Current practice of assessing students’ sustainability competencies: a review of tools

Abstract

While there is growing agreement on the competencies sustainability professionals should possess as well as the pedagogies to develop them, the practice of assessing students' sustainability competencies is still in its infancy. Despite growing interest among researchers, there has not yet been a systematic review of how students' sustainability competencies are currently assessed. This review article responds to this need by examining what tools are currently used for assessing students' sustainability competencies to inform future practice. A systematic literature review was conducted for publications through the end of 2019, resulting in 75 relevant studies that detail the use of an assessment tool. We analyzed the described tools regarding their main features, strengths and weaknesses, as well as potential improvements. Based on this analysis, we first propose a typology of eight assessment tools, which fall into three meta-types: self-perceiving, observation, and test-based approaches, providing specific examples of practice for all tools. We then articulate strengths and weaknesses as well as potential improvements for each tool (type). This study structures the field of sustainability competency assessment, provides a criteria-based overview of the currently used tools, and highlights promising future developments. For the practice, it provides guidance to sustainability (science) instructors, researchers, and program directors who are interested in using competencies assessment tools in more informed ways.

Assessment of the Quality Education Awareness Competence of Pre-Service Educators Using Vignettes

“…While there is an ample body of theoretical studies on sustainability competency frameworks [40], few discuss the ways in which to evaluate these competencies and/or learning outcomes [41]. The specialised literature focused on learning outcomes uses different terms to refer to the attributes that university students should develop.…”

“…Internationally, there is the Sustainability Literacy Test (the SuLiTest) [43] and the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire [44], while in Spain we have the Self-perception Skills in Sustainability (SQSS) [45] questionnaire. A literature review of the tools used to evaluate sustainability competencies indicated that, among these tools, there is an overrepresentation of the evaluation methodology based on self-assessment questionnaires [41]. There are certain limitations in the relation of self-assessment with conduct, because of the response bias that self-reported measures surveys may pose [46].…”

“…Vignettes offer the chance to explore complex issues related to a participant's point of view, beliefs, and understanding of a particular situation [47]. In addition, vignettes bring authenticity and realism, heightening the internal and external validity of the measure [48] and allowing students to manifest the competency in a real-hypothetical situation [41].…”

“…Vignettes-as a technique for the evaluation of students' competencies-are frequently used in the fields of health [50], psychology [51], and education [52]. In the field of sustainability, few studies have been completed using this methodology to evaluate competencies [41]. Sandri et al [53] and Holdsworth et al [54] completed a study on the learning outcomes of university graduates using an evaluation instrument based on vignettes/scenarios.…”

Using Group Model Building to Foster Learning for Strategic Sustainable Development

“…Continuing to assess the effect of learning activities and environments that aim to foster learning for sustainability leads to the concept of key sustainability competencies [23]. Several frameworks for sustainability competencies have been presented such as Albareda-Tiana et al's (2020) recent Sustainability Competency Map of Education Degrees [24].…”