Course Guide

The primary goal for the course is that you take away useful skills and knowledge to apply to your work. This will require more than just visiting the Course site occasionally and reading the resources and posts in the forums. It also requires that you regularly contribute to activities and complete assignments related to the learning objectives. We expect that you can complete the course with 5-8 dedicated hours each week.

There are two levels of assessment and two ways of indicating your successful completion: Badges and a Certificate of Completion.

Badges

Badges are awarded for completion of each lesson in the course. The lessons correspond to key learning outcomes related to the provision of marine services, so badges provide an indication of your developing competency. A total of 5 badges can be earned for lesson completion in the Course.

A Badge for a lesson is granted once you have completed the activities and viewed the resources required. What determines completion for activities can vary:

• For some Discussion Forums, you must make one post or begin a discussion and for others you may also be requirred to reply to someone elses post.
• Questionnaires need to be completed and submitted.
• Some content resources must simply be read.
• Assignments must be submitted, either individually or by the Country Group (this is indicated in each assignment).

Submission of an assignment does not guarantee its successful completion. The Facilitator will assess each assignment, assign a grade, and provide feedback. If the assignment is graded not satisfactory, you will be offered the opportunity to make improvements and resubmit.

Certificate of Completion

A Certificate of Completion is awarded to participants who successfully complete the Course. Successful completion requires two conditions to be met:

1. You collect the Badges for each lesson (5 Badges in total).
2. You submit and receive a Satisfactory grade on the Capstone Project (in the final section).

If you do not qualify for Completion, the Facilitators will evaluate your assignments and forums, and at their discretion, you may instead receive a Certificate of Participation.

Kindly note that only participants who have received the Certificate of Completion will be invited to attend Phase 2 of the Course, which includes a face-to-face component. Further details regarding Phase 2 will be shared during the course.