Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 53.11
Liaison Elizabeth Malcolm
Submission Date Jan. 19, 2023

STARS v2.2

Virginia Wesleyan University
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 4.00 Maynard Schaus
Professor
Biology and Earth & Environmental Sciences
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution conduct an assessment of the sustainability literacy of its students?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the literacy assessment? The assessment is administered to::
A subset of students or a sample that may not be representative of the predominant student body

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

This was administered in Nov. 2022 to the HON 110 course, as an initial cohort. This class examined the sustainable development goals for the whole semester, so we wondered how they would score on the Sulitest. Future semesters will include post-tests for several courses (ENVS 106, WES 200, etc.) that examine sustainability. We will examine the utility of this test to assess our programs and beginning vs. graduating students in the future.

A link was shared with students in the group, to encourage them to complete the exam.


A brief summary of results from the literacy assessment(s):

On the Global exam, the students averaged a score of 59, which is at the 50% level. On the USA-specific questions, the average score was a 44 (55%). Both of these are slightly below the national or worldwide average.
Our students scored especially well on "Knowledge - Role to play, individual & systemic change" and "Mindset".
In future years we will note any change over time, and hope to expand the test's administration.


Website URL where information about the sustainability literacy assessment is available:
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.