Sustainability literacy counts : raising awareness through a preparatory University program

At a new age metropolitan university, which caters to one of the most diverse commencing student populations in Australia, sustainability is the content theme of a literacy-based preparatory program: UniStep. Sustainability is a significant issue because of the serious environmental and social impacts of global warming and climate change. This has been acknowledged by governments around the world and has been predicted by many renowned scientists. In this paper, we focus on the effect of using sustainability as the topic for teaching academic literacy, in particular its influence on student thinking, learning, and lifestyles. We draw on findings from a case study of 103 students who participated in the program. Online surveys and telephone interviews provided quantitative and qualitative data. The analysis of findings indicates that over half the students engaged with the topic of sustainability, such that it affected aspects of their thinking, learning, and/or behaviour. This paper argues that introducing students to the topic of sustainability early in their university studies is an important first step in developing sustainability education in the higher education sector. We conclude by suggesting that the UniStep program could be used as a model for preparatory and foundation courses in a wider context for developing students’ critical literacy and sustainability literacy. Likewise, a sustainability subject can also develop students’ critical thinking and academic literacy.