Skip to main content

CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION, AND PEDAGOGY article

Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1307903

Lessons on developing animated modules to introduce the Sustainable Development Goals in undergraduate global health pedagogy

Provisionally accepted
Obidimma Ezezika Obidimma Ezezika 1*Fatima Kishif Fatima Kishif 2Mona Jarrah Mona Jarrah 2Umayangga Yogalingam Umayangga Yogalingam 2Mark Mckee Mark Mckee 3Suzanne Sicchia Suzanne Sicchia 2
  • 1 Western University, London, Canada
  • 2 Department of Health and Society, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • 3 University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Storyline animations can be used as immersive academic tools to engage students' learning experiences. Based on Kolb's experiential learning theoretical framework, we produced and pilot-tested a new storyline animation encompassing the Sustainable Development Goals for undergraduate students in a health studies course and utilized student survey responses to gather their feedback. In this paper, we outline the design, implementation, and feedback from students, culminating in five key lessons. First, simplicity should be the goal. Second, segments should be short and accessible. Third, interposed questions, discussion forums, and varying storyline routes improve interactivity. Fourth, relatability, positionality, and empathy enhance learning and immersion. Fifth, supplementary materials can improve learning. Based on these findings, we offer recommendations across the five lessons to help educators overcome challenges and facilitate the implementation of similar pedagogical opportunities in their curricula.

    Keywords: Experiential learning, Educational animations, Sustainable development goals, Curriculum Design, innovative teaching methods, Public Health

    Received: 05 Oct 2023; Accepted: 31 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ezezika, Kishif, Jarrah, Yogalingam, Mckee and Sicchia. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Obidimma Ezezika, Western University, London, Canada

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.