Not all microcredentials are created equal. As UMBC’s microcredential portfolio grows, a shared taxonomy helps you categorize what you’re building — and helps earners communicate the depth of what they’ve achieved.
The five taxonomies below were built on the work of Braxton (2022), Camilleri, Muramatsu, & Schmidt (2022), Gaston & Van Noy (2022), and Kennesaw State University, and align with the corresponding Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy.
1. Engagement microcredential
Demonstration methodology: participation | Bloom’s alignment: N/A
Also known as the “participation microcredential.” These may incentivize or recognize earners who complete a task or attend an event, and can be useful for recordkeeping and administrative purposes. Engagement microcredentials have limited to no application outside the UMBC community.
2. Knowledge microcredential
Demonstration methodology: knowledge | Bloom’s alignment: remembering & understanding
Builds on an earner’s prior knowledge and introduces new knowledge, concepts, or practices — often through a single event, like a workshop or module. This knowledge may or may not apply outside the UMBC community, and assessments check for remembering and understanding.
3. Proficiency microcredential
Demonstration methodology: skill | Bloom’s alignment: applying & analyzing
Demonstrates that an earner has acquired a new, transferable skill with applications across different contexts. Proficiency microcredentials can be earned from a single event but are more often earned over a series of events or sustained progress, with assessments emphasizing application and analysis.
4. Mastery microcredential
Demonstration methodology: ability | Bloom’s alignment: evaluating & creating
Recognizes a new ability in a specialized topic, often requiring as much time as a 3-credit course. Formative and summative assessments support the earner throughout, and the summative assessment confirms the earner can evaluate or create a producible artifact — like an ePortfolio page or a LinkedIn post — that can be shared with a broader audience.
5. Meta microcredential
Demonstration methodology: culmination of knowledge, skill, and ability | Bloom’s alignment: culmination of remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating
Awarded upon completion of a microcredential pathway — at least two steps or prerequisite microcredentials, made up of some combination of Knowledge, Proficiency, and Mastery microcredentials. Course-credit equivalencies and learning outcome definitions for Meta microcredentials are smaller in scope than a certificate program.