Luther College
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

First Year questions: Q1 – Q14
Juniors: Q1 - Q16

Q1 - An approach that seeks to understand sustainability problems by examining interactions and feedbacks within and between human and natural systems is called:
- Deductive Reasoning
- Inductive Reasoning
- Strategic Thinking
- Systems Thinking

Q2 - What is the largest source of electricity for the regional electric grid that serves Decorah and Luther College?
- Natural Gas
- Renewables
- Coal
- Nuclear

Q3 - How has the gap in income between the richest and poorest households in the United States changed over the last 30 years?

- Increased
- Decreased
- Neither increased or decreased
- Changed dramatically from year to year
Q4 - Please note how much you engage in the following practices. Move the slider all the way left for not at all and all the way right for as much as possible.
- Use means other than a car to get around town
- Use a refillable water bottle
- Take care of belongings so they last a long time
- Turn of lights, computers and other items when not in use
- Recycle
- Eat meals with little or no meat
- Make conscious efforts to create an inclusive and welcoming climate on campus
- Explore Luther’s natural areas
- Shop at local thrift stores
- Advocate for action by elected or other public officials

Q5 - Many economists argue that electricity prices in the U.S. are too low because:
- The prices do not reflect social and ecological costs caused by pollution from generating electricity.
- Profits of electric utilities are too low.
- Higher electricity prices would stimulate economic growth.
- Low electricity prices make the U.S. less competitive in international markets.

Q6 - The greenhouse effect warms Earth's climate because:
- There is an increased concentration of gasses that trap heat in the atmosphere.
- Earth’s atmosphere becomes thinner allowing more harmful radiation to hit the earth’s surface.
- The amount of visible solar radiation that reaches Earth's surface increases.
- The amount of visible solar radiation that reaches Earth's surface decreases.
Q7 - Sustainable development as: ("Source: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/")
- Maintaining current incomes and quality of life forever
- Increasing consumption at a constant rate
- Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
- Setting aside resources for preservation, never to be used.

Q8 - Please note how strongly you associate each goal below with creating a sustainable society. Move the slider all the way left for not at all and all the way right for the strongest association possible
- Strengthening the economy
- Reducing income inequality
- Improving access to healthcare
- Improving access to local, nutritious foods
- Protecting the environment
- Ending fossil fuel consumption
- Increasing renewable energy consumption
- Achieving carbon neutrality by 2050
- Conserving resources for future generations
- Decreasing crime
- Ending discrimination
- Improving public education
- Keeping taxes low
- Limiting government

Q9 - Please note any goals that you strongly associate with creating a sustainable society but were missing from the previous list

Q10 - Corn in Iowa is grown for human consumption (sweet corn) as well as for livestock feed and ethanol production. Which ratio best describes the breakdown of how Iowa corn gets used:
- 90% human consumption / 10% livestock & ethanol
- 50% human consumption / 50% livestock and ethanol
- 10% human consumption / 90% livestock & ethanol
- 1% human consumption / 99% livestock and ethanol

Q11 - According to the US Energy Information Administration, which state in 2019 led the nation by generating 42% of its electricity from wind?
- California
- Kansas
- Minnesota
- Iowa

Q12 - In the American Midwest, what is the current primary impact of global climate change?
- Increased precipitation leading to flooding
- Decreased precipitation leading to droughts
- Sea level rise flooding cities such as Chicago
- Heat waves causing fires
- There is no noticeable impact
Q13 - What is your primary mode of daily transportation to and from campus?
- Live on campus so I don’t commute
- Drive a car with only myself in it
- Walk, bicycle or other non-motorized means of transportation
- Vanpool or carpool
- Ride motorcycle or motorized scooter
- Other

Q14 - How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
- I take pride in Luther’s commitment to sustainability
- Luther’s sustainability efforts will enrich my education and college experience.
- Too much emphasis is given to sustainability at Luther.
- Sustainability was an important factor in my decision to come to Luther.
- Luther’s sustainability performance meets or exceeds my expectations.

