Back to campus: 5 questions to ask before launching TASK™

How can institutions know whether students are developing the sustainability knowledge they need?

As universities integrate sustainability into their programmes, assessing students’ knowledge can provide valuable insights into what they already know, where further learning may be needed, and how educational efforts are progressing.

This is where TASK™ — The Assessment of Sustainability Knowledge — comes in. TASK™ enables institutions to measure students’ sustainability knowledge and use assessment data to inform their educational strategy, while helping students understand their strengths and areas for further learning.

A new academic year is an opportunity to think about how sustainability assessment can fit into your students’ learning journey.

Before opening a new TASK™ session, the choices you make — from timing and communication to the resources you offer and the way you organise your sessions — can influence student engagement and the value you can derive from the results.

As you prepare for the year ahead, here are five questions to consider.

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1. When is the best time to offer TASK™?

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Timing matters.

Consider offering TASK™ at a point when students can understand its relevance and act on their results. It is also worth taking competing deadlines into account: students are more likely to engage thoughtfully when TASK™ does not feel like one more item on an already crowded list.

There is no single approach. Institutions in the TASK™ community integrate the assessment at different points in their programmes, for example :

• The University of Exeter, for example, opens TASK™ sessions during Reading Week, when students do not have lectures.

• At Onsi Sawiris Business School, TASK™ is offered within a student development module focused on developing employability skills.

• At JUNIA, sustainability courses are delivered to Bachelor students first, before TASK™ is offered at the end of the Bachelor degree as a capstone assessment.

The right moment will depend on your programme and your students. The key is to consider when TASK™ can best connect with their learning journey.

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2. Will students understand why they are being invited to take TASK™?

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The way TASK™ is introduced can have a significant impact on participation.

Students should understand why they are being invited and what they can gain from taking part.

Introducing the assessment through a lecturer, programme lead or another person students already know can be an effective way to support engagement. It can also be useful to provide a central place where students and lecturers can find key information.

Institutions in the TASK™ community are using different approaches for this:

• The University of Exeter has a dedicated webpage linked in its communication materials.

• The University of Sussex Business School created a course page on Canvas, its LMS, which can be shared with students from different programmes.

• Nantes Université has an internal landing page offering resources to support student learning before and after TASK™, as well as instructions for joining open sessions.

Whatever format you choose, make sure students have access to the information they need to understand the assessment and its place within their learning experience.

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3. What learning support can you offer students?

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TASK™ can be most valuable when it becomes an assessment of and for learning.

Before launching your next session, consider how you will connect students’ results with TASK™ resources and the wider learning support available at your institution.

Students can be directed towards resources such as:

• Intro2TASK, which helps students understand TASK™ and get the most from the experience.

• TASK™ Study Guides, which offer insights and learning resources based on their TASK™ scores.

• TASK™-related learning activities, which can be incorporated into modules and connect TASK™ to classroom learning.

Institutions in the Change Leader community integrate these resources into pedagogy in different ways. For example, at Onsi Sawiris Business School, one part of Intro2TASK is shared each week through the LMS in the weeks leading up to the assessment, helping students prepare. At KEDGE Business School, peer learning is used as one of the suggested learning activities to support knowledge development after students complete their first assessment.

The question is therefore not only how students will take TASK™, but also how the assessment can connect with learning before and after it.

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4. How will you organise your sessions?

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Before creating your sessions, think about the reporting you will need afterwards.

The way students are grouped — and therefore how sessions are created — will shape what you can learn from the data later.

A consistent naming convention can also make sessions easier for your team to manage.

Taking a moment to think about how you want to use the results before creating your sessions can help ensure that the structure of your sessions supports the insights you need.

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5. Who will be responsible for monitoring participation?

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Launching a session is only one part of the process.

Before you start, consider who will be responsible for monitoring participation and sending reminders.

Having this responsibility clearly identified can help your team follow participation throughout the session and support students when needed.

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Your "back-to-school" checklist

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Before launching your next TASK™ session, take a moment to ask:

• Timing: Is TASK™ scheduled at a useful moment for students?

• Communication: Will students understand why they are being invited?

• Value: Is the benefit of participating clear?

• Learning: Do students know what they can do after receiving their results?

• Reporting: Will the session structure give you the insights you need?

• Follow-up: Who is responsible for monitoring participation and sending reminders?

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to integrating TASK™ into a programme. The examples from the TASK™ community show that institutions can use the assessment at different moments, connect it with different learning activities and provide different forms of support.

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As  you prepare for the new academic year, our Account Management team is here to work alongside you. Whether you’re refining your integration strategy, looking for inspiration, or exploring best practices from other institutions, we’re available to share our experience and support you at every step of your next TASK™ session.

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