Rate your course
Feedback from our pilot
Based on the quality principles you saw in the last section, we developed and tested some criteria to rate the quality of sustainability learning in courses and assign a medal. The film below will give you an idea of what this is about BUT based on student feedback we made some changes you’ll see in the final criteria below. To find out more about these changes and why we made them, visit the main project website here.
Click for transcript
Course rating criteria
Undergraduate rating criteria
No medal
No relevant sustainability learning e.g. no medal if issues are labelled ‘financial sustainability’ or ‘social sustainability’ but treated separately, without any links to the environment; or environmental teaching happens without any social and economic view
Bronze
At least once in a compulsory module or unit
Relevant teaching where the content has an authentic joined-up sustainability approach – e.g. ‘equality’ or ‘wellbeing’ is clearly linked to the environment, not treated as a separate issue
Silver
At least once in a compulsory module or unit
Either
an assessment where joined-up sustainability knowledge and subject knowledge are applied together
OR
Relevant teaching where the content has an authentic joined-up sustainability approach (like at bronze) AND the teaching ALSO has a decolonial focus
Gold
In a compulsory module or unit at each level (i.e. 1st , 2nd and 3rd year if you are a full-time student on a 3-year undergraduate course)
Either
an assessment where joined-up sustainability knowledge and subject knowledge are applied together
OR
Relevant teaching where the content has an authentic joined-up sustainability approach (like at bronze) AND the teaching ALSO has a decolonial focus
Postgraduate taught course rating criteria
No medal
No relevant sustainability learning e.g. no medal if issues are labelled ‘financial sustainability’ or ‘social sustainability’ but treated separately, without any links to the environment; or environmental teaching happens without any social and economic view
Bronze
At least once in a compulsory module or unit
Relevant teaching where the content has an authentic joined-up sustainability approach – e.g. ‘equality’ or ‘wellbeing’ is clearly linked to the environment, not treated as a separate issue
Silver
At least once in a compulsory module or unit
Either
learning activity in one core module or unit, beyond just taught content, either as informal assessment or a skills development exercise
OR
Relevant teaching where the content has an authentic joined-up sustainability approach (like at bronze) AND the teaching ALSO has a decolonial focus
Gold
At least once in a compulsory module or unit
Joined up sustainability learning linked to one assessed element
Test your knowledge – rate these examples
Rate your course
Now you’re familiar with our quality principles and rating criteria, you should be able to rate your own course with confidence!
Try to keep this focused on your lived experience and what you’ve noticed/not in your learning so far.
To help make your rating, think about:
- Which modules/units you remember that had joined-up sustainability learning
- What levels the modules/units were at – was it first year, second year, post grad etc.
- Whether the important sustainability modules/units were compulsory or optional (no medal)
- What the assessment/s asked you to do if you rated the course silver or gold
Tip – if you are only in 1st or 2nd year, see if you can team up with people in other years to get a more full picture of what medal your course should achieve
Remember, we’re looking at compulsory modules or units so all students get the learning, but if you can think of good optional examples, make a note of them – our ‘take action’ section will help you explore ways you could support your course to build the good bits into compulsory content.
Tip – try not to let yourself get stuck on things like whether your lectures use too much printing paper, and look at the broader issue – the learning itself.