University of Saskatchewan
AC-1: Academic Courses

2018-2019 Course Inventory Methodology The aim of this inventory was to provide updated data on the number and types of sustainability, indigenization, and internationalization courses being offered at the University of Saskatchewan. This information can then be compared with previous inventories (in the case of sustainability courses), used to inform future course offerings and to promote these courses to interested students. Sustainability course information also contributes to the University’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS) score. This inventory updated previous sustainability course inventories conducted in 2013-2014 and 2015-2016. In 2018-2019, courses were also reviewed for Indigenization and Internationalization themes. This allowed for an efficient, systematic scan of all regular course offerings at the University on multiple areas of interest. Definitions Definitions of Sustainability-focused and Sustainability-inclusive courses are from the STARS Technical Manual Version 2.2. Sustainability-Focused Courses To count as sustainability-focused, the course title or description must indicate a primary and explicit focus on sustainability. This includes: • Foundational courses with a primary and explicit focus on sustainability (e.g., Introduction to Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Sustainability Science). • Courses with a primary and explicit focus on the application of sustainability within a field (e.g., Architecture for Sustainability, Green Chemistry, Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Business). As sustainability is an interdisciplinary topic, such courses generally incorporate insights from multiple disciplines. • Courses with a primary and explicit focus on a major sustainability challenge (e.g., Climate Change Science, Environmental Justice, Global Poverty and Development, Renewable Energy Policy). The focus of such courses might be on providing knowledge and understanding of the problems and/or the tools for solving them. The course title or description does not have to use the term “sustainability” to count as sustainability-focused if the primary and explicit focus of the course is on the interdependence of ecological and social/economic systems or a major sustainability challenge. If the course title and description do not unequivocally indicate such a focus, but it is evident from the course description or syllabus that the course incorporates sustainability challenges, issues, and concepts in a prominent way, the course may qualify as sustainability-inclusive (see below). Courses that Include Sustainability Courses that are not explicitly focused on sustainability may contribute towards scoring if sustainability has clearly been incorporated into course content. To count as sustainability-inclusive, the course description or rationale provided in the course inventory must indicate that the course incorporates a unit or module on sustainability or a sustainability challenge, includes one or more sustainability-focused activities, or integrates sustainability challenges, issues, and concepts throughout the course. While a foundational course such as chemistry or sociology might provide knowledge that is useful to practitioners of sustainability, it would not be considered “sustainability-inclusive” unless the concept of sustainability or sustainability challenges and issues are specifically integrated into the course. Likewise, although specific tools or practices such as GIS (Geographic Information Systems) or engineering can be applied towards sustainability, such courses would not count unless the description or rationale provided in the inventory clearly indicates that sustainability is integrated into the course. Methodology The Usask Open CourseWare site was the main method for screening courses for inclusion in the inventory. Each department in each college was scanned for relevant undergraduate and graduate courses that might fall into one of the four categories of interest. Key terms in the course descriptions were considered as indicators that a course might be appropriate to include in the inventory. The list of terms is not exclusive and in all cases the course description, learning outcomes and syllabus was reviewed to verify the context of each term as it related to the course material. The previous two inventories were also used as a reference point for sustainability courses. The level of information available through Open CourseWare was highly variable. In cases where a syllabus was publicly available, learning outcomes, reading lists, and course content were reviewed to better determine whether a course should be placed in the inventory based on the definitions below. In some cases, this information was not available or the course description was sufficient to warrant placing the course squarely into one or more of the inventory categories. In addition, this method allowed for efficiencies as several courses had the potential to belong to multiple categories in the inventory and could be categorized together at one time. Sustainability terms: Renewable Sustainable (sustainability) Anthropogenic Urbanization Urban planning Globalization Biodiversity Conservation Environment Ecosystem Biosphere Stewardship Impact assessment Climate change Global warming Greenhouse gas emissions Ecological footprint Carbon footprint Deforestation Greenwashing Pollution Non-renewable Social justice Remediation Desertification Corporate social responsibility (CSR) Courses not represented in this inventory include: • most thesis, practicum, special project, and clinical courses (ENVS Sustainability research courses are included) • zero-credit courses or courses not for academic credit • Special topics courses with irregular course numbers (i.e. 298, 898 course numbers) • Courses not offered in the last three academic years, and courses not listed in Open CourseWare system ADDITIONAL INFORMATION NOT INCLUDED IN STARS SUBMISSION As an addition to our course inventory this year and in partnership with the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Excellence, we added courses including Indigenization and Internationalization components to our internal inventory. These courses were not counted for this STARS submission, but rather were gathered for curriculum development purposes at the University of Saskatchewan. Draft statement on Indigenization: Learning outcomes tied to Indigenous knowledge and experience grounded in Indigenous worldviews. Draft definition of an internationalized curricula: The incorporation of an international or intercultural (in a global context) dimension(s) into the content, learning outcomes, teaching methods, learning experiences or assessment tasks of the curriculum intentionally employed/designed to develop student learning outcomes in intercultural awareness, different ways of knowing, or intercultural competence. Course internationalization is “a process by which international elements are infused into course content, international resources are used in course readings and assignments, and instructional methodologies appropriate to a culturally diverse student population are implemented" (Schuerholz-Lehr et al., 2007, p. 70). Indigenization terms: First Nations Indigenous Aboriginal Metis Inuit Land-based Decolonization Internationalization terms: Name of one or more countries International Intercultural Global National Comparisons of… With the intent to compare… Different ways of… Different methods of… Different perspectives Multiple perspectives Culture(s) Cross-cultural Countries Pluralities Multiplicities Travel Abroad Inter-culture or intercultural Culture shock Acculturation worldview Program in International Collaborative Teaching (PICT)