Assessing college students' sustainability literacy: the development, use, and analysis of an assessment tool

2017 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.This dissertation discusses the development, use, and analysis of a knowledge-based multiple-choice sustainability literacy assessment tool used in Spring 2016 at Colorado State University (CSU). CSU is a leading institution of sustainability education and research, and a participant of the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS). A component of STARS includes assessing college students' sustainability literacy. The study, and the sustainability literacy assessment tool described, were designed within the framework of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). Data sets were collected and analyzed from a sustainability literacy assessment given in Spring 2016. Findings from the study show students performed highest in environmental sustainability literacy and lowest in social sustainability literacy, two of three dimensions of the TBL. Additionally, four focus groups of students were held at CSU in Spring 2017. The focus groups informed the study of how students' defined the concept of sustainability and the three dimensions of the TBL. Findings from the focus groups indicated the design of the assessment tool did not garner meaningful results. The assessment tool was designed with knowledge-based multiple-choice questions, which did not accurately assess sustainability literacy, according to its definition. Recommendations for redesigning the assessment tool include designing questions that assess students' ability to apply systems-thinking and conduct critical thinking and problem-solving. Sustainability educators should seek to encourage transformational learning when teaching sustainability education. With the recommendations for assessment redesign, the researcher also includes suggestions of unique ways institutions of higher education can assess students' sustainability literacy

New directions in earth system governance research

The Earth System Governance project is a global research alliance that explores novel, effective governance mechanisms to cope with the current transitions in the biogeochemical systems of the planet. A decade after its inception, this article offers an overview of the project's new research framework (which is built upon a review of existing earth system governance research), the goal of which is to continue to stimulate a pluralistic, vibrant and relevant research community. This framework is composed of contextual conditions (transformations, inequality, Anthropocene and diversity), which capture what is being observed empirically, and five sets of research lenses (architecture and agency, democracy and power, justice and allocation, anticipation and imagination, and adaptiveness and reflexivity). Ultimately the goal is to guide and inspire the systematic study of how societies prepare for accelerated climate change and wider earth system change, as well as policy responses

New directions in earth system governance research

The Earth System Governance project is a global research alliance that explores novel, effective governance mechanisms to cope with the current transitions in the biogeochemical systems of the planet. A decade after its inception, this article offers an overview of the project's new research framework (which is built upon a review of existing earth system governance research), the goal of which is to continue to stimulate a pluralistic, vibrant and relevant research community. This framework is composed of contextual conditions (transformations, inequality, Anthropocene and diversity), which capture what is being observed empirically, and five sets of research lenses (architecture and agency, democracy and power, justice and allocation, anticipation and imagination, and adaptiveness and reflexivity). Ultimately the goal is to guide and inspire the systematic study of how societies prepare for accelerated climate change and wider earth system change, as well as policy responses

New directions in earth system governance research

The Earth System Governance project is a global research alliance that explores novel, effective governance mechanisms to cope with the current transitions in the biogeochemical systems of the planet. A decade after its inception, this article offers an overview of the project's new research framework (which is built upon a review of existing earth system governance research), the goal of which is to continue to stimulate a pluralistic, vibrant and relevant research community. This framework is composed of contextual conditions (transformations, inequality, Anthropocene and diversity), which capture what is being observed empirically, and five sets of research lenses (architecture and agency, democracy and power, justice and allocation, anticipation and imagination, and adaptiveness and reflexivity). Ultimately the goal is to guide and inspire the systematic study of how societies prepare for accelerated climate change and wider earth system change, as well as policy responses

New directions in earth system governance research

The Earth System Governance project is a global research alliance that explores novel, effective governance mechanisms to cope with the current transitions in the biogeochemical systems of the planet. A decade after its inception, this article offers an overview of the project's new research framework (which is built upon a review of existing earth system governance research), the goal of which is to continue to stimulate a pluralistic, vibrant and relevant research community. This framework is composed of contextual conditions (transformations, inequality, Anthropocene and diversity), which capture what is being observed empirically, and five sets of research lenses (architecture and agency, democracy and power, justice and allocation, anticipation and imagination, and adaptiveness and reflexivity). Ultimately the goal is to guide and inspire the systematic study of how societies prepare for accelerated climate change and wider earth system change, as well as policy responses