2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Sustainability Literacy has become crucial in promoting Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Embedding ESD in the design of global engineering courses implies the incorporation of Sustainability Literacy into curricula. Then, teaching and assessing sustainability knowledge in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is essential to enhance sustainability awareness and to foster sustainable development. As a result, there is an increasing need in educating engineering students about sustainability knowledge to tackle sustainability related issues. In response to that need, this study aims to examine the increase of sustainability knowledge in the Industrial Engineering students at UniMinuto University in Colombia.

Students answered the Sustainability Literacy Test (Sulitest), an online standardized assessment tool that tests sustainability knowledge. The sample frame comprises 105 industrial engineering students at UniMinuto University in the city of Buga, Colombia. A binary logistic regression was applied to assess the significance of sustainability knowledge in relation to the students’ educational level. The results exhibit statistically significant differences between sustainability knowledge scores and the semester enrolled in the program.

Higher educational levels are associated with a higher likelihood of obtaining a better overall sustainability knowledge score. The probability of achieving higher overall sustainability knowledge scores is approximately 20% as industrial engineering students advance in the program. In addition, in the logistic regression model, confidence intervals can be calculated for the odds, where it is seen that the influence of the educational level can range from 1% to 43%. This is consistent with the fact that students are exposed to sustainability issues as they proceed through their studies, leading to greater knowledge of this topic. The results are valuable because they point out the significant importance of designing sustainable global courses in academic engineering programs. To the extent that HEIs incorporate and assess sustainability learning outcomes into curriculum, the future generations of leaders will promote a more sustainable future.