Certificate in Sustainable Development:-Didactic Tools for Climate Action

(120 hours) Accredited Lifelong Learning for Education Professionals

Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) & Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda I.A.P.

Start date: June 6, 2022

PRESENTATION

The education professional is a key agent in the teaching and learning process, he/she must consider a relationship with the Earth, understand the environmental problems, and lead the educational intervention towards integrated sustainable development. The diploma course has a mixture of training for sustainability, as an axis of action in the environmental rescue of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, combining the planning and execution of viable educational projects for socio-educational participation.

The diploma course is carried out under the e-Learning modality, which implies a distance learning process that is facilitated through the use of information and communication technologies, utilizing the Canvas educational platform. This modality is characterized by independent study and two-way mediated communication between teacher and student.

The program has the standard of self-management and autonomy with the accompaniment of a specialist tutor. The main contribution of the diploma program is to contribute to the training of education professionals, with a comprehensive and reflective perspective based on the knowledge of the situation our planet is going through. It is contemplated that each participant will carry out an intervention in his/her school context, based on the learning achieved.

JUSTIFICATION

Recent studies have shown the need to continue developing projects with a positive impact on the environment. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, 2020) states that the conservation of biodiversity worldwide depends entirely on the way in which we interact with the environment.

This sustainability training is envisioned for generations.  Trained teachers are crucial for guiding students in the construction of students with environmental awareness.

The main purpose of this diploma course is to provide the academic bodies with a methodology that promotes significant learning in the field of environmental education, in order to generate regional intervention projects with a high global impact.

PURPOSE OF THE COURSE

• To identify the seriousness of the environmental crisis: in the world and in their own surroundings.
• To build environmental awareness and recognize the need to replicate sustainable principles through student interventions in sanitation, restoration and beautification of the community.
• To learn about successful stories in the Sierra de la Sierra Biosphere Reserve.
• Strengthen technological skills and knowledge for the incorporation of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in practice.
• Develop innovative skills for the planning of learning experiences considering civic education at school, in the community and surrounding areas.
• Analyze an educational strategy with multiple levels of action that leads to a project to address environmental issues according to the needs of the region.

GRADUATE COMPETENCIES

• Understands the relationship with their surroundings, and considers the environmental problems to be addressed through a small-scale educational program.
• A team player that will become a participant in their social environment, with commitment and a feeling of solidarity towards their fellows and community.
• Critical thinker that builds interdisciplinary relationships to identify concepts, categories of analysis, and scientific principles and derive conclusions.
• Develops self-learning processes, through the use and appropriation of educational technological tools to form an innovative educational practice.
• Issues proposals for community-based interventions through an analysis of their school context, with a social commitment to integrated sustainable development.

MODALITY

The Diploma is carried out under the e-Learning modality, utilizing the Canvas educational platform.

Benefits of the e-Learning modality:

• Cost reduction, usually generated by travel, accommodation, elimination of spatial barriers.
• Time flexibility, since most of the activities can be adapted to the student’s pace.

EDUCATIONAL PLATFORM

Canvas is an LMS system, that is, a state-of-the-art learning management technology platform. Its use saves time and effort, simplifying the teaching and learning process for both teachers and students.

Its features include:

• Ease of use: intuitive, simple and easy to exchange.
• Accessibility: adaptive to needs with integration of tools.
• Reliability: secure and with the best time-to-market.
• Mobility: compatibility for mobile devices.

REQUIREMENTS

Technical:

• Electronic tablet or desktop/laptop computer, Internet connection, Office package installed, email.

For learning:

• Basic computer skills, Internet access and navigation skills, and utilize Microsoft Office.
• Availability to work on the computer for 1 hour a day.
• Commitment to self-learning and collaboration on the educational platform.

STRUCTURE AND CONTENT

MODULE 1. GLOBAL EMERGENCY

1. Diagnosis
2. Famine and desertification.
3. Overpopulation and migration.
4. Economic slowdown and consumerism.

MODULE 2. RECONCILIATION WITH THE EARTH

1. A society in times of change.
2. Natural infrastructure, a tapestry of perfection, biodiversity.
3. Carbon and water capture in soils and forests under regenerative management.
4. Agro-ecological agriculture and regenerative livestock.

 MODULE 3. ACTIONS FOR NATURE

1. Confronting the emergency.
2. Solid waste management.
3. Entrepreneurship, activism for the Earth.
4. School or community application project (First Advance).

MODULE 4. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

1. An emergency education for a sustainable present.
2. Teachers, transformative agents of change.
3. Didactic strategies for environmental practice.
4. School or community application project.

METHODOLOGY OF WORK

Each module is 4 weeks, 30 hours of study are required per module, for a total of 120 hours of study for the entire course.

The course integrates principles of autonomous learning, project-based learning, situated learning and collaborative learning.

Each module is composed of:

• Theoretical topics with reinforcement activities for the student.
• Integrating activity that encompasses the topics learned in the module and their application in the immediate local context of the participant, in addition to defining the accreditation of the module.

The activities to be carried out to acquire and/or reinforce the learning will be:

• Participation in forums and chats
• Questionnaires
• Research
• Essays
• Descriptive matrix
• Critical synthesis
• School or community application project

Emphasis is placed on:

• The close accompaniment of the facilitator.
• Interaction among participants for the construction of collective knowledge.
• Reflection and critical analysis.
• Awareness not only of what was learned, but also of how and why it was learned.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The accreditation of the Certificate in Sustainable Development: Didactic Tools for Climate Action, has a grading scale that goes from 5 (five) to 10 (ten), where the non-passing grade corresponds to 5 (five), the minimum grade for accreditation is 6 (six) and the maximum grade to obtain is 10 (ten).

NUMERICAL CRITERIA

VIRTUAL QUALITATIVE
Participation: considering research and innovation in their proposals	5%
Understanding of the topics during the development of the workshop	5%
Innovation of their ideas	5%
Practicality of their proposals	5%
Frequency and knowledge of their interventions	5%
Identification of actors involved in the Earth process	5%
TOTAL	30%

VIRTUAL QUANTITATIVE
Punctuality and presentation in the delivery of activities	10%
Participation in Forums	10%
Content of activities	10%

GENERAL EVALUATION
Integrating activities	80%
Final Project	20%
TOTAL	100%