SolEn for a Sustainable Future: Developing and Teaching a Multidisciplinary Course on Solar Energy To Further Sustainable Education in Chemistry

Abstract

The high demand for the integration of sustainable topics into university curricula presents new challenges for the way chemistry is traditionally taught. New teaching concepts are required that consider and connect different disciplines to achieve a higher student awareness of the importance of these topics for humanity, the environment, and the future of our planet. This article describes a uniquely multidisciplinary graduate course on solar energy; the course may serve as an example of how to incorporate sustainable topics into chemistry programs, and as a starting point from which to build for others. It combines different scientific, industrial, political, and humanitarian approaches to the topic and provides a broad overview of one of the main future energy resources. New teaching methods are introduced, combined, and evaluated with respect to their effectiveness for a sustainable education within science and, in particular, chemistry. The success of this new course concept is demonstrated by high student satisfaction in a trial course evaluation and impressive exam results.