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Makerspace Workshop Badges: Student Perceptions & Uses of Informal Credentialing

Rich McCue, MA, BComm

rmccue@uvic.ca

lib.uvic.ca/dsc/

UVic Libraries

Digital Scholarship Commons

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Outline

  1. Introduction
  2. What are digital badges?
  3. Why use digital badges in makerspaces?
  4. Research methodology
  5. RQ1: How many students are earning digital badges?
  6. RQ2: Are badge recipients using them in job searches?
  7. RQ3: Are badges perceived as being helpful?
  8. Conclusions

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Introduction

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Our

Makerspace Badges

!=

Official University Credits

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Is Issuing Badges Worth the Effort?

Pilot

Project

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Gaps in Makerspace Badging Research…

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What are Digital Badges?

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Showcase Skills

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lib.uvic.ca/bgpoll

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Does your makerspace award Badges for successful completion of training?

Start presenting to display the poll results on this slide.

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Why Use Digital Badges in Makerspaces?

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SUMMATIVE

FORMATIVE

SUMMATIVE

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Research Methodology

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Mixed Methods

Quantitative

& Qualitative

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N=882

n=69

±11%

Quantitative Analysis: Survey

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Qualitative Analysis: Interviews

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RQ1: How Many Students are Requesting Digital Badges?

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% Earning Workshop Badges

Drop-in

All

7%

23%

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RQ2: Are Recipients Using Their Badges?

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15% Used Badges

in Job Searches

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Where Badges are Being Used

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“My badges helped me land interviews. They have been a really useful job search tool for me.”

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“I think a lot of people embellish their resumes. Including Makerspace badges on your resume adds more credibility to the skills claims you make. The credibility that badges give you is for me their biggest benefit.”

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“There is no avenue within our department for getting any kind of formal certification or quantification for specific skills.”

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RQ3: Are Badges Helpful in Job Searches?

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Are Badges Helpful in Job Searches?

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“I think my badge was one of the reasons I got an interview for the co-op that I’m now working at.”

  • Graduate Student

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RQ4: Can the current badging system improved?

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Stacked Micro-

Credentials

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Educate Employers

@ DSC Badges

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Makerspace Workshops & Badges in for Credit Classes

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More Guidance

on How to Use Badges Beyond LinkedIn.com

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Conclusions

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Limitations & Future Research

n=10

Badge Users

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Badges Help in Job Searches

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74% Plan on Using Their Badges in Future Job Searches

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Summary & Principal Implications

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lib.uvic.ca/mbadge

Infographic & Paper

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rmccue@uvic.ca

lib.uvic.ca/dsc

richmccue.com

Q&A

lib.uvic.ca/mbadge

Infographic & Paper

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Photo Credits

  1. Two Engineering Students Photo by Rich McCue
  2. Graduation Photo by Jakob Rosen on Unsplash
  3. Paper Airplane Photo by Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash
  4. Jumping a Gap Photo by Sammie Chaffin on Unsplash
  5. Skills Sash Photo by AdaFruit
  6. Academic hat and certificate Photo by Pavel Danilyuk
  7. Calculator Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels
  8. Interview Photo by Christina Morillo on Pexels
  9. Interview Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels
  10. Resume Photo by cottonbro on Pexels
  11. World’s Best Boss Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
  12. Engineers & laptop Photo by ThisIsEngineering on Pexels
  13. Shaking hands Photo by fauxels