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University of Arizona Build The Skill

Executive Summary Spring 2019

Background and Program Overview

Build the Skill (BTS) is a non-credit micro-credential program for undergraduate students to develop in-

demand soft skills that present real value to employers and graduate schools. Students have the

opportunity to build one or several skills, including Collaboration, Leadership, Design Thinking, and

Professional Communication (forthcoming fall 2019).

Build the Skill programs are offered in the Fall and Spring semesters as 7-week, non-credit

experiences. They are “hybrid” experiences including both asynchronous, online components and live,

in-person activities. Aside from the scheduled live event, students complete the work on their own time

within 12-15 hours.

In 2019, Build the Skill was available for student employees in three departments at the University, and

also through an open-call to campus. From the recruitment efforts, 35 students were enrolled in the

program as student employees, and 50 students were enrolled through the open-call to campus for a

total of 85 students registered.

Outcomes

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completing Build The Skill, students will be able to:

Develop skills (collaboration, leadership, design thinking, or professional communication)

through interactive online curricula delivered in D2L.

Practice new strategies by applying them to current involvement in student organizations,

employment, service commitments, class projects, etc.

Apply skills to dynamic challenges via face-to-face events.

Reflect via Spark Page and a recorded pitch presentation describing what students have learned

and how they have applied their skills.

Assessment Method

D2L

Students complete online modules through D2L. Each skill area allows students to fully develop and

apply the learned skill through several engaged activities over the 7-week course. At the end of the

course, students create an Adobe Spark page to reflect and share their learning process. A UA digital

badge is then awarded to students who fully complete the workshop.

Each workshop module is broken into three parts: Learn, Apply, Reflect

Learn

The “Learn” section of the module is a short video, article, tool, or resource to give students a

chance to learn about the content they will be focusing on for that module. For example, within the

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“Collaboration” module, the students may find activities that can be used to energize a group at a

staff meeting.

Apply

The “Apply” section is what we call the “boots on the ground” action-item for students to complete

at their job, volunteer role, internship, or wherever they will be practicing their new collaboration

skills. It will require applying the skills students learned within the module. For example, in the

“Collaboration” modules, students might facilitate a “real-life” teambuilding activity designed to

increase collaboration among the team or ask for feedback from their supervisor about how they

work with others. This part of the activity is intended to be completed offline, on their own time.

Reflect

The “Reflect” section allows students to reflect on what they learned and how they applied it in the

workplace or group setting. It gives the reviewers (the staff dedicated to awarding the digital badge

upon completion of the experience) the opportunity to understand how the students are meeting

the learning outcomes. The “Reflect” section is part of the Adobe Spark page that students are

required to complete. Students respond to some suggested reflection questions and post their

responses on their Spark Page.

Midpoint Check-in

When students have completed 3 of the 5 modules, there is a quick midpoint check-in for students

to give the group an update on their experience and their progress within the workshop modules.

Students are also asked to give their peers quick feedback on their Spark Page and what they

shared with the group.

Group Activity (Live, In-Person Event)

There is a 1.5 hour live, in-person event which gives students the opportunity to practice and apply

their skill with the cohort of students participating in the program.

Final Pitch Presentation (Articulating Your Experience)

Students are asked to summarize what they have learned throughout the program and how they can

use it in their future career or graduate school. This presentation/reflection is accomplished via the

Adobe Spark page and by utilizing Flipgrid, a social learning platform designed to allow instructors to

ask questions that students can respond to via video. The final pitch presentation involves responding

to a common interview question based on the knowledge and skills developed over the previous 7

weeks on Flipgrid, and the student attaching their completed Spark Page to their video response.

Appendix A shows the rubric used to assess the Spark page. Appendix B shows the rubric used to

assess the Flipgrid.

Credly: Credly is the digital microcredentialing platform that the Build the Skill program leverages to

recognize students who have achieved the learning outcomes of the Build the Skill program. Upon

completion, students have the opportunity to distinguish their resumes and LinkedIn profiles by

attaching a UA-branded digital badge, offered through Credly, which serves as visual, transportable

proof of this earned micro-credential. Students also attach their Spark Page as evidence of their

learning.

