Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 53.56
Liaison Georgeann Moss
Submission Date Dec. 22, 2021

STARS v2.2

Dallas College
AC-2: Learning Outcomes

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.04 / 8.00 Danielle Valle
Chief Officer of Institutional Effectiveness and Accreditation
Operations
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Has the institution adopted one or more sustainability learning outcomes that apply to the entire student body or, at minimum, to the institution's predominant student body?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the sustainability learning outcomes?:
Sustainability-supportive

A list of the institution level sustainability learning outcomes:

Across Dallas College’s six core objective requirements, Personal Responsibility (PR), Social Responsibility (SR), and Empirical and Quantitative Analysis (EQS) are those objectives with substantive sustainability outcomes. PR and SR were adopted in 2016 within Dallas College (formerly the Dallas County Community College District) by faculty-led sustainability committees at several campuses and supported by the Office of Sustainability as part of the 3-E (Equity-Economy-Environment) Sustainable Solutions Framework. http://leaptx.org/coreobjectives/

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) adopted an EQS definition for Life and Physical Science courses that aligns with AASHE’s definition of sustainability of the interdependence of environmental and socioeconomic systems, as “the interactions of natural phenomena and the implications of scientific principles on the physical world and on human experiences.” Human experiences include economic and social contexts.

The learning outcomes are measured in specific coursework and disciplines following the AAC&U value rubrics framework (https://reportcenter.highered.texas.gov/reports/data/waar-table-of-foundational-component-areas/)

Personal Responsibility (PR) is defined as “the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making.” Coursework in language, philosophy and culture evaluates how students can understand “how ideas, values, beliefs, and other aspects of culture express and affect human experience.” Coursework in communication evaluates how students can understand how “developing ideas and expressing them clearly, considering the effect of the message, fostering understanding, and building the skills needed to communicate persuasively.”

Social Responsibility (SR) is defined as “intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities.” Coursework in Government and Political Science evaluates how students can understand “the analysis of governmental institutions, political behavior, civic engagement, and their political and philosophical foundations.” Coursework in American History evaluates how students can understand the historical “interaction among individuals, communities, states, the nation, and the world, considering how these interactions have contributed to the development of the United States and its global role.”

Empirical and Quantitative Skills (EQS) is defined as “to include the manipulation and analysis of numerical data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions.” Coursework in life and physical sciences evaluates how students can understand “the interactions of natural phenomena and the implications of scientific principles on the physical world and on human experiences.” Coursework in social and behavioral sciences evaluates how students can understand how “behavior and interactions among individuals, groups, institutions, and events, examining their impact on the individual, society and culture.”


These three Dallas College rubrics are in alignment with the recommended learning objectives outlined by the Global Council for Science and the Environment (GCSE) Community of Practice for Sustainability Education. This working group includes deans and directors of sustainability undergraduate and graduate programs including Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, Penn State University, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Dallas College and others. https://www.gcseglobal.org/sustainability-education-community-practice

Dallas College measures PR, SR and EQS with a Core Objective Assessment that includes a committee of faculty from multiple disciplines from each campus. The assessment committee reviews student assignments for measuring the core objectives.

In Fall 2018, the District Assessment Committee evaluated student assignments in a randomized and representative sample to measure the learning outcomes. The results were the following:

-On a scale from 1 to 4, the results for the EQS assessment scored 1.93 on Interpretation, 1.96 on Representation, 2.00 on Calculation, 1.81 on Application/Analysis, 1.47 on Assumptions, and 1.79 on Communication. The EQS sample size was n=837.

- The results for SR scored 1.46 for Intercultural Competence and 1.22 for Knowledge of Civic Responsibility and Engagement with Communities. The SR sample size was n=269.

- The results for PR assessment scored 1.79 on Description, 1.83 on Explanation, and 1.67 on Consequences and Implications. The sample size was 443 and scoring was a 1 or a 2, with 2 being complete mastery for sophomore-level coursework.

In spring 2019, Brookhaven Assessment Committee expanded on the assessment to achieve a more representative sample of students attending classes at one campus. The results were the following:

- The results for EQS were 2.00 for Interpretation, 2.21 for Representation, 2.63 for Calculation, 1.93 for Application/Analysis, 1.76 for Assumptions, and 1.87 for Communication.

- The results for SR were 1.77 for Intercultural Competence with a sample size of 1,696, and 1.77 for Knowledge of Civic Responsibility & Engagement with Communities with a sample size of 1,800.

- The results for PR were 2.12 for Description, 2.05 for Explanation, and 1.98 for Consequences.


Total number of graduates from degree programs:
15,416

Number of graduates from degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:
75

A brief description of how the figure above was determined:

The number of graduates in 2018-19 from degree programs that require an understanding of sustainability (Personal Responsibility, Social Responsibility, and Empirical and Quantitative Skills) and as listed in AC-3 that require a sustainability-focused course:
- 63 students graduated from the Construction Associate Degree Program
- 5 students graduated from the Urban Agriculture and Renewable Resources Program
- 7 students graduated from the Logistics and Supply Chain Program


A list of degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:

- Associate of Applied Science in Construction Management and Technology
- Associate of Science, with a focus on Urban Agriculture and Renewable Resources
- Associate of Applied Science in Logistics and Supply Chain


Documentation supporting the figure reported above (upload):
Do the figures reported above cover one, two, or three academic years?:
One

Percentage of students who graduate from programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:
0.49

Website URL where information about the sustainability learning outcomes is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The additional documentation includes the assessment data tables described in Part 1 of this credit.


The additional documentation includes the assessment data tables described in Part 1 of this credit.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.