DISSERTATION DEFENSE ANNOUNCEMENT Ed.D. Program: Jennifer Valera “Beyond Degrees: Exploring the Perspectives and Design Features of Recent College Graduates’ Digital Badges”

While important to many employers, a college degree does not necessarily indicate graduates’ skills and competencies. Colleges need a more updated model that will allow students to acquire 21st-century workforce skills and help showcase and verify their competencies to potential employers. Digital badging emerges as a promising solution to help bridge this gap. Through thirteen interviews with recent graduates and an analysis of the digital badges earned by the interview participants, this qualitative study explores graduates’ perspectives on the impact of digital badges on their employability and the design features of their digital badges. The goal is to assist higher education institutions in making informed decisions regarding the implementation of digital badges. Moreover, a deep understanding of graduates’ digital badging program design features will provide educators with models for creating digital badging programs that can help build college students’ skills and competencies and increase their employability after graduation. The overall questions framing this study are: What are the design features of recent college graduates’ digital badging programs and their perspectives on them and what are the experiences and perspectives of recent college graduates who earned a digital badge?

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