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Roll-out of TASK certification - initial feedback

Pedagogy
Alexandra BAUD, Pedagogical Quality Officer and TES projects le 19 June 2024
Task Excelia

Roll-out of TASK certification - initial feedback

EXCELIA’s pedagogical commitment to Sustainable Development is widely known and recognised. This manifests itself, in particular, through a learning goal that extends across all our study programmes. For many years now, as part of an ongoing drive to constantly improve the quality of our teaching, we have been using the Sulitest as a tool to measure the level of acquisition of such skills by our students at the end of their programme. It consists of a 30-question quiz accompanied by a case study (Rana Plaza, Lactalis, Diesel Gate) with varying levels of difficulty, prepared by our expert research-active faculty. Then, in 2022, the Sulitest association developed TASKTM certification with the goal of it becoming the TOEIC or TOEFL equivalent for Sustainable Development knowledge. Excelia has joined this movement by becoming a ‘change leader’, so that its entire community can benefit from this certification. TASK is based on an online 112-question quiz lasting 80 minutes, covering 3 fundamental concepts - Earth Systems, Human Welfare (wellbeing) and Levers of Opportunity.

 

What task is about?

 

We were a member of the expert committee responsible for ensuring that the project was theoretically and methodologically sound, before taking part in the beta tests in
Autumn 2022. In March 2023, at the end of this phase, the platform was launched. We then invited our employees and students to participate on a voluntary basis. At the end of May 2023, a session for Alumni was also held to test the platform and the certification.

 

Findings were as follows:

  • A very demanding and ‘academic’ certification - both in terms of content and form; average scores were around 50 out of 100, with little disparity between incoming students (49.7/100) and outgoing students (51.8/100)
  • An unsatisfactory certification rate given test conditions (a 15-day window, to be carried out online) of between 39.5% and 51%

In light of these results, and with the ambition of 100% of our graduating students obtaining their certification, the decision was taken to develop a specific training course to prepare for TASK certification.

Three of our expert research-active faculty members, Lucie BAUDOIN, Nicola SCRENCI, and Philippe SCHAFER, analysed the theoretical matrix of TASK in order to build a 100% distance learning module tailored as closely as possible to the demands of the certification. The Deanship, with the help of IDEE Lab, then designed a 4-hour emodule and made it available to students.

 

Consequently, this e-module was introduced as part of the final year of all study programmes, alongside the introductory Sustainable Development module. Access to the certification was offered in the same way as other certifications, by prior arrangement and within a limited timeframe.

Initial results are very encouraging:

  • The average score rose by 6 points (58 vs. 51.8)
  • The certification rate rose sharply, with 77.5% of students achieving certification in the first sessions (vs. 50%)

These results highlight the quality of the work and the commitment of the various parties:

  1. Pedagogical content developed by our research-active faculty
  2. Script created by Excelia Lab
  3. Digitisation carried out by IDEE Lab
  4. Professionalism of the programme teams in encouraging student participation

Although there is still room for improvement in certain areas, we should be very encouraged by these initial results, both for our school and for the planet!

 

Work in progress!

 

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