2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Predicting Sustainability Literacy in Engineering Students: A Random Forest Analysis

Presented at Sustainability Literacy and Education- ENVEST Division (Tech Session 5/7)

Sustainability literacy has become a critical component in advancing Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Integrating ESD into the design of global engineering curricula involves embedding sustainability literacy as a core element. As a result, teaching and assessing sustainability knowledge in higher education institutions is vital to raising sustainability awareness and promoting ESD.
This study aims to identify the most influential predictors of sustainability literacy using a Random Forest regression model. The sample consisted of 105 undergraduate engineering students from a university in Bogotá, Colombia. Sustainability literacy was measured using the Sustainability Literacy Test (Sulitest), a validated international assessment instrument. The Random Forest Analysis included nine predictors mixing between four numerical variables such as Sustainable Humanity, Transition Towards Sustainability, Global–Local Human Interactions, and Role to Play and five categorical variables like academic program, age, years of working experience, semester, gender.
The model achieved strong predictive performance (Test R² = 0.878; RMSE = 7.94; MAE = 5.95), explaining 86.61% of variance in literacy scores. Variable importance metrics (%IncMSE and IncNodePurity) revealed that Sustainable Humanity (31.26%) and Transition Towards Sustainability (26.63%) were the most influential predictors, while demographic variables showed negligible impact. Consequently, this research demonstrated Sustainable Humanity was the strongest predictor of sustainability literacy, followed by Transition Towards and Global–Local Human, underscoring the importance of human awareness, transitional dynamics, and global-local perspectives in shaping sustainability knowledge.

Authors

Dr. Sandra Jennina Sanchez Florida International University [biography]

Ph.D. in Higher Education at Florida International University. Ph.D. in Business Competitiveness and Economic Development from University of Deusto in Spain. Master of Business Administration (MBA) from University of Dallas, Texas. B.S. in Business Administration from Externado University in Colombia. Bilingual in English, and Spanish.
Expert in transforming educational models, with 12 years of experience in the education sector, managing and leading programs of high academic recognition and international positioning. 10 years of business experience in financial and administrative areas, leading organizational change management processes
Dr. MILTON JANUARIO RUEDA http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0338-5327 Universidad Ean [biography]

Statistician, specialist in financial analysis and management, Master in Statistics, and Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Konstanz, Germany. Research professor – Director of Doctoral Programs at Ean University, with over 30 years of experience in data analysis. Extensive teaching experience at various universities, speaker, and consultant for project development in public and private sector organizations. Specialist in advanced information analysis techniques, statistics and applications, data analysis and information methodologies, projects, engineering, economics, and business.
Julian Rodrigo Sosa-Molano Florida International University [biography]

Julian is a graduate research assistant at Florida International University. He holds a BSc in Electronics Engineering from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia and a MSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering from The University of Arizona. He is pursuing his PhD degree in Engineering and Computing Education at Florida International University. He has professional experience in Information Technology, Semiconductors, and Telecommunications in international companies such as Ecopetrol, Texas Instruments, and Ericsson. His research interests focus on inclusive STEM learning and teaching methodologies for students with physical disabilities.
PABLO CESAR OCAMPO EAN University

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