Arizona State University
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

Demographic and Survey Logic Questions (5 questions) • Which of the following best describes you? o Faculty member o Staff member o Student who takes most or all classes online (i.e., an online student) o Student who takes most or all classes on campus AND lives on campus o Student who takes most or all classes on campus BUT lives off-campus o Other (write-in response) • [If select Faculty, Staff, Off-campus student, or Other] Do you travel from your residence to one (or more) of ASU’s campuses/sites at least one day per week? o Yes, I travel to a campus/site at least one day per week. o No, I do not travel to a campus/site at least one day per week (e.g., online student, live on campus where attend classes, telecommute). • Do you regularly travel between ASU campuses/sites? In other words, do you travel from one ASU campus/site where you take classes or work to another ASU campus/site where you take classes or work? o No, I do not regularly travel between ASU campuses/sites. o Yes, I regularly travel between ASU campuses/sites. • If intercampus traveler: You indicated that you regularly travel between campuses/sites. Toward the end of this survey, you will be asked to provide information about how you travel between campuses/sites. Please be aware that these questions about intercampus travel will be separate from questions about how you travel on-campus and/or how you travel between campus and your residence. • Is English your native language? o Yes, I am a native English speaker. o No, I am NOT a native English speaker. • [If No to Native English] For how many years have you been speaking English? o Less than one year, 1-2 years, 2-3 years…9-10 years, more than 10 years   Sustainability Literacy Questions (8 Questions) • Compared to previous versions of the Sustainability Literacy survey, I standardized the difficulty of the items so that any differences in scores are more likely to be due to differences in knowledge rather than differences in test-taking ability o Same number of responses for each question (5 including do not know) o Removed “all of the above” and “none of the above” response choices—now, always 3 “wrong” choices and 1 “correct” choice Note: Within this section, the 8 questions are displayed in a random order. And, for each question, responses A-D are presented in a random order, with E (Do not know) at the end. (Instructions) Now, we are going to ask you a few questions to assess how much you know about the topic of sustainability. This section is more like a quiz than a survey. Each question is multiple-choice, and for each question there is one answer that is more correct than the others. This is NOT designed to test your intelligence or assess your general knowledge. By answering each question honestly and to the best of your ability, ASU will have a better understanding of how much our students, faculty, and staff know about the topic of sustainability. At the end of this survey, there will be a list of resources where you can learn more about sustainability at ASU. (1) Which one of the following dimensions is NOT included in the most widely used concept of sustainability? a. Society b. Democracy c. Environment d. Economy e. Do not know (2) Which of the following is the most commonly used definition of sustainable development? a. Creating a government welfare system that ensures universal access to education, health care, and social services. b. Building a neighborhood that is both socio-demographically and economically diverse. c. Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. d. Setting aside resources for preservation, never to be used. e. Do not know (3) Which of the following statements about the relationship between environmental issues and socioeconomic issues is true? a. Poorer people are disproportionately impacted by climate change because they are more likely to live in areas threatened by water scarcity, vector-borne disease, and/or potential damage from storms and floods. b. Wealthier people are disproportionately impacted by climate change because they are more likely to own properties and business that can be negatively influenced by water scarcity, vector-borne disease, and/or potential damage from storms and floods. c. People of all socioeconomic classes are equally impacted by climate change, but for different reasons. d. Environmental issues and socioeconomic issues are unrelated. e. Do not know (4) Which of the following statements about greenhouse gases is TRUE? a. Greenhouse gases allow solar radiation to escape from the Earth’s atmosphere. b. Methane is the most prevalent greenhouse gas. c. Greenhouse gases help cool the Earth. d. Carbon dioxide is the most prevalent greenhouse gas. e. Do not know (5) Many economists argue that electricity prices in the U.S. are too low because: a. They do not reflect the cost of pollution and other social effects 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. Do not know (6) In some markets, Styrofoam cannot be placed into the common recycling bins because: a. Styrofoam is not recyclable. b. Styrofoam damages equipment at the recycling facility. c. Styrofoam is expensive to capture and recycle, so it needs to be captured separately. d. Styrofoam takes up too much space in the recycling bins. e. Do not know (7) The most effective strategy implemented in large buildings and facilities to conserve water is: a. Installing high efficiency appliances and fixtures and developing ways to recycle water. b. Placing limits on water use. c. Implementing employee engagement programs that create a “culture of conservation”. d. Repairing leaks in existing appliances and fixtures. e. Do not know (8) The entrée with the highest carbon footprint is a: a. Serving of chicken wings. b. Lamb chop. c. Veggie burger. d. Salmon fillet. e. Do not know

This survey was developed by a small committee of experts at ASU. The committee reviewed other similar surveys from across the country, primarily Ohio State's, and compiled the survey to best serve ASU's goals. It has been refined with the support of a Psychology Post-Doctoral student.

Survey Period: January 12, 2016 – February 7, 2016 and January 9, 2017 - February 3, 2017 and February/March 2018. Surveys distributed (2017): Over 40,000 students and over 10,000 faculty and staff. Total number of completed surveys: Over 11,000 Response Percentage: greater than 20% We are following the same procedures as 2016 and 2017 for 2018 and will have final results by the end of March 2018. This assessment meets the criteria for representative sample because ASU takes a random sample of the student population (40,000 each year) and uses the entire faculty/staff population each year. The random sample of the student population is then adjusted to ensure weights carry evenly each year. Details of how this is achieved will be in the final report. More detailed information can be found in the final report.

Key Observations Sustainability Literacy • Sustainability literacy seems to be evenly divided along gender lines, with females outperforming males in four questions, while males outperforming females in the other four. • The percentage of correct responses in the sustainability literacy domain, generally increased from freshmen up through to graduate-level students. However, in some questions seniors outdo graduates, while in a couple of other questions, juniors and sophomores scored a higher percentage of correct responses than higher academic levels. • Comparing correct responses between 2016 and 2017 show that responses were very similar however, the number of students that scored 75% or more dropped from 27.06% to 25.8% (Goal: achieve 90% sustainability literacy by FY2021). Sustainability Culture • The majority of respondents indicated that they have considerable or moderate interest in sustainability (around 69%), while just a few (around 9.5%) have a passion for sustainability (Goal: achieve a culture of sustainability within 75% of university community members by FY2021). • Interest in sustainability appears to be evenly divided along the gender lines. • Generally, the environment and its associated issues are valued the most when compared to equality and tolerance. • Nearly 36% of respondents identified that they “care about ASU providing sustainable food/dining options, but unaware of whether there are any”. Sustainability Behavior • Across all sustainability behaviors, 48.1% of respondents answered “Most of the Time” or “All of the Time” (Goal: achieve an average of 75% adoption rate of sustainability behaviors by campus community members by FY2021). • Less than 50% of the respondents were confident in knowing how to report water leaks and/or energy issue.

Corey Hawkey