The collaboration aims to introduce AI-Powered Individualized Pathways to Upskill, Provide Certifications, and Align Employment Outcomes
WGU Labs, the research, development and investment arm of Western Governors University (WGU), announced a strategic partnership with CodeSignal, a comprehensive skills platform, to pilot the integration of advanced skills assessments and learning paths into the WGU Academy curriculum. This one-year initiative aims to bridge the gap between education and employment, ensuring Academy students are well-prepared for employment by assessing their skills, upskilling as needed, and offering industry-recognized certificates within the WGU Academy catalog.
The pilot, led by the Accelerator at WGU Labs, will focus on one front-end and one back-end CodeSignal certificate designed to support the transition to work in industries that traditionally require high utilization of coding skills, including technology and finance. WGU Labs will work alongside CodeSignal to streamline access to WGU project resources and leverage assessment analytics such as academic activity and assessment results to strengthen the pathway to certification. Data specific to the learning experience will also be collected, including content and resource utilization in order to better support student outcomes.
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“CodeSignal is committed to democratizing education by providing practice-based, personalized learning that aligns with the evolving demands of the job market,” said Tigran Sloyan, co-founder and CEO of CodeSignal. “Our partnership with WGU Labs will help us extend these benefits to a broader student base, empowering them to achieve their career goals.”
Founded in 2015, CodeSignal enables teams and individuals to discover and develop essential skills by assessing skill gaps and creating personalized learning pathways. Its platform offers learning paths in a variety of topics related to career readiness, including coding, preparing for job interviews, and AI and machine learning. The platform also features a built-in AI tutor that gives users one-on-one guidance to provide a more interactive and adaptive learning environment.
“WGU Academy’s partnership with CodeSignal extends the variety of industry-recognized certifications and assessments we offer to help learners gain employment,” said Chelsea Barnett, senior director of product and program innovation for WGU Academy. “Data from this pilot will contribute to Academy’s understanding of the student experience and increase positive outcomes post-certification.”
By leveraging the personalized learning environment and integrated AI tutor support within the CodeSignal pathways, WGU Academy has the opportunity to enhance responsiveness to individual student needs and foster greater self-reliance among students in the CodeSignal pathways. Based on the findings, WGU Academy may choose to modify or enhance instructional support and targeted interventions to enhance the human interventions needed to support students traversing through the CodeSignal learning paths and more broadly, novel AI-powered pathways.
“Piloting the utilization of CodeSignal in WGU Academy’s curriculum aligns with WGU’s mission to provide accessible, affordable, and high-quality education,” said Jason Levin, executive director of WGU Labs. “This partnership will create clear pathways from education to employment by further aligning WGU’s ability to certify skills with the needs of employers challenged with assessing applicants. CodeSignal will help connect students more directly to opportunities and give them exposure to and practice with assessments regularly used in the hiring process to increase our students’ employability.”
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