| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 66.93 |
| Liaison | Kelly Wellman |
| Submission Date | Dec. 20, 2016 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Texas A&M University
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 4.00 |
Ben
Kalscheur Sustainability Assistant Manager Office of Sustainability |
Does the institution conduct an assessment of the sustainability literacy of its students (i.e. an assessment focused on student knowledge of sustainability topics and challenges)?:
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 sample of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment or the website URL where the assessment tool may be found:
See attached document.
A brief description of how the literacy assessment was developed and/or when it was adopted:
The literacy assessment was created by Office of Sustainability staff. We looked at similar assessments done by STARS peers as a starting point and then integrated our own specific TAMU questions. We combined the assessment of culture and literacy into one survey instrument.
We just completed our first survey of the campus community during the Fall 2016 semester, so we do not yet have a follow-up survey completed. However, we designed the survey to be administered annually and will be completing a follow-up assessment during the Fall 2017 semester and in subsequent years moving forward.
A brief description of how a representative sample was reached (if applicable) and how the assessment(s) were administered :
We worked with the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Evaluation (experts in designing and deploying surveys for our campus community) to design and administer the survey. They used email to randomly sample a representative portion of the entire students population. The survey was sent as a qualtrics link to randomly selected campus members. While our sample was representative of the entire student body our response rate for students was not high enough for the results to be considered representative at a 95% confidence interval.
A brief summary of results from the literacy assessment(s), including a description of any measurable changes over time:
Results of the study are evaluated by Office of Sustainability Staff and are used to better understand areas of both strength and weakness in regards to sustainability literacy acquired during students time at the university. We will share these results with our Sustainability Advisory Council and use them to make improvements. Highlights from the 2016 survey include: In regards to defining sustainability and it's three core areas, 70.45% of students correctly identified social sustainability, 80.68% were able to identify economic sustainability, and 97.73% were able to identify environmental sustainability. 86.36% of our students identified green house gases correctly, and 68.94% of our students were able to correctly identify ways in which a person's carbon footprint could increase.
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Due to a low response rate from students our results cannot be considered representative of the entire student body even though our sample pool was representative of the student body. This was our first year administering the survey, so we will refine our methods to increase response rates in subsequent years.
Due to a low response rate from students our results cannot be considered representative of the entire student body even though our sample pool was representative of the student body. This was our first year administering the survey, so we will refine our methods to increase response rates in subsequent years.
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.