As part of the SUCCESSFUL project, two innovative online courses – Climate.nexus and Getting to Know Futures Studies – were successfully piloted with undergraduate and postgraduate students at Sri Lankan partner universities during June and July 2026. The piloting exercise aimed to assess the functionality of the DigiCampus platform, the effectiveness of the learning materials and pedagogical approaches, and the overall student learning experience.
Piloting of the Climate.nexus Course
The Climate.nexus course was piloted with a total of 57 students from two Sri Lankan universities. The student cohort included 19 third-year undergraduate students from the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, and 31 undergraduate and 7 postgraduate students from Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka.
The course curriculum consists of seven comprehensive modules, designed to introduce students to contemporary climate-related concepts through diverse learning materials and interactive activities. Dedicated academic staff members were assigned to individual modules, providing students with orientation to the DigiCampus platform, course introductions, learning instructions, and academic guidance throughout the piloting process.
Upon completion of the modules, feedback was collected from participating students to evaluate their learning experiences. Overall, students expressed strong satisfaction with the contemporary climate-related content, modern learning materials, relevant educational resources, and interactive learning activities incorporated into the course. Many students highlighted that this was their first experience with an online course offering such a diverse range of supplementary learning materials, relevant resources, and educational videos.
The feedback also identified areas requiring improvement, particularly in relation to academic workload. Students reported that the number of assignments and the time and effort required to complete them were relatively high. Some modules involving numerical calculations were also identified as challenging.
Piloting of the Getting to Know Futures Studies Course
The Getting to Know Futures Studies course was also successfully piloted at Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, involving 23 students, comprising 16 undergraduates and 7 postgraduate students.
The piloting provided an opportunity to assess students’ engagement with the course content and learning materials in the emerging field of Futures Studies. Feedback was collected from participating students upon completion of the pilot. Overall, students expressed satisfaction with the course content and learning materials, recognising the value of this relatively new area of study within the Sri Lankan higher education system.