Florida Gulf Coast University
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

A comprehensive review of student work for the past three years for the University Colloquium sections offered was done. The student work includes the following assignments where students have to demonstrate a level of understanding of sustainability, sense of place and ecological literacy and explore their own ecological perspective. -Academic Essay #1 – Sense of Place, students focus on one of three essay prompts exploring their sense of place in preparation for longer research essay. -Academic Essay # 2 – Research Essay, students choose one of three essay prompts. -Academic Essay #3 – Service-Learning Reflection. -University Colloquium Journal – Guided entries. -Final Service-Learning Project, and Presentation -Class Participation through discussions, activities, worksheets, group project and quizzes.

The University Colloquium is an interdisciplinary environmental education course designed to explore the concept of sustainability as it relates to a variety of considerations and forces in the environment. In particular, we consider ecological, social, ethical, historical, scientific, economic, and political influences. The course has been a graduate requirement of all undergraduate students since we opened our doors in 1997. Faculty have carefully reviewed and developed the curriculum to include a comprehensive experience for students. The course goals are: • To provide a "sense of place" and an understanding of the unique ecological features of the environment of which you are a part. • To assist in developing an ecological perspective and a commitment to community awareness and involvement in order for students to know the issues related to economic, social, and ecological sustainability, analyze and evaluate ecological issues locally and globally, participate in projects requiring awareness and/or analysis of ecological and environmental issues; • To provide experiences to assist in moving toward the university learning goals of effective communication skills and critical thinking skills as well as the university’s stated mission of practicing and promoting environmental sustainability and encouraging civic responsibility”; • To enable a practical understanding of sustainability, of environmental education, and of ecological literacy. Student Learning Outcomes Students are expected to: 1. Demonstrate an understanding of environmental issues through writing and class participation. 2. Critically analyze environmental issues from economic, social, political, and ecological perspectives. 3. Describe the unique ecological features of the area and analyze Southwest Florida’s unique environmental and ecological challenges. 4. Demonstrate a practical understanding of sustainability, sense of place, and ecological literacy.

Students are enrolled in the University Colloquium course during their senior or junior years. It is a requirement of all undergraduate students as a university requirement. Assessment for the sustainability literacy occurs through their participation in interactive discussions, writing competencies, service-learning project and final course assessments. We looked at student work for the past three academic years (2011-2014 Fall and Spring) for University Colloquium. Since all undergraduate majors take University Colloquium, we have looked at data for these sections which are a representative sample of majors from across the colleges. We have decided to only look at data from during the Fall and Spring semesters even though just as many students take the course in the summer. Through analysis we determined if students exceeded, met or did not meet parameters determined by the student learning outcomes listed above.

On average about 80% of students exceeded outcomes for the past three years. Sustainability is key to our mission and this signature course provides a valuable experience for students to fully understand the different elements of sustainability and their own ecological perspective. Following is the breakdown for the past semesters. Fall 2011 - 10,107 total enrolled; 824 University Colloquium Students; 80.95% Exceeded Outcomes; 5.7% Met outcomes; 13.35 % Did Not Meet Outcomes. Spring 2012 - 8,635 total enrolled; 846 University Colloquium Students; 77.3% Exceeded Outcomes; 6.74% Met outcomes; 15.96% Did Not Meet Outcomes. Fall 2012 - 10797 total enrolled; 890 University Colloquium Students; 81.24% Exceeded Outcomes; 7.3% Met Outcomes; 11.46% Did Not Meet Outcomes. Spring 2013 - 9710 total enrolled; 872 University Colloquium Students; 76.6% Exceeded Outcomes; 7.34% Met Outcomes; 9.17% Did Not Meet Outcomes. Fall 2013 - 12,837 total enrolled; 911 University Colloquium Students; 83.42% Exceeded Outcomes; 6.81% Met Outcomes; 9.77% Did Not Meet Outcomes. Spring 2014 - 12,382 total enrolled; 955 University Colloquium Students; 85.65% Exceeded Outcomes; 4.61% Met Outcomes; 9.73% Did Not Meet Outcomes.