Devices to Counter the Lack of Practice in Mathematics in a First Year Architecture Programme

peer reviewed ; The present study focuses on the whys and wherefores of the online-oriented pedagogical redesign of a course in mathematics in the context of the Feedback First-Year Project (FFYP) implemented in an architecture programme at the University of Liège (Belgium). Lead in order to support the experience and learning of freshmen within the institution, FFYP aimed to involve a group of professors from the same Faculty in a reflection about their current teaching and assessment practice and possible improvements. The teachers were especially acquainted with feedback-related issues through structured moments of personal coaching and collegial meetings, fed by the provision of theoretical resources, among which Nicol’s “12 Principles of good formative assessment and feedback” (2009). This paper reports and analyses four significant devices set up in mathematics by one of the teachers in collaboration with the FFYP team; an online prerequisite test implemented on our academic online platform, a true/false quiz intermediate test, a peer-grading mock exam and an online graphic syllabus. According to Nicol’s recommendations, each of these features is completed with specific feedbacks to the students. At the end of the process, students were asked about their perceptions about the implemented devices. The paper concludes with a discussion of several facilitating and challenging factors.