Fostering Student Engagement Through Constructive Alignment: A Case of Course Development

Practice Paper Recommended citation: Du-Ikonen, L., Li, C., & Vieira, J. R. (2025). Fostering Student Engagement Through Constructive Alignment: A Case of Course Development. In Kangaslampi, R., Langie, G., Järvinen, H.-M., & Nagy, B. (Eds.), SEFI 53rd Annual Conference. European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI), Tampere, Finland. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17631782. This Conference Paper is brought to you for open access by the 53rd Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI) at Tampere University in Tampere, Finland. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License. FOSTERING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT THROUGH CONSTRUCTIVE ALIGNMENT: A CASE OF COURSE DEVELOPMENT L Du-Ikonen a, 1 , C Li b, J Vieira c a Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT, Lappeenranta, Finland, 00090003-2945-3871 b Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT, Lappeenranta, Finland, 00000001-9400-3998 c Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT, Lappeenranta, Finland, 00090004-3242-4948 Conference Key Areas: Engineering skills, professional skills, and transversal skills, Building the capacity and strengthening the educational competences of engineering educators Keywords: Student engagement, Constructive alignment, Teaching - learning activities, Intended learning outcomes, Transferable skills ABSTRACT This paper presents a development process in the “Sustainable Cities” course, designed to address common challenges in large, hybrid university courses, such as diverse student needs, limited engagement, and maintaining quality at scale. Building on prior research in inclusive and active learning, the 2024–2025 implementation focused on aligning teaching - learning activities with intended learning outcomes (ILOs) while emphasizing the development of transferable skills. Pre-assessment survey, feedback and questionnaire were used to increase students’ awareness of their own learning styles and to gather insights to inform the ongoing course development. The results show improved student satisfaction, clearer understanding of tasks, and more active engagement, with slight improvement in performance and fewer dropouts. Compared with previous years, these findings suggest that even incremental, evidence-informed changes can enhance both learning and teaching. The paper also reflects on how the process contributed to the educator’s pedagogical growth, offering practical insight for others seeking to improve course design in engineering and related disciplines. 1 Corresponding Author L Du-Ikonen [email protected] 1 INTRODUCTION After experiencing various educational methods including remote, in-class, and hybrid formats in the past half decade, the quality development of specific courses at the university level becomes one of the topics (Smith et al, 2021). This means that transition from optional to mandatory is one option for certain course modules and activities. This changes face challenges for effective curriculum planning and resource allocation. When the course is held in hybrid mode, enhancing student engagement and interaction in the virtual learning environment is crucial for an online lecture. Strategies to encourage active participation include incorporating interactive activities such as quizzes and discussion forums (Evans et al., 2021), scheduling regular live Q&A sessions, motivate peer collaboration through group projects (Geitz et al., 2024), and implementing real-time course feedback system to identify student needs and provide support. On the another side, it should be realized that it is not only the teacher who needs to learn the new technology, but also students (Palmer et al., 2022). Addressing varying levels of student motivation and self-efficacy requires personalized support for challenges such as language barriers, motivational strategies like goal setting and self-reflection exercises, and encouraging active learning through interactive assignments. For international students struggling with adaptation and well-being, providing necessary support is important (Gan & Forbes-Mewett, 2019). Especially, get students adapt to the changing environment and keep learning new skills, which is demanded from the working market (Soong & Maheepala, 2023). Creating a supportive and inclusive learning environment involves offering mental health care, social integration activities, and academic support services, as well as fostering a sense of community through social events and mentorship programs (Khan et al., 2022). Managing the additional workload for instructors while addressing student concerns will be beneficial to students. Positive feedback from students can highlight the importance of acknowledging and working with emotions, with comments such as "teacher's patience" and "detailed explanations" underscoring the value of active guidance and support provided by instructors (Câmpean et al., 2024). By addressing these key areas, the effective planning and resource allocation can enhance student engagement, support diverse student needs, and maintain a balance between meeting student needs and ensuring teacher well-being. This paper focuses on the “Sustainable Cities” course, which reflects several of the challenges discussed above during the academic years 2021 – 2023, including diverse international student needs, interaction in hybrid settings, and the large-scale teaching. In response, a targeted course development process was implemented in 2024–2025. The objective of this paper is to present the development effort aimed at enhancing student engagement by fostering motivation through clearer learning design and the integration of transferable skills. Specifically, it examines how the use of pre-assessment can increase students’ self-awareness of their learning styles, and whether the implemented changes influence both subjective outcomes - such as student feedback - and objective measures (academic performance, grades). At the same time, the paper explores how this process supports the educator’s professional growth and contributes to the broader goal of strengthening pedagogical competence within engineering education. 