The College of Wooster
AC-5: Sustainability Literacy Assessment
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
Reporter |
Brian
Webb Director of Campus Sustainability President's Office |
5.1 Sustainability literacy assessment design and administration
Narrative and/or website URL providing an overview of of the instruments/tools used to assess sustainability literacy:
We used the 12-question version of the Assessment of Sustainability Knowledge developed by Zwickle and Jones. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320674427_Sustainability_Knowledge_and_Attitudes-Assessing_Latent_Constructs
So far the tool has only been used in one Environmental Studies course (22 students), but we hope to use it more broadly before our next STARS submission.
Description of the institution’s recent sustainability literacy assessment findings and any notable trends:
22 students were surveyed in an upper level Environmental Studies course. The mean score was 76% with the average student getting 3 of 12 questions incorrect. This is somewhat surprising given that the students surveyed were all in an upper level environmental studies course that is focused on climate solutions. Even more surprising (and disappointing) the most missed question was the one that asked them to rank in order which activity caused the most carbon pollution. The other two questions that had high failure rates were about overfishing and the definition of economic sustainability, implying these are perhaps missed points in our sustainability education.
Were academic staff engaged in sustainability education at the institution involved in developing and/or adopting the methodologies used to assess sustainability literacy?:
Description of the process through which academic staff were involved in developing and/or adopting the methodologies used to assess sustainability literacy:
Environmental Studies faculty were consulted on which sustainability knowledge test to select. Results are being used to inform ENVS curriculum.
Are the literacy assessments designed and administered in such a way that the results can be used to evaluate the success of the institution’s sustainability education initiatives?:
Description of how the design and administration of the sustainability literacy assessments supports the evaluation of the success of the institution’s sustainability education initiatives:
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following figure:
5.2 Percentage of students assessed for sustainability literacy
Description of the process used to measure or estimate the percentage of students assessed for sustainability literacy:
22 students were surveyed, representing 2% of the total population. In the future we hope to do more.
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following figure:
Optional documentation
Additional documentation for this credit:
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.