Students’ Participatory and Transformative Agency in Higher Education with the Progressive Design Method: A Case Study

Progressive Design Method (PDM) is a method that can be used in higher education to engage students in project development. This case study investigates whether PDM fosters participatory and transformative agency in university students and examines any potential relationship between these two forms of agency. Participatory agency is measured using a social network analysis measure called degree centrality for each step of PDM. Furthermore, thematic analysis of student activity reflections is used to assess transformative agency. Results indicated that student participatory agency increased during PDM activities. Additionally, students demonstrated transformative agency by identifying the strengths, weaknesses, and potential areas for improvement in the PDM. A correlation between participatory and transformative agency is also found. The implications of the findings for the further development of PDM are discussed.