ERIC Number: EJ1294416
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 3
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1838-3815
EISSN: N/A
The Move to Micro-Credentials Exposes the Deficiencies of Existing Credentials
Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability, v12 n1 p18-20 2021
The rush to short courses and use of micro-credentials prompted by responses to the pandemic has greatly accelerated a trend already underway. However, few studies have examined the impact of short courses or micro-credentials on skills or employment outcomes, and this hasty move draws attention to major problems in the ways in which higher education credentials - macro and micro - are designed and assessed. Micro-credentials cannot be simply added into the mix. If assessment of current course units does not enable a determination that learning outcomes have been met, how will anyone know if the mixture of micro-credentials and normal course units adds up to meeting the requirement for a qualification when the learning outcomes of all parts cannot be assured? If existing course units do not assure learning outcomes then they cannot become micro-credentials because they do not meet the minimum requirements of adequacy. The increasingly common repackaging of existing units into micro-credentials must be regarded with suspicion. This article provides four suggestions on what can be done about problems posed by the use of micro-credentials.
Descriptors: Credentials, Minicourses, Higher Education, Outcomes of Education, Employment Potential, Foreign Countries, Academic Standards, Quality Assurance, Educational Quality
Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability. Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 3125. Web site: https://ojs.deakin.edu.au/index.php/jtlge/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A