Developing Micro-credentials for Capacity Building in Sustainability

Overview

Our team was tasked by Penn State’s Law, Policy, and Engineering initiative with designing and developing a series of micro-credentials (digital badges) for undergraduate students in the College of Engineering. The micro-credentials highlight students’ curricular and co-curricular activities and experiences that address the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals. Each micro-credential recognizes a set of skills either considered necessary to address the Grand Challenges for Engineering by the NAE, or competencies for sustainability recognized by UNESCO. The micro-credentials acknowledge the role of engineering in developing solutions, awareness, and call to action towards the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals and enable students to share these valuable experiences in sustainability with potential employers using a digital format.

Objectives

Our team created a set of 48 micro-credentials to convey our students’ experiences and skills to potential employers using digital Acclaim badges that can be featured on social media platforms such as LinkedIn. We generated the overall badge structure, developed the criteria for each badge, identified a path for student submission, and created educational material for students interested in earning a badge.

Approach

– A student survey was created and completed by 72 Penn State engineering students to identify students’ interest and to identify customer needs.

– Existing micro-credential structures from a variety of universities around the nation were analyzed to improve our product.

– Interconnectivity between the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges was outlined in a chart.

– Three proficiency levels (Exploring, Exposure, Experience) were developed to recognize the work that our students are doing in the field of sustainability.

– Earning criteria was established for a total of 48 badges along with sample ideas for completing the badges.

– Examples of supporting evidence were outlined to help students show employers the activity or project they did to obtain the badge.

– A submission form containing reflective essay questions was outlined

Outcomes

We generated a set of 48 micro-credentials and badges on Acclaim that:

– Highlight the work our students are doing in the field of sustainability

– Promote others to participate in sustainable activities and increase awareness of the SDG’s

– Stand out to employers through the inclusion of student-centered visual evidence

– Help students develop key competencies for sustainability recognized by UNESCO as necessary to achieve the SDGs and to achieve the NAE Grand Challenges for Engineering—Research or Creative Talent, Multidisciplinary, Entrepreneurship, Multicultural, and Social Consciousness.