Enhancing student engagement and achievement in large undergraduate university courses is a vibrant area of research. Many existing studies have demonstrated the capacity of technologically enhanced formal and informal learning spaces to promote learning. However, this literature is dominated by studies that use assessment to incentivise student participation, usually in the form of awarding or deducting coursework marks. Our study presents an alternative to this “carrot and stick” approach. We describe the design and implementation of two optional, non-grade-bearing learning support initiatives in a large enrolment, first-year human biology course: first, an online mock test that allows for timely feedback; and second, peer-teaching and—learning using the Piazza discussion platform. We analysed the uptake of these initiatives across three consecutive course offerings (2013–2015), and conveyed to students their potential impact as a series of graphs in the course materials. Regression analysis identified a positive correlation between participation in the mock test and summative achievement in the course for Grade Point Average (GPA)-matched student pairs, with the benefit being most pronounced for students with low-to-middle GPAs. Modelling revealed four different levels of student participation in Piazza, with increasing participation correlated with greater achievement, particularly for students with low-to-middle GPAs. The benefits of the two initiatives were complementary. Interestingly, for certain students, ‘passive’ participation in Piazza yielded similar learning benefits to ‘active’ participation, suggesting that active participation is not an antecedent for learning gains. This finding has important implications for instructors who currently require students to ‘visibly’ engage to earn participation marks.

在大型本科大学课程中提高学生的参与度和成就是一个充满活力的研究领域。现有的许多研究表明，技术上增强了正式和非正式学习空间以促进学习的能力。但是，该文献主要以使用评估来激励学生参与的研究为主导，通常以授予或扣除课程成绩的形式。我们的研究提出了这种“胡萝卜坚持”方法的替代方案。我们在大型的入学第一年人类生物学课程中描述了两个可选的，不带成绩的学习支持计划的设计和实施：第一，在线模拟测试，可以及时反馈。第二，同peer教学和使用Piazza讨论平台进行学习。我们分析了三项连续课程（2013-2015年）中这些举措的采用情况，并以一系列图表形式向学生传达了其潜在影响。回归分析确定了模拟考试的参与程度与平均成绩（GPA）匹配的学生对课程的总成绩之间的正相关，对于低至中级GPA的学生来说，其优势最为明显。建模揭示了广场学生参与的四个不同级别，参与的增加与成绩的提高相关，特别是对于GPA中低水平的学生。这两项举措的好处是相辅相成的。有趣的是，对于某些学生来说，“被动”参与Piazza产生了与“主动”参与类似的学习收益，这表明积极参与并不是获得学习成果的先决条件。这一发现对目前要求学生“明显”参与才能获得参与分数的教师具有重要意义。