| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.36 |
| Liaison | Patricia Huynh |
| Submission Date | Dec. 10, 2024 |
University of Waterloo
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Patricia
Huynh Sustainability Projects Manager Sustainability Office |
Does the institution conduct an assessment of the sustainability literacy of its students?:
Which of the following best describes the literacy assessment? The assessment is administered to::
Which of the following best describes the structure of the assessment? The assessment is administered as a::
A copy of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment(s):
A list or sample of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment or the website URL where the assessment tool may be found:
A brief description of how the literacy assessment was developed and/or when it was adopted:
The campus-wide literacy assessment was developed using feedback from faculty members specializing in sustainability, including members from the Integrating Sustainability into Curriculum working group at Waterloo. These experts ensured sustainabillity was being assessed holistically through the literacy evaluation, by including all pillars of sustainability. The main campus literacy assessment was adopted fall 2024 with the intention of running it annually.
A literacy assessment for CIVE 230: Engineering and Sustainable Development was developed by Dr. Nadine Ibrahim, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream in Civil and Environmental Engineering. This assessment has been on-going for the last several years.
A brief description of how a representative sample was reached (if applicable) and how the assessment(s) were administered :
For the campus wide assessment, the Sustainability Office hosted 2-hour "pop up pop quiz" booths across campus for a week in fall, encouraging campus members to complete the quiz on the spot. The assessment was also circulated on social media, different Microsoft Teams channels, listservs and newsletters.
The quiz was administered through Qualtrics, and demographic data such as program and year of study was collected from students to identify any knowledge gaps, and also compare results year over year. For example, during the next assessment, second year student results can be compared to results from first year student results from the previous assessment to see if sustainability literacy increases within this cohort of students as they progress in their academic journey.
CIVE 230: Engineering and Sustainable Development class does a literacy assesment at the beginning of the course and at the end of the course to gauge student learning over the semester and has been conducted for several years.
A brief summary of results from the literacy assessment(s):
- 67% of participants knew burning of fossil fuels is the leading cause of climate change
- 64% of participants knew what the Paris Agreement is
- 38% of participants knew goldenrod is a native species in Ontario
- 39% of participants knew deforestation is the leading human impact cause of biodiveristy loss
- 70% of participants understand the definition of circular economy
Optional Fields
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.