| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.35 |
| Liaison | Jessica Bast |
| Submission Date | Aug. 9, 2022 |
North Carolina State University
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 4.00 |
Jessica
Bast Sustainability Program Coordinator University 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:
Sample questions include:
1. The United Nations has how many Sustainable Development Goals?
2. What percentage of the Earth's water is available as fresh drinking water?
3. What equity-related goals/targets are included in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
4. Over the past 30 years, what has happened to wealth disparity in the United States?
A brief description of how the literacy assessment was developed and/or when it was adopted:
The assessment was developed by the University Sustainability Office and was intended to include social, economic, and environmental sustainability questions. Some questions are NC State-specific, while others are more general knowledge topics. Additionally, the Office of Global Engagement launched a programming initiative in fall 2021 around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), which prompted the Sustainability Office to incorporate SDG-specific questions.
A brief description of how a representative sample was reached (if applicable) and how the assessment(s) were administered :
The assessment was administered to students in the ES 100 course (Introduction to Environmental Sciences) at the beginning of the spring 2022 semester. This course attracts nearly 200 undergraduate students from a wide variety of academic programs, which allowed us to reach a representative sample of the predominant undergraduate student population.
A brief summary of results from the literacy assessment(s):
182 students completed the assessment. The most correctly-answered questions from the assessment were how to sort plastic water bottles (99% correctly answered) and aluminum cans (93% correctly answered). The most incorrectly-answered questions were how to sort pizza boxes (36% correctly answered) and plastic bags (42% correctly answered). There were a variety of questions that addressed environmental, social, and economic sustainability, and based on correctness, students were most knowledgeable on social sustainability topics. The following questions addressed social sustainability: What is the definition of environmental justice? (76% correctly answered)
Over the past 30 years, what has happened to wealth disparity in the United States? (90% correct correctly answered)
What is the most commonly recognized definition of sustainable development? (91% correctly answered)
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.