Digital Skills Certificate (PIX)
PIX at the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Montpellier
Since the start of the 2019–2020 academic year, the Pix certification has been incorporated as an educational component into a general TU offered in either the first or second semester (HA1G10H and HA2G12H, respectively; 4 ECTS credits; TU 40 spots per TU ; first-come, first-served basis; no group extensions allowed).
For certain programs, training and/or obtaining Pix certification is mandatory:
- PEIP-bio: Pix training and certification are required to earn the degree (HA2G12HY: enrollment and advancement to L1S2)
- CMI: Pix training and certification are required to earn the degree (HAI509I; for registration and exam information, please contact the CMI coordinator)
- Bio-MV: Training is mandatory, but obtaining the Pix certification is not required. Completing theTU (S3-Pix) training module is aprerequisite forTU HAV404VTU . This TU is mandatory in L2S4 for students in the Bio-MV “Life Sciences” bachelor’s program (PCAV, LAS, Bio-ME). The grade earned in the first semester is counted as CC3 in the second semester forTU (S4:bioinfo).
The main Steps
Prerequisites for these course units:
=> A computer (keyboard + mouse). Tablets and phones are not suitable. You can use the computers in the College of Sciences, in room 36.209 of Building 36. The schedule for this room is posted on the door.
=> You must install the free software and use only that software, both for practice and for taking the certification exam
=> No prior knowledge is required; you will learn everything you need to know
The evaluation:
=> There will be two ongoing assessments (remote—individual, self-directed work at home, approximately 25 hours) on specific digital skills related to Pix.
These assignments are required and count toward the final grade forTU. They must be completed and turned in by a specific date.
=> There will be one final exam: a placement test (online—individual, self-directed work at home, approximately 25 hours) covering all 16 Pix digital skills.
This test is mandatory.
It must be completed and submitted by a specific date:
This assessment shows students the level they have achieved (from 1 to 7) in each digital skill, as well as the number of points earned. To be eligible to register for the PIX certification exam, you must achieve at least level 4 in each skill.
This final exam can be retaken as many times as necessary to achieve a score of 4 before the results are submitted. The time limit depends on the set submission deadline. Students can thus improve their initial score, track their progress, and submit their results whenever they choose, as long as it is before the deadline.
=> Make-up exam: pix Certification exam (In-person – Computer-based test, 1 hour and 45 minutes – this will be the make-up exam score)
At the end of each semester, during exam weeks, students are required to take the certification test, which is administered by the FDS or theTU coordinator. This will allow them to validate the digital skills they have acquired, based on the results of the most recent placement test they took.
Students may take the certification exam only if they have first taken the placement test, submitted the results to the program coordinator, and achieved Level 4 in each skill.
The Pix certification will be issued to the student, following deliberation by the national review committee, in digital format directly to the student’s Pix account.
=> In conjunction with the national program,the TU and HA2G12H TU offerin-person training in the form of lectures (3 hours) and lab sessions (6 hours) to help students succeed in this certification.
However, the assessment for these TU the same and is based on three scores obtained on the pix assessment platform, which must be submitted to the TU coordinator TU
– CC1: Test the following Pix competencies (Independent work at home ≈15h)
Pix Competency 1.3: Process data
Pix Competency 2.3: Collaborate
Pix Competency 3.1: Develop text-based documents
– CC2: Test the following Pix skills (Independent work at home ≈15h)
Pix Skill 3.2: Developing multimedia documents
Pix Skill 3.3: Adapting documents to their purpose
Pix Skill 3.4: Programming
– Final exam: Test of the 16 skills on the Pix platform (Independent work at home ≈15 hours).
– Make-up exam score: Score obtained on the PIX certification exam
Certification:
The certification exam is administered in person only on the FDS campus.
It lasts 1 hour and 45 minutes, and you will be asked 32 questions.
To earn the certification, you must answer 20 questions correctly. Based on your answers, the difficulty of the questions will adjust, allowing you to assess your proficiency level across the 16 competencies.