| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 55.23 |
| Liaison | Anne Duncan |
| Submission Date | March 5, 2014 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Wartburg College
ER-13: Sustainability Literacy Assessment
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 2.00 |
Daniel
Sundblad Assistant Professor of Sociology Social Sciences |
Has the institution conducted a sustainability literacy assessment?:
Did the assessment include a baseline evaluation of students and then a follow-up evaluation of the same cohort?:
A copy of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment:
A copy of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment :
A brief description of how the assessment was developed:
A member of the sustainability advisory committee, with sociology expertise, conducted research of existing assessment tools, ultimately settling on the Ohio State University & University of Maryland assessment. We adopted some questions and eliminate a few to make it applicable to our climate and environmental issues.
A brief description of how the assessment was administered:
Using surveymonkey.com we asked students to complete the survey. They were incentivized with prizes like a bookstore gift card and sustainability t-shirts. Students were notified through various emails and social media posts. We received a response from 16.2% of our students. There was equal representation of grade status and gender.
The first assessment was conducted in December of 2013. It is our intent to conduct a follow-up assessment annually.
A brief summary of results from the assessment:
The survey questions reflected that of previously tested instruments by the Ohio State University and the University of Maryland. The twenty-six survey questions addressed six topics of sustainability. Preliminary data analysis reveals a 16.2% student response rate, consistently spread throughout the student population. The cumulative average of student scores was 65.6%. First year students scored an average of 55.2%, second year students scored 59.4%, third year students averaged 65.5%, and fourth year students scored and average of 69.7%. The analysis thus far demonstrates steady and positive upward trends of student scores as they progress throughout their time at Wartburg College, with the overall increase of approximately 14.5 percentage points between first and fourth year students.
The questions were divided into 6 subject groups; Natural Resources, Economy, Energy, Climate, Behavior, and Policy. Students scored the best in the Policy group (74.7% correct) and poorest in the Energy group (54.4%). The results showed that students are learning about sustainability through their education, but we have a lot of room to improve.
These initial findings provide a baseline for future analysis of Wartburg College student knowledge of sustainability.
The website URL where information about the literacy assessment is available:
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.