2 DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE 2.1 Prior course settings and challenges The "Sustainable Cities" course was first introduced in academic year 2021-2022. Developed from the ground up, the course addresses the growing need for sustainability competencies in engineering education – particularly interdisciplinary knowledge and systems thinking. Designed as a 15-week course across the 1st and 2nd periods, it provides 6 credits and combines online lectures, short video materials, quizzes, software tutorials, and essay-based assignments. Delivery was intentionally asynchronous due to the constraints of the COVID-19 period, which required flexible remote learning arrangements. The course aims to develop the following intended learning outcome (ILO): 1. Summarize the driving forces behind the city sustainable development. 2. Name the measurements of sustainable cities with the three-pillar model. 3. Explain the main operations of a city from an environmental point of view. 4. Access the environmental, economic and social challenges related to city’s sustainable development. 5. Identify the resources for the cities to develop the sustainable solutions. 6. Apply One Click Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) software to assess the life cycle environmental impacts for buildings. The first year served as a pilot, with the course offered as an optional module. Seven students enrolled, allowing for intensive testing of materials, direct interaction, and detailed individual feedback. Moodle served as the central platform for distributing content, enabling peer reviews, and managing assessment feedback. In the second year (2022–2023), the course became mandatory, with enrolment increasing to over 40 students from diverse academic and cultural backgrounds. Essay assignments enabled students to select a city of interest and apply course concepts using a structured template. Peer reviews were incorporated using a detailed rubric to foster critical engagement, constructive feedback, and self-reflection. Enrolment expanded rapidly, reaching 120 students in the academic year 2023 - 2024. As the course scaled up, maintaining quality learning experiences and interaction became more complex. Based on course evaluations and student questionnaires, four main challenges were identified: 1. Diverse backgrounds and learning styles: students came from varied academic and cultural contexts, requiring more inclusive and adaptive teaching strategies. 2. Interaction between teacher and students: the primarily asynchronous format limited engagement, highlighting the need for more structured and interactive learning opportunities. 3. Assessment and teacher workload: personalized feedback became increasingly difficult in large groups, emphasizing the need for scalable assessment methods. 4. Use of AI: growing reliance on AI tools raised concerns about academic integrity, calling for clear guidance and revised assessment design. 2.2 Development of the course In 2024–2025, with 180 students enrolled, the course presented growing challenges - not only in managing student diversity and engagement, but also in requiring the lead educator, transitioning from a research-focused role, to enhance pedagogical competence in parallel. Through a pre-assessment survey – gathering students' prior knowledge, skills, and learning experiences - alongside course feedback and an online interaction questionnaire, the teaching team gained valuable insights to adapt content and improve inclusivity. The development process takes a step-by-step approach, and this paper focuses on two most important questions: 1. Describe a learning experience where your cultural background influences your understanding or approach to the material. How did this impact your learning outcome? 2. Reflect on the time when you had to adapt your learning style to a new educational environment or culture. What challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them? Corresponding actions based on students’ responses included refining teaching - learning activities to better align with the ILOs, meanwhile highlighting transferable skills that support motivation and engagement. The constructive alignment check is shown in Table 1. Table 1. The constructive alignment check ILO Teaching method Learning activities Assessment: how, who, when? Feedback: how, who, when? Wellbeing 1 Hybrid lecture; interaction with group discussion; recording Attending the lecture; participate in the group discussion; read/watch additional information Quiz, teacher, weekly Quiz automatic, weekly Students attending the lecture is optional; bonus points for participation; formative assessment; peer and selfassessment reduce the teacher’s load. 2 3 Group work report and presentation, peers and teacher, through the course Peers review and selfreflection through Moodle tool based on task progress, teacher’s feedback at the end of the course 4 5 6 Hybrid tutorials; individual guidance; recording Practice on One-Click LCA software Report, teacher, during the course Report feedback, teacher, at the end Available individual guidance In the course introduction, transferable skills are clearly communicated to help students understand their relevance to both academic success and future professional development, while also shaping positive learning attitudes. The transferable skills include: 1) Research and Analysis Skills (R&AS); 2) Communication Skills (CS); 3) Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving (CT&P); 4) Technological Literacy (TL); 5) Collaboration and Teamwork (C&T); 6) Time Management and Organization (TM&O); 7) Adaptability Skills (AS). Table 2 shows the connection between transferable skills and different assessment & feedback method. Table 2. The connection between transferable skills and assessment& feedback. Assessment & feedback Skills R&AS CS CT&P TL C&T TM&O AS Quiz; weekly ✓ ✓ ✓ Group work; peer/self/teacher evaluation ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ LCA report; individual guidance available ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Lecture interaction (optional, bonus point) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Survey (optional, bonus point) ✓ ✓ 3 RESULTS From the questionnaire (N=176), 56% students are motivated for achieving high grades and recognition, and 55% desire to apply the learning in real-life