As I noted at the time, I did badly on the Observer science quiz last year, and complained (to myself at least) that the questions seemed more about popular culture than science. No such excuses this year where, again, I only managed very modest success. I got 8 / 20 on the multiple choice part of the quiz; however, given that I educatedly guessed most of the answers, (and with 4 options to choose from), this seems hardly a great performance. Worse, I only got 1 / 30 on the “who did ...” / “when was ...” / “what is ...” part of the quiz, though I was nearly right some of the time, and so would likely have done better had this been multiple choice as well! But I scored 7 / 10 on the “who said this” part, which must say something about what I read.
It was whilst searching for the Observer test that I stumbled across the QAA's HE ESD Quiz of the Year. I did badly here as well. Here are the first 3 questions, none of which I got right:
1. In 2013, which of these organisations most effectively championed ESD within higher education?
- EAUC
- HEA
- HEFCE
- NUS
- QAA
2. In 2013, which of these most effectively encouraged curriculum development for ESD within higher education?
- EAUC – through LiFE accreditation
- HEA – through its professional development programmes
- NUS – through its Green Fund projects
- QAA – through its regulatory framework
- Professional bodies – through their accreditation processes
3. In 2013, which of these publications best exemplified ESD in higher education?
- Education for Sustainable Development: draft guidance for UK higher education providers – QAA / HEA
- Education for Sustainable Development in the UK: curgent status, best practice and opportunities for the future – UNESCO UK
- From Strategy to Implementation: the second evaluation of the green academy programme – HEA
- Student attitudes towards and skills for sustainable development – NUS / HEA
- The Manifesto we all want – EAUC et al.
Responses
I look forward to being fed the required answers, though all three questions seem to require subjective evaluation, unless labour-intensive impact research has been undertaken. However, money thus spent might much better be applied to seeking impact by disseminating the RSA report on 'stealth denial' - defined as "intellectually accepting the reality of anthropogenic climate change, but ‘denying’ some or all of the commensurate feelings, responsibility and agency that are necessary to deal with it". This appears to be almost universal in the UK according to the RSA survey of public opinion. Herein lies a big challenge for all promoting ESD.