BUILDING STUDENT AGENCY THROUGH ONLINE FORMATIVE QUIZZES

The authors are responsible for a core, first-year module on fluids and thermodynamics for a large class of aerospace, mechanical and product design engineering students. The introduction of a new Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), Canvas, across the university in the 2019/20 academic year, has expanded the potential for active learning and student agency. This paper reports how the curriculum was designed to make use of Canvas features and demonstrates how student engagement was promoted. A key feature of the new curriculum design was a set of formative quizzes spread across the year, each available for a two-week window and with a relatively high pass mark but multiple attempts permitted. No marks were given for the quizzes, but it was necessary to pass them all to be eligible to pass the module. Formative assessments can be an effective strategy to motivate students to build agency, which aligns with section 2.4 of the CDIO syllabus. Quiz 3 was the earliest when not all students passed and two of the three students in question subsequently failed the first summative assessment; this suggests that not only do the quizzes encourage early and consistent engagement with the module, but they also offer the possibility of early identification of students at risk. Evidence of repeated attempts even after a pass mark was achieved suggested a high level of motivation in some students to do well in the quizzes. Student surveys indicated their belief that the quizzes were very helpful. Results from all the summative assessments in the module were significantly improved compared to the previous year, and student satisfaction levels as measured by end of module evaluations were excellent. The outcomes from the redesign have been valuable in informing strategies for the move to effective and engaging online delivery due to the Covid-19 pandemic.