Santa Clara University (SCU), a faith-based institution in the Silicon Valley, announced a new mini-course aimed to help undergraduate students ease into a virtual-based curriculum earlier this month. 

In an Oct. 8 press release, SCU announced the Learning and Engaging in Virtual Learning program, or LEVL Up. The university said that the goal of the program is to create a "game-like experience" to help students adapt to remote academic learning and virtual extracurricular activities. 

Sandra Jamaleddine, a junior at SCU, said that LEVL Up is a Camino program designed for SCU students by SCU students to cope with fully virtual learning. 

"My favorite thing about LEVL Up is you are able to take the course at your own pace during your own time. Whether you’re looking for extra advice about time management or even accessing off-campus resources, LEVL Up provides you with a customized guide to a wide variety of topics," she said.

The optional program consists of nine levels, and offers resources for virtual technology use, studying, learning strategies, goal-setting, time management, access to further campus resources and engaging with other students through the virtual SCU community. 

The release stated that the levels are meant to challenge undergraduates, encourage self-assessment and self-reflection, hone new skills and establish a commitment to action. After each level is completed, students are given a badge, and are asked to commit to an action, whether reaching out to others for support, joining a club or student organization or pledging to make conscious efforts to engage more with teachers and classmates in Zoom classes. Students receive a certificate of completion after finishing the course's all nine levels. 

“It’s an extension of the ‘Learning to Learn’ online course we had during Spring 2020, but with better content, some gamification and some community building elements,” said SCU senior Danny Mendoza in the release. 

The LEVL Up program launched on Sept. 1, and student engagement in the course has been tracked by instructional technology manager Brian Larkin, who said the university has been pleased with students' responses so far. 

“Over 3,200 students started to level up their learning, and over 2,000 badges have been shared with students for completing levels," said Larkin. "Santa Clara students have already proven to be dynamic and adaptable, and the LEVL Up course is helping make what was an unusual learning environment a transformative and rewarding one."