Workflows
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.. _workflows:

.. toctree::
   :caption: Workflows

.. index:: Workflows Documentation

Course/Module Definition Workflow
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In d-gree, a user (typically the lecturer or one of the lecturers) defines a so-called workspace which fully describes a course that can lead to an achievement, along with the lecturers and participants of that course. The term course here is merely a placeholder. It can be an event, a module, a summer school or anything that fits the institutional criteria for micro-credentials. Typically, this means a mandatory record of achievement and a minimum/maximum number of credit points. It can also encompass a fine-grained set of criteria, claims, narratives and competences.

While participants, their contact details and (later) achievements are given in a spreadsheet or through integration with a learning/grade management system, course/achievement/lecturer documentation is often not available in the level of detail required in such systems, and is passed to d-gree through a configuration file. See :ref:`configuration`.

Certification Preparation Workflow
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Before achievements are certified, lecturers perform and verify test runs to ensure that all artefacts are represented as they should be. Part of this workflow can also be signing off on the artefacts, primarily on a variant of the human-readable confirmation document without legal relevance. Optionally, the confirmation documents are electronically pre-signed with all signatures later replicated to the per-student instances with the same content but legal validity.

Achievement Assessment Workflow
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The progress and achievements of learners can be assessed through several techniques, including hands-on labs, AI tutoring, classical examinations or competence-oriented e-exams. Either way, d-gree makes no assumption about the kinds and methods of assessment, and few about how the results are represented. It only assumes that a summative assessment can be expressed as either fail/pass or with a grade specific to any arbitrary grade system, and that the assessment is final and does not change anymore.

Certification Issuance Workflow
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The issuance of micro-credentials happens in one of several modes, see :ref:`modes`.

Several sub-workflows are combined in this stage. This encompasses the generation of the badge image, the badge production and stable identifier, the generation of the QR code for that identifier, further the production of the related artefacts, and the secure, immutable and tamper-proof storage of all produced files for delivery. Finally, all workspace data are also archived in order to allow for reproducing the artefact production.

Moreover, student notification is part of that workflow. Students receive e-mails or other messages with relevant links and documentation about the micro-credentials they have obtained, as well as functional badge management options. Depending on the centralisation, they can or have to download and self-archive the files.

Post-Issuance Workflows
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In case a student is determined to have claimed the achievement in bad faith, for instance through cheating, a micro-credential can be revoked. In this case, it is either marked as revoked or removed entirely, depending on the policies. This affects awarded badges as well as all related artefacts.
**With d-gree, full revocation is currently not easily possible although auditable removals with justification are.**

In case a mistake was found on the PDF or HTML files, they can be reproduced without affecting the associated badge. For this purpose, d-gree stores reproduction information and provides automation to make use of this information to reproduce sets of files as needed.