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Durham College
Durham College
Project Description
The primary goals of the project were as follows:
- To test the perceived value of badges among students taking professional development courses (status: completed).
- To test the perceived value among employers of badges related to professional development (status: limited completion).
Our original vision of the project was to grant badges for the following courses:
- Medical Cannabis Fundamentals for Business Professionals (two-day in-class and concurrent synchronous online course).
- Advancing Your Negotiation Skills (five-hour synchronous online course).
We had hoped to also issue badges for two other courses: Handling Office Conflict and Giving and Receiving Feedback (both of which were five-hour synchronous online courses), but neither course ran due to inadequate enrolment levels. Had these courses run successfully, we had a milestone badge available for students who completed both the Advancing Your Negotiation Skills and the Handling Office Conflict and Feedback courses. However, this badge was not awarded because two of the three courses did not run despite offering them multiple times.
Overall, we consider the project a success. In total, 403 badges were issued to students in the cannabis course, 269 of which were accepted (67%). For the negotiation skills course, 42 badges were issued, 30 of which were accepted (71%). Student surveys provided anecdotal feedback indicating that badges were considered valuable (even though quite a few students initially said they were not sure what badges were). Anecdotal employer feedback indicated that seeing a badge included on a LinkedIn site or resumé gave credibility to the job applicant.
Badging Team Description
The dean of the School of Continuing Education led the badging project throughout its duration. Instructors who delivered the courses were provided with information about what badges were and the process through which students would receive them. (This was important because it was the instructors who communicated directly with the student recipients.) The dean and instructors communicated both verbally and via email. Students were told about the badges during their courses (i.e., verbally). Of course, they received their badges via emails that included detailed instructions on how to load them into LinkedIn.
Anecdotal feedback from employers was gathered during a Program Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting on the cannabis industry in July 2018. Industry members were very enthusiastic about the approach of badging courses and strongly urged that future courses be badged as well. We have subsequently decided to badge all six courses in the new Cannabis Industry Specialization program, so that if students decide to take only a few courses in the program, they will still have something to show prospective employers.
Badging System Structure
Medical Cannabis Fundamentals for Business Professionals
Criteria
Recipients of this badge successfully completed an inten