IO6: The EntreComp Certificate Evaluation Report

Groups of students aged 14-20 from each partner school, along with teachers and project partners, trialled the E-learning platform. The evaluation of the platform, has been a long and comprehensive process. An early beta version was extensively tested by the partners, and selected students, in September 2021. Testing included ease to register, then to sign up to a course, then to navigate the course. Comprehensive feedback indicated that the navigation of the platform was confusing, and it was easy to get lost using a combination of navigation methods. The early version had to be extensively modified as various utilities including uploading evidence, were not working as they should.

During 2022, as students interacted with the platform, and worked towards achieving the certificate, we asked them to complete an evaluation using survey monkey, so it was anonymous, and therefore encouraged students to be frank in their assessment.

By the end of the survey, we had received 99 responses. (Therefore, each answer is approx. 1%)

Of these the vast majority 84 tackled the foundation level certificate, 9 the intermediate and 5 the advanced.

In terms of how easy the process of signing up and logging in was, 52 said very easy, 27 said quite easy, with 17 saying neither easy nor hard. Only 3 people (3%) found it hard.

Next, we asked How easy it was to navigate through the pages, here 39 said very easy, 35 said quite easy, with 16 saying neither easy nor hard. 6 people found it quite hard, with 1 person very hard. This response is a substantial improvement on results from the initial testing, where 30% of students said they felt navigating through the pages was difficult and confusing.

In terms of the platform content, we asked how useful they found the various support materials in relation to the:

Introductory posters and videos, 52 found them very useful, 45 found them quite useful, and only 2 people found them of little or no use.

Introductory self-assessment quiz, 47 found it very useful, 45 found it quite useful, and only 5 people found it of little or no use.

Certificate level explanation page, 50 found it very useful, 42 found it quite useful, and only 7 people found it of little or no use.

Competencies grid page, 49 found it very useful, 44 found it quite useful, and only 5 people found it of little use.

PDF and PowerPoint materials for the competencies page, 50 found them very useful, 39 found them quite useful, and 10 people found them of little or no use.

Suggested activities in helping you to choose how you achieved your competencies page, 50 found them very useful, 42 found them quite useful, and 7 people found them of little use.

Completing the reflection questions for each competence page, 54 found it very useful, 43 found it quite useful, and 2 people found it of little use.

Students were then asked whether they download and completed the appropriate template to help guide them through the process.  55 downloaded the template, whilst 45 didn’t. Those who did were asked how filling in the template was useful, in relation to your overall achievement of the certificate. 17 responded, with 13 saying very useful, 2 saying quite useful and one saying not useful. Comments included:

I found it useful as I was able to store the dates, I had done the activities and what they were on the template, meaning I could use the template as reference when writing the reflections.

We built a repository to upload completed templates and evidence, and students were next asked where they had sent their completed template. 70 said their teacher, 7 said Mrs Wareing (representative of the Co-ordinating organisation who offered to assess student reflections), 8 uploaded it to the platform, and 13 did not send it anywhere (but nonetheless, found it a useful reference to guide them through the certificate)

Students were then asked whether they completed the summative knowledge quiz. 63 had, and 34 hadn’t. Those that had were asked how useful did they find completing it, and comparing it to their original quiz responses. 14 responded, with 13 saying it was very useful. Comments included: Helped me realise how much more I knew about topics now.

Finally, students were asked whether they achieved the certificate. 33 said yes, and 66 said No. As a follow up, students were asked If they did not achieve the certificate, and would like to, do they need help in completing it. 21 responded yes, who have since been approached and support has been provided.

In summary evaluation of the E-learning platform, has indicated that we have developed a usable platform, which is easy to log into and navigate around. Which provides students with mainly useful learning material and examples of activities, as well as templates, comparative knowledge quizzes and a method of reflection to allow teachers to assess students as having achieved the certificate. We will continue to develop the platform, as we already have schools wishing to use it into 2023.