Digital Badges in Science: A Novel Approach to the Assessment of Student Learning

Hensiek, Sarah; DeKorver, Brittland K.; Harwood, C.J.; Fish, Jason; O'Shea, Kevin; Towns, Marcy H.

doi:10.2505/4/jcst17_046_03_28

Cited by 17 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Examples of badging practice, across academic subject areas, include the use of digital badges in a novel assessment approach at Purdue University, USA. In their Chemistry degree programmes, badges are used to recognise and improve students' laboratory skills and practical confidence (Hensiek et al, 2017). To earn the badges, students create videos of their practical chemistry techniques and share them with an assessor for feedback (Hensiek, et al, 2016).…”

Section: Digital Badge Use In Academic Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital badges: Pinning down employer challenges

Perkins

Pryor

2021

JTLGE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Digital badges hold considerable potential for employers and recruiters, as they evidence accomplishments of skills and competencies at a more granular level than a traditional degree certificate. Badges are a validated, online graphical representation of an achievement, which is accomplished by undertaking criteria-based learning activities. Despite the established educational benefits of badges in higher education, limited research has been conducted into employer awareness, acceptance, and use of digital badges in recruitment practices. To address this research gap, a mixed method study combining quantitative and qualitative data collection was conducted before and during the COVID-19 health pandemic. Approximately 700 employers were emailed and invited to complete the initial survey and 73 responded. One of the major survey findings is that 97% of respondents were unfamiliar with the concept of digital badges. Significantly, however, despite the lack of employer awareness there was no widespread resistance to the concept of badges, but a strong appeal for further clarification of their value, credibility, and security. Analysis of the data reveals stronger partnership working, between the higher education sector and employers, is pivotal to establish effective digital credentialing systems. Recommendations for higher education institutions have emerged from this study, which aim to balance pedagogical digital badge practice with employer needs. Such synergies are crucial to address the changing skills agenda, to prepare students to thrive in physical and virtual work environments. Given the paucity of research in this field, further studies are warranted, to investigate the impact of digital badges on the employer community.

show abstract

Section: Digital Badge Use In Academic Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital badges: Pinning down employer challenges

Perkins

Pryor

2021

JTLGE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Some digital badging studies moved beyond acceptance, engagement and motivation to test learning outcomes [26]. Ataturk University undergraduates earned achievement badges at three levels of mastery (beginner, intermediate or advanced) for each 4-week module of a programming course.…”

Section: Relevant Prior Empirical Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Digital Badging Support an Inclusive New Normal in Higher Education?

McGovern¹,

Gogan²

2021

Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This call for research considers how digital badging could help universities serve their students better and more flexibly, especially during crises (whether caused by public health issues, social unrest, or natural disasters). Touted as a means to recognize academic achievements and skills of both traditional and non-traditional students, digital badging can support personalized learning pathways by enabling individualized portfolios of micro-credentials. Also, badges can signify mastery at more granular levels than end-of-term course grades. In this review, we identify known digital badging opportunities and threats and consider a proposed micro-credentialing system based on college course modules rather than full courses. We then articulate directions for further research, guided by the theory of IT options and debt and the theory of complementary resources.

show abstract

“…Assessment of laboratory skills is still unusual, but there are several examples in the chemistry education literature. These include in‐situ demonstrations where students record their demonstration as a video on a mobile phone, have assessment stations where students demonstrate their skills under assessment conditions, and practical exams . In our case, we modified the example where students demonstrate techniques while being recorded on their mobile phone to incorporate a peer‐formative assessed component .…”

Section: Applying the Framework In Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

A Framework for Learning in the Chemistry Laboratory

Seery

Agustian

Zhang

2018

Israel Journal of Chemistry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Designing laboratory activities is a real challenge for those working in higher education. There is often an acknowledged frustration with the status quo, but a lack of clear guidance on what strategies might be useful in considering a redesign. This article aims to address the question: what considerations should be taken into account when designing a laboratory activity? To address it, we first describe an overarching framework for laboratory learning, describing it as a complex learning environment. The reason for this is that two clear overarching guidelines emerge -the first is that the laboratory curriculum should be structured so that each new challenge for student is adequately supported by their prior learning so that they can draw on their knowledge to address the new learning situation, and the second is that guidelines for the kinds of preparation for laboratory learning emerge. Based on this framework, we advocate four core principles for laboratory learning that should be considered when designing a laboratory activity regarding the overall purpose, the role of preparation, the teaching of technique, and the consideration of affective dimensions of learning. We illustrate this framework in practice with examples from our own practice, with suggestions on using the literature on laboratory education as a source for curriculum reform within an institution.

show abstract

Digital Badges in Science: A Novel Approach to the Assessment of Student Learning

Cited by 17 publications

References 5 publications

Digital badges: Pinning down employer challenges

Digital badges: Pinning down employer challenges

Can Digital Badging Support an Inclusive New Normal in Higher Education?

A Framework for Learning in the Chemistry Laboratory

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About