Improving and Assessing Student Hands-On Laboratory Skills through Digital Badging

Building on previous success with a digital pipet badge, an evidence-centered design approach was used to develop new digital badges for measuring the volume of liquids with a buret and making a solution in a volumetric flask. These badges were implemented and assessed in two general chemistry courses. To earn the badges, students created videos of their techniques at the end of lab and uploaded them using the Passport app. Students received individual feedback from their instructors and were able to attempt the technique again if their first performance was unsatisfactory. To evaluate the badge as a laboratory assessment tool, students completed surveys about their knowledge, confidence, and experience using each technique with a retrospective-pre then post survey design. Analysis of these surveys showed statistically significant gains in student knowledge, confidence, and experience across both courses and both badges. Student performance on exams and procedural questions within the badges supports the conclusion that the badges positively impacted student learning of these two techniques. This research establishes that a digital badging approach can be used to improve student hands-on skills across multiple techniques and multiple student populations.