Constructing pedagogical alignment for a sustainable mindset of future-ready graduates

Increasingly universities are making sustainability a focus for their institutional activities, curricula and student learning. The complexity of addressing epistemology, methodology and pedagogy in education for sustainability has been recognised and a diversity of approaches is emerging. The Central Queensland University has aligned it strategic vision with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), striving for transformative student learning experiences. The purpose of this paper is to investigate opportunities for integration of the SDGs into construction management learning, teaching and graduate future-ready attributes. This research utilises constructive alignment as pedagogical methodology for a case study design across several units of a construction management masters degree program. The concept of a sustainable mindset, based on values, knowledge and attributes provides the investigative lens. This study seeks to expand education for sustainability in Australian Built Environment programs and to advance constructive alignment as integrative pedagogy for learning and teaching. Findings demonstrate opportunities for SDG integration into unit based learning experiences as well as making SDGs explicit from strategic plan across graduate attributes to specfic unit learning outcomes. Recommendations include a broadening from learning about sustainability content to SDG alignment with student learning experiences and support sustainable mindset development as future-ready graduate attribute.