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Assessment Results

From our enrollment efforts, 10 of the 50 enrolled students completed and earned a University of

Arizona badge from our open call to campus. Additionally, 10 of the 35 enrolled student employees

completed and earned a University of Arizona badge.

20 students total completed and successfully demonstrated the proposed student learning

outcomes for the course.

o 8 – Juniors | 5 – First Year/Freshman | 3 – Sophomores | 2 – Graduate/Prof | 2 - Seniors

An evaluation of the experience was sent to students who completed the course. All students who

completed the course, also completed the evaluation (n=20). The results below summarize the

students experience with the content.

11 of the 20 students indicated that their knowledge level with the learned skill was Advanced

(capacity to inform others of skill) upon completing the program.

5 of the 20 students indicated that their knowledge level with the learned Skill was

Intermediate (some experience/training) upon completing the program.

100% of the student completers agreed (strongly or somewhat) that they are able to effectively

demonstrate experience and knowledge of the learned skill to potential employers

85% of students strongly agreed that they can identify strategies, tools, and resources to

demonstrate the learned skill.

75% of students strongly agreed that they know how to describe what they learned from this

experience to a friend, colleague, and/or employer.

95% of students agreed (strongly or somewhat) that the Build The Skill program added value

to their UA degree.

100% of the students agreed (strongly or somewhat) that they had gained transferable skills

relevant to their future career.

Effectiveness: Student Testimonials and Evidence of Student Learning

Students were asked to report “one major takeaway” from their experience in Build the Skill that they

can apply to their future post-graduate goals. The below highlights a few of the student responses that

demonstrates the impact, and potential of this program, for the future.

“Feedback can be really hard to take sometimes, but I think that is one of the most important

skills to have.”

“How to maximize efficiency in groups by setting good goals and communicating effectively.”

“Learning how to be emotionally aware of myself and how I handle situations will be very helpful

for being a nurse”

Examples of two students final projects (Spark page) are below.

Katie’s spark page: https://spark.adobe.com/page/OoGgQDwjUKzVd/

Sydney’s spark page: https://spark.adobe.com/page/99ykJjNxb1LUq/

Implications for Practice

Attrition: A major challenge for the Build The Skill program this year was attrition of student

involvement in the course. One major consideration to address this challenge will be to offer Build The

Skill as a for-credit course. Non-credit, self-paced courses are difficult for students to prioritize.

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Offering Build The Skill as a for-credit option will provide needed accountability to students to complete

the content. Other strategies to address attrition, based on direct student feedback, will be to offer

more time practicing their skills and interacting with peers in the course. Additionally, a common

concern among the student employees who completed the course was the lack of time that could be

devoted to Build The Skill during work hours. Many of the acitivities involved having to record videos or

interacting with other students’ videos which is not conducive to most work environments – particularly

for front desk workers. This challenge led to students having to complete activities in their own space

which provided an added barrier to completion.

Peer Engagement: Instructors realized halfway through the spring term that students did not have

many opportunities to interact with their peers and create a community through the online curriculum.

To address this issue, instructors launched an interactive discussion post in an effort to increase

engagement among peers. Between the live, in-person event, the interactive discussion post, and

student feedback, it is clear that students want more opportunities to engage with each other which will

be built in to future curriculum. Peer engagement will be accomplished by increasing peer-led sessions,

adding more interactive discussion posts, and holding frequent in-person programming to practice

learned skills.

Adobe Spark: Adobe Spark proved to be a challenge for the students. There appeared to be a

significant learning curve with the platform, and other issues with publishing active links to the

students’ Spark page. Additionally, Adobe Spark pages are not screen-reader accessible. The University

of Arizona values inclusion and multicultural engagement, and the lack of this feature is not consistent

with University goals and principles. For all of these reasons, staff will consider other EdTech tools to

increase engagement and inclusivity.

Flipgrid: The Flipgrid tool received mixed feedback from the students; some enjoyed it while others

found it unapproachable. The platform accomplished its goal of giving students a chance to describe

what they learned from the program verbally; however, as discussed earlier, it was difficult for student

workers to utilize in pracitce. For the future, the program staff intends to use Big Interview, a mock

interview platform, which will allow students to respond to each mock interview question individually,

and explore the face to face activities as well as discussion platforms to increase student engagement

in the program.

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Appendix A:

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Appendix B: