What difference does one course make? Assessing the impact of content-based instruction on students’ sustainability literacy

Composition studies, with their cross-disciplinary role in students’ academic lives, can be essential in placing sustainability at the center of students’ learning. This research assessed the impact of content-based instruction on students’ sustainability literacy in a first-year composition course through a mixed-method design. In the quantitative part of this case study, 221 students in different classes of a first-year writing course in a higher education institute in Kuwait during the Fall term of 2022 were first given a pretest to determine their sustainability literacy levels. During a 6-week period, 121 students participated in the content-based instruction emphasizing sustainability, while 100 students comprised the control group, receiving curriculum without any emphasis on sustainability. The allocation of students in these two groups was random, determined solely by the classes they were enrolled in at the beginning of the semester. At the end of the semester, both the experimental and control groups were given a posttest to measure the impact of the instruction on their sustainability literacy levels. For the qualitative component, 60 students from the experimental group and 60 students from the control group were tasked with composing an essay identifying Kuwait’s major sustainability challenges and proposing corresponding solutions. The impact of content-based instruction on students’ literacy levels was measured by conducting a qualitative and quantitative content analysis on their writing. The results showed that the experimental group students made statistically significant improvements in their sustainable literacy levels, scored better on the posttest, used more sustainability terms and concepts, and identified more sustainability-related challenges and solutions in their essays.