situations. The summary to the first question is the following: 32.8% students mentioned a preference in learning through discussions and value a group environment, while 25% students answered that they prefer learning alone; 20.3% students mentioned an existing language barrier, which has been recognized by different studies through the years (Williams et al., 2018; Ma, 2020) ; 12.5% students mentioned that their passion for nature and environment comes from growing up; and 9.4% students praised the professor-student relationship. As for the second question: 31% students mentioned the need for improving language skills to overcome language barriers, while 15.5% students mentioned how they needed to improve their communication skills to succeed in the academy; 25.7% students mentioned the need to improve their independence. The latter two findings align with results achieved by Gan & Forbes-Mewett (2020), which reported struggles of international students in adapting to a new country of residence. Challenges in adaptation ranged from cultural and communication differences to learning how to perform everyday tasks, which also coincided with the recognition of lack of independence by 25.7% of the respondents. Additionally, 13.8% students reportedly started asking for help with their studies, from both teachers and other students, to overcome various challenges. 9.5% students mentioned participating in study groups or working with other students generally. These findings are again connected to these achieved by Gan & ForbesMewett (2020), which identified the need of students to seek ‘personal help’, in which help provided by those close to said students were perceived as more effective than professional help. Lastly, 4.3% students mentioned they had to improve their time management, which could also fall under the improved independence category. 3.1 Students’ performance The distribution of students' final grades between 2023–2024 (prior course setting) and 2024–2025 (after course development) is illustrated in Fig. 1. The trend appears similar, although fewer students achieved a grade of 5, the motivation on the course and teaching promoted learning have been slightly improved. Considering the number of registered students, fewer students received a grade of 0 or dropped out of the course, likely due to improved arrangements at the beginning of the course, such as the target with transferable skills. The Fig. 2 shows the grade distribution between international and local students. Local students tend to have a higher percentage in both low (0/1) and high grades (5) compared to international students. This may be due to local students being less concerned about grades and facing fewer challenges in adapting to the local learning environment and culture. However, the unbalanced sample sizes, 39 locals vs. 142 internationals, may introduce bias in interpreting the results. Fig. 1. Course final grade distribution chart in academic year 2023-2024 (N=109) and 20242025 (N=188) Fig. 2. Course final grade distribution chart between local (N=39) and international students (N=142) in academic year 2024-2025 3.2 Students’ feedback Student feedback from 2023–2024 (prior course setting) and 2024–2025 (after course development) reveals clear improvements in student experience following targeted course development. In 2023–2024, students expressed a need for clearer instructions, more structured group work, and greater interaction. In 2024–2025, students reported clearer task instructions, improved structure in group assignments, and greater transparency in assessment expectations. The contact teaching - via inperson lectures and tutorials - was valued for enhancing understanding and fostering engagement. Many students also appreciated the explicit focus on transferable skills such as communication, critical thinking, and time management, stating that these elements increased the perceived relevance of the course to their academic development and future professional competences. These findings are consistent with prior studies (Khan et al., 2022; Câmpean et al., 2024) that emphasize the role of clarity, interaction, and feedback in enhancing student motivation and engagement. 3.3 Teachers’ experience The implementation of course improvement has highlighted the significant benefits of enhancing student engagement, satisfaction, and learning outcomes. However, these developments also highlight the need for adequate support systems, particularly when managing larger groups. For example, transitioning to a hybrid teaching model has enriched the learning experience but introduced new demands, such as coordinating in-person and online components, managing logistical challenges across campuses, and maintaining consistency in delivery. These increased responsibilities can place considerable strain on educators, emphasizing the importance of supporting teacher well-being. To sustain high-quality teaching under such conditions, it is important to invest in building the capacity and strengthening the educational competences of educators through structured pedagogical development and institutional support. 4 SUMMARY This paper presents a structured development process of the “Sustainable Cities” course, aimed at enhancing student engagement, learning outcomes, and transferable skills within an engineering education context. Over four academic years, the course evolved from a small, optional pilot to a large, mandatory module with 180 students. Main challenges are identified, such as addressing diverse students’ learning backgrounds, fostering meaningful interaction in online setting, and ensuring learning quality in large cohorts. In response, pre-assessment surveys, course feedback and online questionnaire were used to tailor course content and pedagogical strategies to student needs. Course development efforts focused on strengthening the alignment between learning activities and intended learning outcomes (ILOs), introducing structured group tasks, and emphasizing transferable skills to enhance student motivation, engagement, and real-world competence. The results showed noticeable improvements in student satisfaction, clearer understanding of tasks, and more active engagement with the course, as reflected in both grade distribution and student feedback. 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