Overall Rating Bronze - expired
Overall Score 32.70
Liaison Andreas Wolfram
Submission Date Jan. 10, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Ringling College of Art and Design
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 4.00 Tim Rumage
Coordinator, Environmental Studies
Liberal Arts
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution conduct an assessment of the sustainability literacy of its students (i.e. an assessment focused on student knowledge of sustainability topics and challenges)?:
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::
Standalone evaluation without a follow-up assessment of the same cohort or representative samples

A copy of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment(s):
A sample of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment or the website URL where the assessment tool may be found:

The four components of Sustainability that we are assessing are:

1) Awareness of current Environmental Issues,
2) Scientific and quantitative reasoning
3) Basic understanding of Natural Capital and the value of Nature’s services to the
economy and the environment.
4) Understanding of systems thinking and modeling.
And then we rate the students as to their ability to demonstrate and their willingness to use and apply the aforementioned criteria to their work. Students are rated as Limited, Adequate or Strong in each of the categories.


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

The assessment topics were developed in conversation/discussion among the faculty of Environmental Studies, on-line reviews of assessment methods used at other institutions, discussion within the Liberal Arts program, presentation to Academic Affairs Committee, presentation to the Sustainability Committee, presentation to the full faculty, discussion with students regarding sustainability, and discussion amongst the 5 individual in Academic Affairs documenting the curricular portion of STARS.


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

We use a holistic approach involving projects, presentations, research, journals, term papers, tests, and in-class discussions. We want to know if students are using sustainability precepts in their work, their thinking and their life – not just their ability to select a correct answer on an evaluation form.


A brief summary of results from the literacy assessment(s), including a description of any measurable changes over time:

The four components of Sustainability that we are assessing are:

1) Awareness of current Environmental Issues,
2) Scientific and quantitative reasoning
3) Basic understanding of Natural Capital and the value of Nature’s services to the
economy and the environment.
4) Understanding of systems thinking and modeling.

In assessment, we rate the students as to their ability to demonstrate and their willingness to use and apply the aforementioned criteria to their work. Students are rated as Limited, Adequate or Strong in each of the criteria. The results from the categories are then averaged over the criteria to determine a score for Sustainability.

Skill Level LIMITED ADEQUATE STRONG

Category:

Awareness of current
Environmental issues 28 (17.6%) 68 (42.8%) 63 (39.6%)

NASAD 14 Scientific and
quantitative reasoning 35 (22%) 72 (45.3%) 52 (32.7%)

Basic understanding of
Natural Capital and the value 25 (16%) 67 (42%) 67 (42%)
of Nature’s services to the
economy and the environment.

Understanding of
systems thinking and modeling. 46 (29%) 66 (41.5%) 47 (29.5%)

________________________________________________________________________

Sustainability 34 (21.4%) 68 (42.8%) 57 (35.8%)


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

In the Environmental Studies area we currently have all the courses involved in public/outreach projects. These range from creating material to educate the public about Red Tide/HABs, Ocean Acidification, Sea Level Rise, Sustainable design projects, neighborhood composting and Climate Change.


In the Environmental Studies area we currently have all the courses involved in public/outreach projects. These range from creating material to educate the public about Red Tide/HABs, Ocean Acidification, Sea Level Rise, Sustainable design projects, neighborhood composting and Climate Change.

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.