University of Vermont
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

Starting with the incoming class of Fall 2015, The University of Vermont has implemented a Sustainability General Education graduation requirement. Students will engage in sustainability in the context of courses, curriculum and co-curricular activity. Since student learning will be anchored in these experiences, best practice suggests that assessment must be closely tied to the experience in which learning occurs. In the spring of 2016, the Associate Provost for Teaching and Learning charged a multidisciplinary faculty committee to develop a five-year assessment plan to gauge the degree to which students are achieving the four sustainability learning outcomes (see AC 2 Learning Outcomes). In Fall 2016, 37 faculty who are teaching courses that have been designated as meeting the Sustainability Learning Outcome General Education requirement were be invited to participate in the assessment process. Eleven faculty agreed to participate in the pilot assessment program, representing a range of disciplines and class formats: Art, Design and the Environment Environmental Eco-criticism Human Health and the Environment Introduction to Environmental Studies Introduction to Environmental Science Introduction to Sociology Introduction to Ecological Agriculture Marketing Communications Religion and Sustainability Social Education and Social Studies Sociology of Disaster The Sustainability Gen Ed Assessment Committee, a seven person multidiscplinary committee reporting to the Associate Provost, will use a variety of methods to collect data to determine the degree to which students are meeting the intent of the outcomes: 1) Indirect assessment of student work by the faculty teaching the SU courses. Faculty describe the degree to which the course assignment/assessment facilitate student achievement of a specific learning outcome. Faculty completed the “Faculty Appraisal of Student Learning” survey for each outcome they are assessing (see Optional documents). We are currently analyzing data from these surveys. 2) Conduct a series of 4 - 5 student focus groups in mid-late January, 2017. All students enrolled in those courses that are part of the pilot program (approximately 820 students) will be invited to a focus group. - These focus groups will be facilitated by student leaders who have participated in a semester-long training on focus group facilitation. by UVM’s Center for Teaching and Learning. The following is a list of questions that will be discussed: What drew you to the SU class (or classes) that you chose People have many different definitions or ways of presenting the idea of sustainability. What does sustainability mean to you? Would you say that this has changed since taking your SU class? For those who said their ideas of sustainability changed over the course of the class, what were your perceptions of sustainability then and how have they chan In your SU classes, are you aware of the SU outcomes listed by the University? How has your instructor made sure that the class is aware of the learning objectives? Has the instructor mentioned them in class or are they stated in the syllabus, if at all? What types of approaches to classwork do you think worked well in your SU classes? (Group work, Service Learning, essays, etc.) Do you think these approaches helped you with your learning about sustainability? Why or why not? Can you give an example of when your experience in these classes inspire or motivate you to find more SU experiences beyond the classroom? If this never happened in your class, can you explain why? What changes to the course (i.e. assignments, length of time devoted to a sustainability topic, readings, teaching strategies) may have helped you better achieve the sustainability learning outcomes? Are there any other aspects of SU that you think are important for us to know? 3) Collect direct feedback from faculty. Faculty will be invited to a focus group in late January 2017 to discuss their experience with colleagues and share insights with assessment coordinators. The Center for Teaching and Learning will also offer professional development events that focus on pedagogical strategies to enhance student learning of sustainability and to identify what actions are needed at an institutional level to improve student achievement of the SU outcomes.

All undergraduates are required to take an SU class before graduation. However, not all will necessarily participate in these assessments because faculty opt into participating, they are not required to participate. We are trying to create a culture of assessment, one in which faculty participate from a place of curiosity and commitment to learn about teaching, and I don’t see that changing in the near future. Therefore, we may not have all SU faculty participating in any given semester and would not have a representative sample.

The Sustainability General Education Assessment Committee is still collecting and analyzing survey and focus group data from students and faculty. At the time of this submission, we have some preliminary results. Faculty submitted both qualitative and quantitative analysis of their assessment of student learning of the four sustainability learning outcomes (SLOs). The majority of faculty rated student achievement of the SLOs between 70 - 100%. Qualitative comments revealed that there are some pedagogical challenges to assessing the SLOs. Several of courses in the pilot assessment program were at the introductory level and tended to enroll first year students. While there are benefits to introducing the sustainability learning outcomes in the first year, there are also pedagogical challenges. Because of where students are in their knowledge of the discipline, it is difficult to for students to arrive at using an ”evidence-based disciplinary" approach (SLO 2). Most students do not have a firm grasp on the discipline on which to apply an evidence-based approach that employs critical thinking. In addition, from a developmental perspective, many first year students may not be ready to move past an appreciation of the complexity of sustainability and be able to apply critical thinking and reflection skills (SLO 3). A final report, including student focus group results, recommendations and a five-year plan for future assessment efforts, will be submitted to the Associate Provost and the Sustainability Curriculum Review Committee in May 2017. This is the first assessment year so changes over time can not be observed but will be included in future reports. The report will be published to UVM’s Assessment website: http://www.uvm.edu/assessment/