| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 46.55 |
| Liaison | Keaton Schrank |
| Submission Date | Aug. 16, 2022 |
Westminster University - Utah
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 4.00 |
Keaton
Schrank Environmental Center Manager Environmental Center |
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:
ENVIRONMENT
1. What is the most common cause of pollution of streams and rivers? (OSU1)
a. Dumping of garbage by cities
b. Surface water running off yards, city streets, paved lots, and farm fields
c. Litter near streams and rivers
d. Waste dumped by factories
e. Don't know
2. Ozone forms a protective layer in the earth's upper atmosphere. What does ozone protect us from? (OSU2)
a. Acid rain
b. Climate change
c. Sudden changes in temperature
d. Harmful UV rays
e. Don't know
3. Which of the following is an example of sustainable forest management? (OSU5)
a. Setting aside forests to be off limits to the public
b. Never harvesting more than what the forest produces in new growth
c. Producing lumber for nearby communities to build affordable housing
d. Putting the local communities in charge of forest resources
e. Don’t know
4. Of the following, which would be considered living in the most environmentally sustainable way? (UMD7)
a. Recycling all recyclable packaging
b. Reducing consumption of all products
c. Buying products labeled "eco" or "green"
d. Buying the newest products available
e. Don't know
SOCIAL
5. Which of the following is the most commonly used definition of sustainable development? (OSU7)
a. Creating a government welfare system that ensures universal access to education, health care, and social services
b. Setting aside resources for preservation, never to be used
c. Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
d. Building a neighborhood that is both socio-demographically and economically diverse
e. Don’t know
6. Over the past 3 decades, what has happened to the difference between the wealth of the richest and poorest Americans? (OSU8)
a. The difference has increased
b. The difference has stayed about the same
c. The difference has decreased
d. Don’t know
ECONOMIC
7. Many economists argue that electricity prices in the U.S. are too low because... (OSU14)
a. They do not reflect the costs of pollution from generating the electricity
b. Too many suppliers go out of business
c. Electric companies have a monopoly in their service area
d. Consumers spend only a small part of their income on energy
e. Don’t know
8. Which of the following is the most commonly used definition of economic sustainability? (OSU15)
a. Maximizing the share price of a company's stock
b. Long term profitability
c. When costs equal revenue
d. Continually expanding market share
e. Don’t know
ECON/ENV
9. Which of the following countries passed the U.S. to become the largest emitter of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide? (OSU12)
a. China
b. Sweden
c. Brazil
d. Japan
e. Don’t know
10. Which of the following is a leading cause of the depletion of fish stocks in the Atlantic Ocean? (OSU16)
a. Fishermen seeking to maximize their catch
b. Reduced fish fertility due to genetic hybridization
c. Ocean pollution
d. Global climate change
e. Don’t know
SOC/ECON
11. Which of the following is the best example of environmental justice? (UMD6)
a. Urban citizens win a bill to have toxic wastes taken to rural communities
b. The government dams a river, flooding Native American tribal lands to create hydro-power for large cities
c. All stakeholders from an indigenous community are involved in setting a quota for the amount of wood they can take from a protected forest next to their village
d. Multi-national corporations build factories in developing countries where environmental laws are less strict.
e. Don’t know
ENV/SOC
12. Put the following list in order of the activities with the largest environmental impact to those with the smallest environmental impact: (UMD13)
A. Keeping a cell phone charger plugged into an electrical outlet for 12 hours
B. Producing one McDonald's quarter-pound hamburger
C. Producing one McDonald's chicken sandwich
D. Flying in a commercial airplane from Washington D.C. to China
a. A, C, B, D
b. D, A, B, C
c. D, C, B, A
d. D, B, C, A
e. Don’t know
A brief description of how the literacy assessment was developed and/or when it was adopted:
We used the ASK questions developed by The Ohio State University beginning in 2019.
Citation: Zwickle A., Jones K. (2018) Sustainability Knowledge and Attitudes—Assessing Latent Constructs. In: Leal Filho W., Marans R., Callewaert J. (eds) Handbook of Sustainability and Social Science Research. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham
A brief description of how a representative sample was reached (if applicable) and how the assessment(s) were administered :
The tool was sent via email to all undergraduate and graduate students.
A brief summary of results from the literacy assessment(s):
Percentage of responses with correct answers below:
1. What is the most common cause of pollution of streams and rivers? (OSU1) 52%
2. Ozone forms a protective layer in the earth's upper atmosphere. What does ozone protect us from? (OSU2) 86%
3. Which of the following is an example of sustainable forest management? (OSU5) 71%
4. Of the following, which would be considered living in the most environmentally sustainable way? (UMD7) 75%
5. Which of the following is the most commonly used definition of sustainable development? (OSU7) 68%
6. Over the past 3 decades, what has happened to the difference between the wealth of the richest and poorest Americans? (OSU8) 94%
7. Many economists argue that electricity prices in the U.S. are too low because... (OSU14) 67%
8. Which of the following is the most commonly used definition of economic sustainability? (OSU15) 44%
9. Which of the following countries passed the U.S. to become the largest emitter of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide? (OSU12) 79%
10. Which of the following is a leading cause of the depletion of fish stocks in the Atlantic Ocean? (OSU16) 25%
11. Which of the following is the best example of environmental justice? (UMD6) 65%
12. Put the following list in order of the activities with the largest environmental impact to those with the smallest environmental impact: (UMD13) 54%
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:
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