Radford University
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

16. How do greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) cause global warming?
a. Greenhouse gases are warmer.
b. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap heat from the sun. The more greenhouse gases, the better the atmosphere traps heat which warms the earth.
c. Increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere allow more sunlight to reach the earth’s surface which causes global warming.
d. Increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are not causing global warming.

17. What is the best action an organization can take to reduce food waste?
a. Compost leftovers
b. Feed Hungry People with the good leftovers
c. Source Reduction – Reduce the amount of food prepared so there is less left over
d. Landfill/Incineration
e. Don’t Know

18. Workers around the world face a variety of social injustices, including low wages, poor working conditions, and lack of access to education. To help improve conditions for these workers you can:
a. Support corporations that do not allow workers to join labor unions
b. Buy the newest products to keep factories around the world open
c. Purchase products from companies that conduct business in a socially responsible manner
d. Support large corporations because they generally have more money to pay their workers
e. Don’t know

19. Many economists argue that electricity prices in the U.S. are too low because…
a. They do not reflect the costs of pollution from generating the electricity
b. Too many suppliers go out of business
c. Electric companies have a monopoly in their service area
d. Consumers spend only a small part of their income on energy
e. Don’t know

20. An effective strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reversing global warming and climate change is:
a. Burn the remaining fossil fuels by 2030, then switch energy sources to wind and solar.
b. Maintain current global greenhouse gas emissions levels.
c. Convince China and India to stop burning fossil fuels.
d. Stop burning fossil fuels worldwide as soon as possible and implement other solutions to capture carbon out of the atmosphere.

21. Single Use plastic beverage packaging creates an enormous amount of waste on our campus and around the world. The best way to reduce this waste is to:
a. Recycle your used containers
b. Fill a reusable cup or bottle instead of buying drinks single use plastic containers
c. Be sure to purchase beverages in aluminum cans
d. Purchase beverages in the new bio-plastic

The Sustainability Manager worked with the RU Office of Institutional Effectiveness to develop a range of assessment tools for the Office and for the Sustainability Leadership Team internship program.

One of these tools is this Sustainability Literacy Assessment. Adapted from assessments from Ohio State and University of Maryland, and Sulitest, and from collaborations with faculty on campus.

The assessment was first deployed in 2019 - 2020 academic year.

The assessment has been administered to a subset of students that is not representative of the predominate student body.

The sustainability literacy assessment is administered to student participants in the Sustainability Leadership Team internship program. The interns complete this assessment initially, before our first meeting, as part of their orientation materials. The same students take the same assessment at the end of the internship program.

The assessment is deployed through Qualtrics. It is not "open book". Students are asked not to look up answers.

Each year, students have improved their score from pre-test to post-test. The programmatic target is that all students increase their score on the sustainability literacy assessment by at least 50%.

In 2019 - 2020, this was partially met. Students who completed both the pre- and post- assessment all improved. Average increased score is 46.25%; median increased score is 50%. Due to COVID-19 interruption, not all interns completed post-assessment.

Adapted from:
Zwickle, A., Koontz, T., Bodine, A., Slagle, K., Stewart, S., Horvath, N. (2013) Assessment of Sustainability Knowledge. The Ohio State University School of Environment and Natural Resources, Office of Sustainability, and University of
Maryland Office of Sustainability. https://ess.osu.edu/sites/essl/files/imce/Phase%20II%20Questions%20no%20bold%20answers.pdf

Other References:
United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration: https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/
United States Environmental Protection Agency: https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-hierarchy