SDG 4: Quality Education

Evidence-based teaching and leadership

The Centre for Teaching and Learning promotes quality teaching and builds teaching and educational leadership capacity in direct support of Queen’s students’ learning experiences. They support evidence-based, innovative, and sustainable strategic program enhancement initiatives, and encourage and support emerging, grassroots investigations of novel approaches to teaching and learning.

The Principal’s Impact Courses program is part of a long-term commitment to transform curricula and enhance already-existing undergraduate courses or develop new courses that support the Queen’s Strategy. Successful applicants receive grants providing up to $10,000 to develop their proposed course meant to boost student learning for impact, promote student research, integrate I-EDIAA principles and practices, strengthen local and global connections, and focus on significant and urgent challenges.

Commitment to research integrity and excellence

Our Research Integrity Policy is a foundational commitment to strive for research and scholarly practices that exemplify honesty, truthfulness, fairness, respect, responsibility, and the courage to adhere to these values, according to the International Center for Academic Integrity.

Enduring commitment

In 2022, Queen's University Senate approved updates to the Ontario Council of Academic Vice-Presidents' Undergraduate and Graduate Degree Level Expectations to include language explicitly focused on I-EDIAA to emphasize the objectives of a global mindset and research learning to benefit society and the public good in the curriculum. Queen's Degree Level Expectations connect to program and course learning outcomes, which in turn shape teaching and learning strategies, methods of assessment, and course content.

Accessible learning outside the classroom

Queen’s offers learning opportunities outside our classrooms. Students and faculty also have access to Open Educational Resources, free digital teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license. These resources provide equal access to quality education by making lectures, books, and curricula widely accessible online for free.

The Faculty of Arts and Science is a trailblazer in distance education, offering online courses and programs that are distinguished by their exceptional quality. These courses offer students the best possible learning experience no matter where they are.

Professional, executive and continuing education at Queen’s

Queen’s offers numerous Professional, Executive, and Continuing Education programs through the faculties of Arts and Science, Education, Law, and Health Sciences, as well as the School of Nursing. The School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs also runs numerous Master’s and Doctoral programs. Furthermore, Smith School of Business, the Industrial Relations Centre, and the School of Policy Studies offer executive education, digital learning, and open enrolment courses for professionals at all stages of their career.

Inspiring learning among Indigenous communities

The Indigenous Futures in Engineering program aims to encourage more Indigenous youth to become engineers by promoting math and science in elementary and high schools, offering culturally relevant educational materials for Indigenous youth and their teachers, and enabling access to post-secondary study.

Public resources for lifelong learning

Queen’s is proud to provide access to educational resources for the community beyond our campus, including access to computers, online courses, and lectures. The University Library welcomes visitors from the community to visit our facilities, access our collections, and borrow books.

Public events for lifelong learning

Queen’s hosts regular on-campus events including lectures and community educational sessions that are open to the public. The Queen’s University Events Calendar highlights events taking place online or in-person at the university.

Additionally, Queen’s faculty, staff, and students participate in educational outreach activities in local schools and in the community. The Smith School of Business also offers regular free Business Insight webinars for the public on themes relating to business, finance, and leadership.

Inspiring local youth

Queen’s faculty and students offer a variety of educational programs in the Kingston community. Science Rendezvous Kingston is a family-friendly event that allows community members to meet and talk to Queen’s researchers, conduct experiments, and learn about the possibilities of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Sistema Kingston, run by the Queen’s Faculty of Education, is a free after-school music program that focuses on positive social change through the pursuit of musical excellence. In 2022, Bader Philanthropies, Inc. donated $533,000 USD to guarantee funding for the next three years of the program, allowing Sistema Kingston to reach more children by expanding its program and providing more practicum placements and hands-on learning opportunities for Queen's Education students.

In 2022, Queen's launched three new summer camps on campus to inspire future leaders in STEM.

The Queen's Health Sciences Outreach and Summer Program provides mentorship and educational opportunities to local high school students who self-identify as low socio-economic status, racialized, 2SLGBTQIA+, immigrant, refugee, persons living with disabilities, or first-generation Canadians to experience life as a student in health sciences through hands-on workshops, lectures, lab visits, simulation activities, and Standard First Aid with CPR-C training during an immersive week-long program.

The Black Youth in STEM summer program, part of Connections Engineering Outreach, is an expansion of the Queen's Black Youth in STEM virtual club for students from grades 7-11. During part one, Black students from the Greater Toronto Area attended STEM workshops over a four-day period with part two inviting the students to stay on Queen's campus for three days, providing the opportunity to learn more about engineering disciplines and life as a Queen's student.

Connections Engineering Outreach also offered a new stream for girls in grades 1-8 as part of their All-Girls Queen's Summer Engineering Academy (QSEA). The all-girls courses, including the Taste of Engineering which is a three-day overnight program on Queen's campus for students in grades 7-8, were designed and taught by an all-female staff with the goal of creating a positive female space to inspire STEM exploration.

Partnerships to increase access

In 2022, Queen's, with St. Lawrence College and the City of Kingston, co-hosted an event to launch the new exhibit My Story of Water focused on SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation at the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning. Organized by Muna Taro (translated as "we are coming together"), the exhibit is a collaboration between three organizations based out of Nigeria, 1 Million Teachers, Five Cowries Arts Education Initiative, and Girl Rising. Queen's Faculty of Education partnered in 2018 with 1 Million Teachers, whose CEO is a Queen's alumnus, to assist with program development and to create a practice that supports learning in Nigeria and beyond, while advancing the UN SDGs.