The following two questions were not asked to First Year students as they inquire about on-campus experiences that first year students would have no experience when they just arrive at Luther College.

Q15 – Have you engaged in any of the following activities as part of your academic courses at Luther college?
- Visited an area of campus or the college farm to learn about sustainability.
- Interacted with Decorah residents to learn about the local community.
- Participated in a field trip in the area to learn about local resources.
- Conducted experiments in a lab to examine sustainability­-related concepts.
- Developed and tested a solution to a sustainability problem on campus or in a community.
- Examined civic responsibilities, ethical questions, or personal values in relation to sustainability.
- Examined sustainability perspectives or approaches in a non­-U.S. context.
- Created an artistic work to explore or communicate sustainability concepts.
- Conducted a significant research project on a sustainability­-related topic.

Q16 - How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Since coming to Luther I have . . .
- Gained greater understanding of sustainability.
- Become more sustainable in my personal lifestyle.
- Developed greater motivation for promoting sustainability in the communities of which I am a member.
- Gained confidence in my abilities to create positive change in the world.

Luther College's Center for Sustainable Communities developed a sustainability literacy assessment in 2019 with the assistance of the Office of Assessment and Institutional Research. Input for the assessment was obtained by students, staff, faculty members in the Environmental Studies department, peer institutions, and members of the Sustainability Council. The purpose of the assessment is to allow the Center to measure current students' behaviors, beliefs, and knowledge of sustainable systems so that we may better understand the baseline of sustainability knowledge that students possess when we design curriculum, events, and learning goals. The survey will allow the Center to assess whether or not Luther students are meeting the all-college learning goals related to sustainability. The results will help us understand the parts of our work that are reaching students and the parts where we could be more strategic in our outreach. Although this is the first assessment we are administering to measure sustainability knowledge and beliefs, we intend for this survey to be given every three years to representative samples of the student body. A longitudinal study will allow us to measure the change in behaviors and beliefs over time.

The Associate Dean for Program and Learning Assessment helped the Center for Sustainable Communities modify the original survey language, and administered two separate surveys in 2021. The first survey was sent to all juniors (n=412) on April 18, 2021, with reminders sent out on April 21 and 24. 144 students clicked on the survey and 92 completed the survey.

The second survey was sent to all first year students (n=436) on October 4, 2021, with reminders sent on October 14 and 30. The survey was clicked on by 138 students, and completed by 44.

The surveys to junior and first year students are considered to be a pre- and post-test survey, as the representative junior survey is considered to be a representative post-test for the first years.

The junior survey contains two additional questions that were not offered to first year students. The first asks juniors to identify sustainability aspects they have encountered through classroom activities. The second asks them to reflect up ways their sustainability attitudes and behaviors have changed since coming to Luther.

First year respondents showed reasonably high knowledge/understanding about the rise in income disparity, the hidden costs of pollution in creating electricity, how greenhouse gas warms earth's climate and the definition of sustainable development.

On average, survey respondents were only about half certain which state led the nation in percentage of wind generation (Iowa, not Kansas). And only one-third or less knew: which weather phenomenon Iowa was most likely to suffer because of climate change (floods, not droughts); the definition of "systems thinking;" and that natural gas is the biggest source of electricity in the grid that serves Luther College.

Regarding attitudes, first year respondents indicated high or very high overall support for reducing carbon emissions, reducing inequality, improving access to healthcare, ending fossil fuel consumption, increasing renewables, ending discrimination, and accounting for the needs of future generations, as ways to create a sustainable society. There was a greater disparity among answers regarding options like limiting government, keeping taxes low, and decreasing crime.

With respect to behaviors that respondents engage in most, there was very strong support for simple routine behaviors, like using a refillable water bottle, turning off lights, and taking care of things to make them last longer. There was slightly less, but still strong support for spending time in natural areas, recycling, and creating a welcoming climate on campus. Support was reduced to less than half, on average, for using transportation other than a car, eating meals with little or no meat, buying at thrift stores, and advocating for action by elected or public officials.