Cornell University
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

Cornell has a variety of sustainability literacy assessments that are administered to its undergraduate students, which in total comprise longitudinal assessment of the entire undergraduate student body (and some of the staff population). Three assessments are outlined in this credit.

The most comprehensive literacy survey is an incoming-student sustainability learning and assessment module called "Mission: Sustainability" is completed by all incoming students each semester (~3,800 students). With a sample size close to 99% of all new students, this survey has a high level of accuracy and certainty of the resulting data. Respondents includes traditional Fall semester first-year students as well as Spring and Summer incoming students (including upperlevel transfer students). The To Do list first launched in Fall 2020. The survey was revised in Fall 2021 and the same version was used for Fall 2022.

The second is a literacy evaluation run by Professor Bruce Monger for the popular, climate-change learning course Oceanography 101, which is taken annually by over 1000 Cornell undergraduate students. Professor Monger distributes a survey annually which includes many questions about climate change, oceans, and sustainability.

The third evaluation is a collection of assessments run by a Natural Resources class distributed broadly to Cornell undergraduates as standalone assessments.

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1) First Year Student To Do List: Sustainability & Climate Literacy Survey

The full list of literacy assessment questions can be found in the attached document here, or find more information and public access here: https://sustainablecampus.cornell.edu/news/sustainability-and-climate-literacy-module-added-first-year-orientation

A follow-up survey is sent to all new students at the end of their first full year at Cornell University. The survey typically results in 350+ responses, and is used to inform campus sustainability practitioners on the efficacy of literacy efforts on campus.

In Summer 2022, the team used the survey to test the course's impact on students. Half of the students took the survey at the beginning of the course, and half the students took the survey at the end of the course. Comparing 1,500+ responses before and after provided useful insights into how the course shaped students responses.

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2) Oceanography Class assessment (example of questions below)

Sample questions:
- Which of the following best defines Sustainable Development?
a. Development that will last a person’s lifetime.
b. Development that nurtures a positive view of the natural world within all people.
c. Development that diminishes the quality of life of the present generation by a small amount so that future generations can meet their basic needs.
d. Development that meets the needs of the present generation, without compromising the future generations’ ability to meet their own needs.

- The Paris COP-21 consensus statement, signed in 2015 by essentially every leader of every nation on earth, stated that we need to take the entire planet’s energy system to net zero carbon emissions by mid-century in order to stay below a 2C global warming and prevent destabilization of human civilization.
a. True
b. False

- Are humans now powerful enough to prevent a future ice age from happening/
Yes, No

- Average US families would pay less for energy bills with fossil-free energy.
a. True
b. False

- Methane emission reduction is critical to staying below the COP-21 target of 1.5ºC global warming threshold.
a. True
b. False

- How much has the earth warmed since the beginning of the Industrial Era?
0.25C, 1.0C, 1.5C, 2.0C

- How soon might we see the Arctic Ocean completely ice-free during summer periods? Ice free by as soon as 2020, 2035, 2075, 2100

- One of the key goals contained in the Paris COP-21 consensus statement, signed in Paris in 2015 by every single leader of every single nation on Earth, is that we should work to prevent the earth from warming beyond 2C. In that same consensus statement, what must happen to global CO2 emissions to stay below a 2C warming? The entire planet has to go to net zero emissions by: 2025, 2050, 2100, 2150

- What is holding us back from decarbonizing the global energy system?
Lack of appropriate technology, cost to transition would crash the global economy, political leadership

- The atmosphere plays central role in weather. The ocean plays a central role in climate. True of False

- How much of the known fossil carbon energy reserves in the form of oil, gas and coal must remain in the ground if we are to avoid crossing the 2C warming threshold? Less than 10%, About 25%, About 75%, Greater than 95%

- Studies have shown that Solar PV and Wind could meet our energy needs by 2040. True or False

- What is the target date Cornell has set to become carbon neutral? 2022, 2035, 2050, 2100

- How long can oil spills continue to have a detrimental impact on marine ecosystems? On the order of several months, several years, several decades

- What is the main contributor of mercury to the global ocean?
Factories that discharge water into the coastal ocean, runoff from roads, unregulated coal power generation of electricity, leaching from plastic pollution

- What is the benefit of high biodiversity?
More stable ecosystem, more productive ecosystem, great level of ecosystem services provided to humans, all of the above, none of the above

- About how many species currently live on our planet?
About 1 million, 9 million, 38 billion, 90 billion, 160 billion

- About how many species face extinction according to Intergovermental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)?
1 million, 10 million, 1 billion, 10 billion

- More than half of the world's marine species may stand on the brink of extinction by 2100 according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. True or False


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3) Natural Resources assessments

Additional surveys were conducted between 2015-2021 to assess the sustainability and climate change literacy of Cornell undergrads. The assessments were developed and administered by a Cornell Professor of Environmental and Indigenous Studies along with students from his NTRES/AIS/AMST 3330 and NTRES 6330 course "Ways of Knowing: Indigenous and Place-Based Ecological Knowledge."

