Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 59.85
Liaison Lisa Lonie
Submission Date Aug. 29, 2024

STARS v2.2

Haverford College
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution conduct an assessment of the sustainability literacy of its students?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the literacy assessment? The assessment is administered to::
The entire (or predominate) student body, directly or by representative sample

Which of the following best describes the structure of the assessment? The assessment is administered as a::
Pre- and post-assessment to the same cohort or to representative samples in both a pre- and post-test

A copy of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment(s):
---

A list or sample of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment or the website URL where the assessment tool may be found:


  1. Current global climate change is:





    1. Caused mostly by human activities




    2. Caused equally by human activities and natural changes




    3. Caused mostly by natural changes in the environment




    4. Not happening at all





  2. Which of the following statements about GHG is true?





    1. Methane is the most prevalent greenhouse gas.




    2. Greenhouse gasses help cool the Earth.




    3. Carbon dioxide is the most prevalent greenhouse gas.




    4. Greenhouse gasses allow solar radiation to escape from the Earth’s atmosphere.





 




  1. Which of the following are considered to be GHGs? (check all that apply)





    1. Carbon dioxide




    2. Methane




    3. Oxygen




    4. Hydrofluorocarbons




    5. Nitrogen




    6. Nitrous oxide




    7. Chlorofluorocarbons




    8. None of the above





  2. Which of the following are current or predicted effects of climate change? (select all that apply)





    1. Drought, overall lower agricultural yield, overall higher agricultural yield, wildfires, improved air quality, political instability, rising sea levels, extreme heat





  3. Climate change disproportionately impacts people in marginalized and low income communities because: (select all that apply)





    1. Infrastructure in developing countries can be less resilient to storms




    2. People with low incomes have fewer resources to rebuild or relocate after natural disasters (hurricanes, flooding, tornadoes, etc.)




    3. People with low incomes are more likely to live in areas threatened by flooding, water scarcity, and diseases spread by insects and other arthropods.





  4. In the U.S., what is the primary energy source used to generate electricity?





    1. Hydroelectric




    2. Nuclear




    3. Solar




    4. Fossil fuels (e.g. coal, petroleum, natural gas)





  5. Which of the following are considered renewable energy sources? (check all that apply)





    1. Biomass, coal, natural gas, oil, petroleum, water, wood, solar, wind, hydroelectric, nuclear, geothermal





  6. What does “carbon footprint” mean?





    1. The amount of carbon in a gallon of gasoline.




    2. The carbon left on the ground after taking a step outside.




    3. It refers to the greenhouse gasses released by a given activity in terms of CO2 equivalents.




    4. I don’t know





  7. Where does Haverford College’s trash go?





    1. Linden, NJ




    2. Chester, PA




    3. Bethlehem, PA




    4. Morgantown, PA





 




  1. What percentage of Haverford's electricity comes from renewable sources?





    1. 8%




    2. 33%




    3. 78%




    4. 100%





 


A brief description of how the literacy assessment was developed and/or when it was adopted:

The literacy assessment was drafted in partnership with consultants from GreenerU. Student interns then transferred agreed upon questions to qualtrics, the preferred survey tool of Haverford. The survey was released on April 22, 2024 and remained open for one week.


A brief description of how a representative sample was reached (if applicable) and how the assessment(s) were administered :

The survey was sent to the entire student body by Jesse Lytle, the Vice President and Chief of Staff at Haverford. Students were incentivized to complete this survey by the chance of winning a gift card for the college bookstore. A follow up survey will be administered next spring to follow up on the results of this one.


A brief summary of results from the literacy assessment(s):

Highlights from literacy survey:



  • 97.8% of student respondents believe global climate change is caused by human activities

  • 18% of student respondents incorrectly indicated that methane is the most prevalent greenhouse gas

  • An overwhelming majority of student respondents correctly identified current or predicted effects of climate change

  • 98.5% of student respondents correctly identified fossil fuels as the primary energy source used to generate electricity in the U.S.

  • 6% of student respondents incorrectly identified natural gas as a renewable energy source

  • 99.2% of student respondents correctly defined the term "carbon footprint" in a multiple choice question

  • Only 13.6% of students were able to correctly identify the location of the landfill Haverford's trash is sent to


Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the sustainability literacy assessment is available:
---

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

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.