The free workshops will be available to all new students at the start of their academic journey
FEBRUARY 24, 2021 - University Canada West (UCW) has launched a set of ?micro-credentials? which will be available to all new students at the outset of their academic journey. At the beginning of each term, new students must attend UCW’s New Student Orientation (NSO) and complete the four?week-long Learning4Success workshops.
The comprehensive sessions on offer will be free of charge and aim to provide students with the tools they need to excel in their degree programs and graduate on time. The workshops are held on a weekly basis over the first four weeks of the term and cover critical academic skills such as note taking, research, academic writing, academic integrity and study strategies.
Students earn a badge for each workshop they attend and submit the required assignment. Students who complete all four weekly sessions of Learing4Success workshops also receive a Certificate of Achievement. So far, 3,861 micro-credential badges have been issued?to students who completed the workshops in the Summer and Fall 2020 terms since launching at the beginning of July. Students can share their digital badges on social media and add them to their LinkedIn profile and resumé.
Dr. Cyndi Banks, VP Academic, says: “These workshops and badges help our students build their competencies and the power skills they will need for employability. The student excitement over this new program is seen in the hundreds of emails sent to the workshop facilitators asking about the badges this term, and by the number of students who opened their credentials immediately after they were published in the early hours of the morning.”
“This delivery of badges to Learning4Success students is a great first step towards achievement of their educational goals at UCW,” she said.?
Looking ahead to the future, UCW has planned further development for more micro-credential programs that will be launching in the Spring 2021 term; these programs will include Career Readiness (with the Career Development Team), Academic Readiness Skills, Innovation, and MBA Foundation.
Additionally, the University is also planning to launch a set of micro-credentials and certificates that will be specifically offered to faculty members through UCW’s Centre for Teaching Excellence. The UCW faculty will be able to build their learner-centered, best practice pedagogies in various certificate programs, which will include Productive Beginnings (Year-Long New Faculty Orientation), Learner-Centered Pedagogies & Practices, Creating Diversity in the Classroom, Learner-Centered Assessment Practices, and a Coaching Program.
There is also a process in place to develop micro-credentials and badges for external professional development workshop series such as the just-launched Virtual Internship Program completed in December by Kazakhstani doctoral students from the Almaty Management doctoral program at Alma University to satisfy their internship requirements. There are more workshops planned for Winter and Spring 2021 terms as part of the Centre for Teaching Excellence’s professional development program.
