Considerations for Using Digital Badges to Increase Motivation for Students to Acquire New Skills

Digital badges (or microcredentials) can document a student’s new skillset (e.g., communication skills, leadership behaviors and critical thinking aptitudes) and progress towards gaining new knowledge. Badges can provide an alternative or a supplement to traditional academic transcripts which typically focus on grades so that potential employers have insight into students’ skills beyond content mastery. For students, badges can increase their motivation, particularly when they can decide which badges they want to acquire. This process provides them with autonomy over their learning objectives, which can support their motivation in acquiring new skills. Yet, badges are relatively new in higher education. The purpose of this study was to explore how digital badges can be implemented in university/higher education classrooms.

The researchers conducted interviews with higher education instructors who have implemented digital badging in their classrooms. Open-ended questions were created and presented to instructors to explore how badging programs are implemented. Specifically, researchers were interested in learning more about:

1. the standardization process of badges. What are the processes that exist for digital badges, and how are badges evaluated?
2. factors that might contribute to student motivation when using badges; What motivates students to use participation-based badges and/or proficiency-based badges?
3. user perceptions of badging programs. Without a standardized currency, do badges add value to the learner’s experience?
4. any other considerations to badge development that experts might have, including innovative use of badges in the higher education field.

Researchers noted that there is a lack of standardization and evaluation process with digital badges, which make the use of badges challenging. This lack of standardization limits the understanding of what a badge is and how it can be used in various study fields. For organizations, the implementation system and standardization process are important. The interview participants also reported that skill-based badges have the most impact on students’ motivation compared to badges given for participation. Motivation can be even higher if the badges match the learners’ goals (e.g., gain professional competencies, gain leadership skills valued by potential employers) to attain credentials. They also reported that students valued the ability to transfer badges, especially in competency-based programs (e.g .,badges for skills such as communication skills, leadership abilities, professional judgment). Finally, the researchers found that the greatest barrier to badges is the faculty buy-in, as the workload to implement badges can be high.