Case Western Reserve University
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

What is meant by the term "carbon footprint"? the size of the carbon chain in a given quantity of gasoline the carbon left on the ground each time you take a step the greenhouse gases released by burning things like fossil fuels for electricity and transportation do not know What is one potential effect of global climate change? loss of habitat and wildlife biodiversity less severe weather cheaper fossil fuels decrease in sea level do not know Americans account for about five percent of the world's population and about 50% of the world's energy consumption about 25% of the world's energy consumption about 10% of the world's energy consumption about 5% of the world's energy consumption do not know Why is it important to recycle? recycling decreases the amount of habitat lost due to resource extraction recycling typically takes less energy to process recycled materials than to use new materials recycling cuts down on the amount of trash that goes into landfills all of the above none of the above Where does most of the garbage in the U.S. end up? oceans incinerators recycling centers landfills do not know The best way to support a local economy and local jobs is to buy goods (like groceries, clothing, toiletries, etc.) at large chains such as Target and Walmart locally-owned stores, restaurants and farmer's markets online sites like Amazon none of the above do not know What is the most common cause of pollution of streams, rivers and oceans? dumping of garbage by local governments surface water with pollutants running off yards, city streets, paved lots and farm fields litter washed in bodies of water from beaches waste dumped by factories do not know Which of the following can pollute indoor air and negatively impact health? smoking paint chipboard, pressed-wood furniture all of the above do not know

A review of available, higher ed sustainability literacy assessment questions was gathered from AASHE, the Grn Schools listserv and STARS ER-13 submissions. A sustainability office intern developed a matrix of questions and the CWRU Institutional Research office and several other ad-hoc advisors narrowed to the selected questions.

We administer three surveys which assess sustainability literacy at CWRU: The Freshman Survey (TFS), the Your First College Year (YFCY), and the College Senior Survey (CSS). The surveys are administered on a three-year cycle, so the same cohort of students would be administered all three of the surveys. The TFS and YFCY are administered to all first-time, first year students who enrolled in a particular year, with the TFS occurring before fall term and the YFCY occurring at the end of the spring term. The CSS (also administered at the end of the spring term) is administered to all students who have senior status, the bulk of which would have filled out the TFS and YFCY term. This way, we not only have baseline data, but also follow-up data after one year and four. In addition to the standard items on the survey that deal with sustainability, CWRU has customized the survey to include eight additional sustainability literacy items questions across the three surveys.

This past year was the first that we were able to assess the fourth year students who were also assessed as first years. Of the eight questions used to assess sustainability literacy above, six of the questions saw improvement of correct answers in both the second assessment (YFCY) at the end of the first year as well a the fourth year (CSS). Students' scores went down from their first year (TFS) in both the recycling and indoor air pollution questions.