RUME 27
2025
Alexandria, Virginia
Assessment Design Promotes Peer Learning in a Calculus Course for Engineering Students
Page: 1443
This study reports on how students experience peer learning in a first-year engineering mathematics course with portfolio assessment. The course has recently changed the assessment form from a high stake, closed book exam at the end of the semester, to a portfolio exam. We use the Community of Practice (CoP) framework to analyze students peer learning. The data is the midterm course evaluation, and the analysis incorporates mixed approaches. We find that the students reports that peer learning is particularly valued for its contributions to understanding complex concepts, maintaining motivation, and building a collaborative learning culture. Observations suggest that students naturally form Communities of Practice because of the digital tests, using these interactions to enhance their learning outcomes.