Abstract:

Teaching innovation must not only incorporate new methods, technologies or strategies in the educational field but must also establish new approaches that expand sensitivities regarding the social and economic problems of its environment. Higher education entities must observe the need for university education to be oriented towards a central problem of our society, sustainability. This work introduces a new way of raising awareness among students in the environment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in the field of economics.

The objective is to achieve, from our teaching subject, Introduction to Economics, a first approach towards sustainable development. The subject of Introduction to Economics is especially adjusted to comments on the interpretation of the SDG. The themes of economic growth and development, inequality, poverty, etc. are clearly referenced.

We use a combined qualitative and quantitative methodology. The qualitative aspects incorporating learning in sustainability through verbal information, videos and other types of material. The quantitative part is developed from the definition of indicators that reflect the measurement of the degree of knowledge, proceeding to an evaluation using a questionnaire, and its analysis. The questionnaires, both in the qualitative and quantitative parts, are composed of Likert-type questions on a scale from 1 to 5 (1. I have little knowledge... to 5. I have a lot of knowledge).

The results show the interest shown in the study, as well as the need to continue working to raise the level of knowledge. These results are focused on increasing student training, incorporating sustainability and improving skills and competence. This approach, received in the first subjects that students study in their first year, could function as a multiplying effect of sensitivities towards sustainable development in subsequent years.

The study presents some limitations that should be addressed as future lines of research. Among the first, we highlight the orientation towards the university itself, providing results derived from one's own cultural, social and territorial experiences, and the results may vary in other study contexts. Given this, it would be necessary to address other orientations considering other Universities, with students from other different degrees, students of diverse origins, even foreigners, which would allow us to analyze the degree of sensitivity regarding race, culture, social context, etc. Another limitation is given by the subjectivity of the professor who conducts the study. Both the approach and the defined indicators, as well as their evaluation, are clearly determined by the teacher's sensitivity, motivating biases that should be analyzed and eliminated. Given this, it is proposed to incorporate other teachers into the study who incorporate the topic raised but provide their own vision and personal and professional point of view. We believe that, in this way, biases would be considerably reduced.

Keywords:

Education for Sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals, Higher Education, Target 2030, Introduction to Economics.