Curricular Artifact and Assessment Audit Register (CA-AAR): Research Instrument, Codebook, and De-identified Documentary Data
Description
This open research data deposit accompanies the peer-reviewed research study "From Micro-Credential Recognition to Curriculum Practice: Designing and Assessing Stackable Learning Pathways in Higher Education", prepared for submission to the Athens Journal of Education. The deposit documents the Curricular Artifact and Assessment Audit Register (CA-AAR), a structured documentary research instrument developed to evaluate relationships between stated learning outcomes, assessment evidence, indicative study hours, credential documentation, academic-credit recognition, and potential stackability within higher education. The instrument was calibrated against an exploratory, purposively assembled corpus of 15 researcher-held FutureLearn Certificates of Achievement. The audit identified 166 indicative study hours, 82 stated learning outcomes, and seven certificates reporting numerical assessment scores. One certificate described an institutional pathway for conditional credit consideration, subject to additional requirements; the evidence does not establish that credit was awarded. The public package contains five curated, de-identified files: 1. 00_README_FOR_MENDELEY.txt: Master file manifest, project overview, and data-protection protocols. 2. 01_CA_AAR_Blank_Instrument.csv: Reusable standardized 22-variable coding template for independent researcher use. 3. 02_CA_AAR_Codebook_v1.txt: Variable definitions, operational coding instructions, and hierarchical decision rules. 4. 03_CA_AAR_Aggregate_Findings.csv: Validated aggregate counts and empirical distributions. 5. 04_Method_and_Provenance.txt: Methodological framework, sampling protocol, data governance safeguards, and replication steps. The CA-AAR provides a framework for distinguishing course completion, documented assessment, credential recognition, and formal academic-credit award. Its coding categories distinguish recorded evidence from absent, ambiguous, or conditional statements. The study is exploratory and documentary. Findings are limited to the examined corpus and do not constitute statistical generalizations of all online learning credentials, nor independent verification of learner competence, assessment quality, or institutional credit recognition. The instrument has not undergone independent external multi-rater validation. Original certificates and potentially identifying case-level records are excluded to protect personal educational information. Researchers can reproduce the audit procedure using independently assembled corpora but cannot reconstruct original case-level coding decisions from these public files alone.
Files
Steps to reproduce
The Curricular Artifact and Assessment Audit Register (CA-AAR) is a structured documentary audit instrument applied to an exploratory corpus of 15 researcher-held FutureLearn Certificates of Achievement (166 indicative hours, 82 outcomes). Reproduction procedure: 1. Corpus Assembly: Assemble a defined micro-credential corpus, documenting provenance and selection criteria. 2. Documentary Extraction: Apply the blank CA-AAR instrument (01_CA_AAR_Blank_Instrument.csv) and codebook (02_CA_AAR_Codebook_v1.txt) to code explicit transcript text. 3. Workload & Outcomes: Extract indicative hours (weeks × weekly hours), stated outcomes, assessment tasks, numerical scores, credit terms, and stackability. Treat hours as nominal course design volume, not observed learner time. 4. Evidential Separation: Distinguish documented assessment from stated outcomes; do not infer competence from course completion alone. 5. Credit & Disclaimers: Code conditional credit consideration separately from confirmed awards. Record contractual qualification disclaimers. 6. Ambiguity Management: Code undocumented items as 'Not stated' (indicating documentary absence, not institutional impossibility). 7. Synthesis: Aggregate coded observations and report descriptive totals with appropriate qualifications. Public package notes: The deposit includes the blank instrument, codebook, aggregate findings, and methodology. Individual certificates and case-level matrices are withheld to protect personal educational data. Researchers can replicate the audit workflow with independent corpora, but cannot reconstruct individual case decisions from public aggregate files.