Customer Story
European Case Study

Saxion University Uses Möbius to Improve Assessments and Provide Students with Immediate, Meaningful Feedback

Somlynn Rorie
Somlynn Rorie

Challenge

The Mechanical Engineering program of Saxion University of Applied Sciences was looking for an option to allow students to apply what they were learning while receiving real-time feedback and guidance. The program also wanted digital assessments to assess a student’s knowledge authentically.

Solution

In 2018, Saxion began using Möbius to improve its assessments and to provide students with opportunities to practice problems while receiving immediate, meaningful feedback. Mechanical Engineering lecturer Mark Rijkeboer was enthusiastic about adopting the platform because of its powerful math engine, which allows them to ask questions differently and better assess what students are learning. He also liked the immediate, meaningful feedback that went beyond just correct and incorrect to guide students through the process of getting to an answer.

Result

Möbius provided faculty with better opportunities to assess what students were learning.  Möbius has allowed flexibility to ask questions in new ways that help ensure students fully understand the material. Students like the real-time feedback and the interactive content that allows them to practice problems. Möbius is now used in various engineering, design, and math courses at Saxion, and the platform has improved digital testing and online lessons.

The Details

Improving Digital Testing with Variable and Adaptive Questions

Saxion is a Dutch educational institution that offers a range of academic programs, including bachelor’s degrees, master’s programs, and short certificate courses. It serves around 24,000 students; many are visual and hands-on learners who enjoy practical opportunities to apply their learning.

In 2018, Saxion started using Möbius to improve digital testing and provide more interactive course content. The platform was first deployed in the Mechanics of Materials course and has since been adapted to teach various design, engineering, and math courses.

Saxion chose Möbius because of its powerful math engine and the immediate, meaningful feedback on problems. Möbius provided practical and interactive lesson delivery and allowed faculty to create variable and adaptive questions for formative and summative assessments.

“During all of our mechanical courses, we offer our students three intermediate tests,” said Rijkeboer. “The final exam is also digital.”

The platform allows for more testing without putting too much of a burden on faculty.

“For us, as lecturers, it is easy to follow (and grade) large groups of students, making the intermediate tests possible (time-wise),” said Rijkeboer. “The variable and adaptive questions work great for the intermediate and final exams.”

Möbius helps to test large groups of students at once and allows for more testing, which Saxion often does to gauge how students are doing.

“When you have to check 100+ exams, it’s a major time saver,” said Rijkeboer.

The platform has also saved faculty time in creating exams.

“We have a lot of questions to choose from now for assessments,” said Rijkeboer. “We can build two exams in less than a day, when building the first digital exams would take two days.”

Using Möbius has also allowed lecturers to spend more time teaching and less time grading and creating exams.

“We have seen an increase in performance and activity for formative testing during courses using Möbius,” said Rijkeboer.

Teaching Courses Where Details Matter: Assessing What Students Know

In fields like engineering, small mistakes can have big consequences. Mechanical Engineering lecturers want to see not only a correct answer but that the process is accurate. They encourage pupils to respond in the appropriate measurement units. Möbius allows faculty to see the students’ process. Instructors can move beyond multiple-choice questions to better assess what students are learning and what concepts they fully understand.

“The reason I was enthusiastic about Möbius was the question feedback,” said Rijkeboer. “It leads you through the process. If students get an incorrect answer, they can see information about where they need to adjust their process.”

The faculty members emphasize correct processes, units of measurement, and accuracy because real-world mistakes can have big consequences.

“We’re trying to teach students this concept,” said Rijkeboer. “The method and answer both have to be correct.”

Growing the Use of Möbius to Deliver Engaging Lessons

Mechanical Engineering lecturers have also been using the platform for online lessons, replacing the need for a textbook in some courses. They find combining short videos and questions works best for engaging students. Saxion is growing the use of Möbius to make lessons more interactive and visual.

“Möbius allows us to incorporate short video clips into lessons,” said Rijkeboer. “I see in the future more use of video questions in Möbius where students can watch a video and practice immediately afterward.”

Using videos and interactive narratives in Möbius has been popular with students. The new format offers frequent opportunities to practice concepts and test understanding.

“Students prefer that now to a lecture,” said Rijkeboer. “It’s clear that Mobius is here to stay.”

 

DigitalEd