Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 82.81
Liaison Aaron Durnbaugh
Submission Date April 12, 2023

STARS v2.2

Loyola University Chicago
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Megan Conway
Sustainability Manager
Office of Sustainability
"---" 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:
Assessment questions available in attached PDF

A brief description of how the literacy assessment was developed and/or when it was adopted:
The Sustainability Literacy Assessment was developed by staff and faculty in summer 2022 for administration at the beginning and end of the fall 2022 semester. The assessment reflects the learning objectives identified in the 2017 Sustainability Across the Curriculum Report adopted by Academic Affairs, as well as a series of targeted questions focusing on Loyola's specific sustainability context (Chicago-area, Jesuit Catholic).

A brief description of how a representative sample was reached (if applicable) and how the assessment(s) were administered :
The Sustainability Literacy Assessment was delivered to students enrolled in the Foundational Course for Scientific Knowledge and Inquiry in the Core Curriculum - ENVS 101: The Scientific Basis of Environmental Issues. This class is required for all undergraduate students which captures a representative sample of LUC students.

Core Curriculum information: https://www.luc.edu/core/scilitcoursesub-first.shtml

A brief summary of results from the literacy assessment(s):
Although participation in the assessment dropped from the pre-ENVS 101 to post-ENVS 101 administration, there was still significant participation (577 pre, 383 post). While not all first-year students take this required course in their first year, this is highly-representative as it reflects 20.1% pre and 13.3% post assessment out of 2,864 in that year's first year class.

Across the three survey categories that assessed scientific literacy, there was improved performance across the board after taking ENVS 101. One highlight in the "Attitudes and Behaviors" section was an increase of students who Strongly Agreed or Agreed with the statement "I know of ways I could get involved with sustainability projects on campus" from 55.6% to 77.8%.

Website URL where information about the sustainability literacy assessment is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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