Here are a sample of the questions included in these assessments:

Assessing climate change knowledge
- What anthropogenic activity do you think is the leading cause of climate change? Fossil fuel burning, animal agriculture & byproducts, industrialization, transportation emissions, other
- Briefly, please list some impacts of climate change that you know of (open-ended question)
- Humans are a contributing cause of climate change (strongly agree to strongly disagree)
- List ways Cornell can reduce its impact on the environment (open-ended question)
- Climate change should be mitigated by institutions like Cornell University (strongly agree to strongly disagree)
- Communities across the world are impacted equally by climate change (strongly agree to strongly disagree)
- Greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere negatively affect our planet (strongly agree to strongly disagree)
- Climate change impacts you personally (strongly agree to strongly disagree)
- Climate change is a fallacy (strongly agree to strongly disagree)
- What actions are you taking towards the mitigation of climate change? (Transportation, purchasing, chemical uses, water use, energy use, food, recycle, compost, none at all, other)

Assessing waste stream knowledge:
- How do you know what to do with disposable forks and spoons?
- What do you do with an empty coffee cup?
- What do you do with half a sandwich you don't want?
- How did you learn what to do with your waste? Parents? Schools? Society?

1) Mission: Sustainability To Do List Module
After identifying student climate literacy as a key metric to advance in its first year, the Sustainable Cornell Council’s Education & Engagement Committee created an interdisciplinary working group to write, develop, and implement the sustainability & climate literacy module for incoming students. The module includes four parts: a literacy survey, a 13-minute video, a campus sustainability resources page, and a short written response. The components were designed to gauge student knowledge of sustainability and climate change before classes started, introduce students to the many ways Cornell is leading sustainable change on campus and in the world, and invite students to consider ways to take action as a Cornell student.

The revised and current literacy survey incorporated additional benchmarked questions from peer institutions, and added questions about attitudes and beliefs.

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2) Oceanography Class assessment
Developed and implemented over the past several years by Oceanography professor, attached questions were from Fall 2019 and did not change in Fall 2021.

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3) Natural Resources assessments
Additional surveys were conducted between 2015-2021 to assess the sustainability and climate change literacy of Cornell undergrads. The assessments were developed and administered by a Cornell Professor of Environmental and Indigenous Studies along with students from his NTRES/AIS/AMST 3330 and NTRES 6330 course "Ways of Knowing: Indigenous and Place-Based Ecological Knowledge." Surveys were sent out broadly to the Cornell community, and respondents may not be representative of the predominant student body.

1) Mission Sustainability Survey

This survey is completed by nearly all incoming students each semester (~3,800 students). With a sample size close to 99% of all new students, this survey has a high level of accuracy and certainty of the resulting data. A follow-up survey is sent to all new students at the end of their first full year at Cornell University. The follow-up survey typically results in 350+ responses, and is used to inform campus sustainability practitioners on the efficacy of literacy efforts on campus.

In Summer 2022, the team used the survey to test the course's impact on students. Half of the students took the survey at the beginning of the course, and half the students took the survey at the end of the course. Comparing 1,500+ responses before and 1,500+ after provided useful insights into how the course shaped students knowledge and attitudes.

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2) Oceanography Class assessment

Assessment is administered to over 1000 undergraduate students during class each semester, which is 4% of the entire student population (25,000 students). The course is known to attract a diverse student body from a variety of majors, but may be slightly skewed towards students interested in climate change and environmental issues.


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3) Natural Resources assessments

Surveys from the NTRES/AIS/AMST 3330 and NTRES 6330 course were sent broadly to the Cornell community through listservs, social networks, etc. Over 700 responses were collected, although respondents may not be representative of the predominant student body.

1) To Do List Sustainability Assessment

Overall students are knowledgeable on sustainability and climate topics but tend to skew beliefs and knowledge towards "environmental" sustainability and ecological impacts of climate change. An assessment of the Fall 2021 responses concluded as follows (these findings were consistent again in Fall 2022):

- As part of the survey, students were asked "How concerned are you about the state of the natural environment?" Of total respondents: 98.5% (9 out of 10) students were concerned about the state of the environment to some extent, and 94% (9 out of 10) of students were moderately, very, or extremely concerned about the state of the natural environment. Less than 2% of new students are "not at all concerned", and 7 out of 10 new students were very or extremely concerned.


- In general, new students underestimate the level of concern of their peers have about environmental and sustainability issues. This may lead to a lack of dialogue or common sense of purpose in our campus community.

- Students were asked to "...think about the average Cornell student. In your best guess, how concerned do you think they are about the state of the natural environment?" Collectively, new students guess only 5% of their peers are extremely concerned, whereas 27% were extremely concerned. Collectively, new students guess only 40% of their peers are moderately or extremely concerned, whereas 67% are moderately or extremely concerned

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2) Oceanography Class assessment (standalone assessment)
Assessment determined that most students accurately responded to core sustainability and climate change literacy questions.

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2) Sustainability and Climate Literacy assessment (longitudinal assessment)
Initial results from 2016 provided insights on incoming student knowledge and behaviors, and a follow-up survey sent to seniors in 2019 achieved a representative sample through random selection.

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3) Natural Resources assessments (standalone surveys)
- Students overwhelmingly understand that greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere negatively affect our planet
- Students demonstrate knowledge that climate change impacts include melting ice caps, rising sea levels, and extreme temperature and weather patterns.
- Students demonstrate knowledge of ways Cornell can reduce its impact on the environment (e.g. switching to renewable energy, turning off unused lights, banning sale of plastic water bottles).
- Students demonstrate cognitive dissonance between understand causes of climate change and changing behaviors to reduce their climate change impacts
- In CALS (one of Cornell's colleges), students are generally well-informed when it comes to the impacts, causes, and possible solutions of climate change. Conversely, other Cornell colleges showed more variability in demonstrated knowledge.