Vancouver, BC
June 26, 2011
June 26, 2011
June 29, 2011
2153-5965
Mechanics
12
22.752.1 - 22.752.12
10.18260/1-2--18033
https://peer.asee.org/18033
475
Sheryl A. Sorby is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics and Director of Engineering Education and Research. She is the former Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the College of Engineering at Michigan Technological University and previously served as a rotator to the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation. Sorby is active in the American Society for Engineering Education serving as Director of Programs and past chair of the Engineering Design Graphics Division of ASEE. She was a recipient of the Dow Outstanding New Faculty award and the Distinguished Teaching award, both from the North Midwest Section of ASEE. Her research interests include spatial visualization and computer aided design. She was recently awarded WEPAN’s Betty Vetter Award for research on women in engineering.
Statics is a foundational course found in engineering programs across the country. Through a grant from the National Science Foundation, Carnegie Mellon University developed an online version of Statics that is freely available over the web. The materials include text material, animations, film clips, self‐assessments and many other features thought to improve student understanding and motivation. The materials have been utilized in studies across the country, but always in conjunction with traditional classroom sessions. In this study, we have attempted to offer a fully‐online version of the statics course. The instructor is available for one‐hour per week to answer questions in a face to face meeting, but students work through the statics topics from the online materials on their own and complete quizzes associated with each of the 18 modules available. To assess the effectiveness of this teaching method, the Statics Concept Inventory has been administered to the students in the online course as well as to those in a “traditional” statics course, taught by an experienced professor both pre‐ and post‐course. Common questions on exams have been administered for students in the online and traditional courses as well as a fully common final exam. At the end of the semester, students in the online course were given an attitudinal survey regarding their feelings in taking a fully online course. Results from these assessments will be presented in this paper.
Sorby, S. A., & Vilmann, C. R. (2011, June), Going Online with Statics Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC. 10.18260/1-2--18033
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