning set-up consisting
of both in-person and online sessions, it is open to students
of several universities in one region.
steps | how praxiSDG
works
The module is roughly divided into three phases: the
kick-off phase, closely accompanied and facilitated by
the teaching tandem (1), the project phase, which is
supported by individually-tailored consultation sessions and
e-tutoring (2), and the reflection phase, in which the
results of the project phase are presented and reflected in an
academically sound framework, again with close methodological
support of the teaching tandem (3):
1. kick-off | selecting projects and formulating
project questions
- students are presented with a buffet of project
ideas provided by partner institutions coming from the
non-profit/civil-society sector.
- students pick their favorite projects and form teams of
about three to four students. The teams come together with
their project partners and discuss individual tasks for each
team member.
- students develop an individual project question that
captures the agreed service for the partner
organization and will lead the students through the
project.
- one particular SDG – and if applicable, a corresponding
sub-goal/target – is selected and serves as a thematic focus
during the project phase.
2. project phase | providing service at the partner
organization and documenting learnings
- students fulfill their 60-hour workload commitment in the
course of about eight to ten weeks, working on the project
question.
- throughout the project phase, students are encouraged to
closely keep track of their work, including their discussions
in the respective teams, exchange with the partner
organization, progress and set-backs in the project
implementation, and their personal experiences and learnings.
- they collect so-called pieces
of evidence and note them
down by using wikis, working journals or learning logs.
3. reflection phase |
presenting learning experiences and designing the
e-portfolio
- students start preparing their project presentation to be
presented at the final session of the course.
-
students prepare a both
product- and process-oriented e-portfolio with the aim of
organizing, systematizing and evaluating the knowledge
gained.
-
an analysis of the learning
process can take place, which takes the learning itself as
the object of reflection, in order to develop and
continuously improve methodical learning competence. The
result will be a learning journey, documenting both
progress and setbacks.
