University of Colorado Boulder
AC-5: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

The campus sustainability survey is Qualtrics-based and contains 10 questions focused on literacy. The survey is conducted every three years.

The original literacy assessment was developed in 2009 for incoming students. Some of the questions were directly related to evaluating the information shared at orientation modules. The 2017 version was modified and updated. Other literacy assessments were reviewed for best practices. The 2020 version refined the response scales but the questions have remained the same for comparison. The 2023 version removed five questions that were deemed less useful or dated and replaced with five questions from OSU’s Assessment of Sustainability Knowledge (ASK) survey.

Students continued to demonstrate a strong understanding of sustainability terms and concepts from 2020 to 2023. Responses to literacy questions were generally consistent from 2017 to 2020 to 2023. Survey results from 2023: The three questions with the highest literacy all involve environmental and climate science. For example, 89% of student respondents correctly chose the definition of carbon footprint and identified renewable energy sources. 87% chose the correct answer for what the ozone layer of the atmosphere protects us from. The three questions with the lowest literacy are related to socio-economic issues. 62% of students correctly identified the definition of corporate social responsibility. 64% selected ‘reducing consumption of products’ as the correct answer for the question of which would be considered living in the most environmentally sustainable way. 71% selected the correct response for the best example of environmental justice.

In 2020, we enlisted the support of Dr. Leaf van Boven (Psychology and Neuroscience) to review questions and responses. Professor Van Boven is Principal Investigator of the Emotion, Judgment, Decision, and Identity lab, which includes two faculty, several doctoral students, and undergraduate research assistants. The Lab team's recommendations that helped improve the survey then carried over to the 2023 version. In 2023, Members of the Boulder Faculty Assembly Climate and Science Education Committee reviewed past questions and helped to select established questions OSU’s Assessment of Sustainabilty Knowledge (ASK) survey. Additionally, Dr. Phaedra Pezzullo (CMCI) offered suggestions for questions to better assess justice and sustainability.

A portion of the literacy questions have remained consistent in order to conduct pre and post assessments. The 4th year students in the 2023 representative sample survey are the 1st year students in the 2020 representative sample survey. Using the Power BI tool, we can isolate these demographics for comparison to evaluate if literacy has increased or decreased in a cohort.
The 2023 survey added questions regarding the newly adopted Sustainable Futures Common Curriculum Learning Outcomes to establish a baseline assessment.

The representative sample was generated by CU Office of Data Analytics https://www.colorado.edu/oda/surveys. ODA produced a stratified sample deemed representative of the undergraduate and graduate student population. The survey was sent out to the sample (n=4,496), with an 18% response rate for literacy questions (n=817).