facilitate that retention should be an important focus when planning courses and choosingteaching methods.In early mechanics courses, such as statics and solid mechanics, a student ought to rememberbasic concepts and formulas for equilibrium, shear and moment diagrams, truss analysis,buckling, stress and strain computation for various loadings and other important topics. Thatsaid, student recollection of those concepts, an essential part of applying them in the widercontext of engineering design, is notoriously poor1. The authors’ experience strongly indicatesthat our students have difficulty dredging up knowledge that they haven’t touched recently, and
a more basic level. Forexample, it is less likely in an introductory Physics course for an instructor to assume studentsalready know what a gravitational force is and how it acts on a body, whereas in Statics it isoften assumed to be known. It may be true, then, that students who are taking Physics as acorequisite with Statics may struggle in Statics with concepts that are not explained in Physicsuntil a later time. Table 2 below provides information on the planned topics for a ten-weekcourse in Statics and Physics I to provide a basis for comparison. Table 2. Comparison of topics in Statics and Introductory Physics Statics Physics I Week 1
/1478088706qp063oa. DOI:10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.[31] E. C. Muir-Cochrane and J. Fereday, "Demonstrating rigor using thematic analysis: a hybridapproach of inductive and deductive coding and theme development," International Journal ofQualitative Methods, vol. 5, (1), pp. 80-92, 2006. Available: http://hdl.handle.net/2328/10935.DOI: 10.1177/160940690600500107.[32] J. Saldaña, The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. (2. ed. ed.) 2013Available:http://www.econis.eu/PPNSET?PPN=716972476.[33] J. W. Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitativeand Qualitative Research. 2013Available:http://www.vlebooks.com/vleweb/product/openreader?id=none&isbn=9781292034379&uid=none.
andhighlights from the start of their engineering education that using computer software effectivelyis an important part of being able to creatively solve problems and plays a role in developing theskills to judge validity of solutions developed by others.The role that the integration of simulation software in engineering courses can play in thedevelopment of effective judgment is of interest. Further study is planned to investigate howthese simulations may improve judgment, critical thinking, and decision making by students.While the exercises using software described in this paper were not designed to develop spatialvisualization skills (SVS), it is expected that the exercises like these may be used to do so. TheENGAGE project sponsored by NSF has a
Design Drawing Package 16 8 Peer Evaluations 16 Week Due 2st Semester 9 Updated Drawing Package from First Semester 2 10 New Gantt Chart w/WBS and Milestones 2 11 Functional Prototype 8 12 Mid-Term Peer Evaluation 8 13 Prototype Test Plan
did not use the system. No statistically significantdifference could be detected between students that used WeBWorK and those that did not.Work is currently underway to integrate the study of the effectiveness of WeBWorK into thenormal activities of the course. The type of examination being given in the Statics andMechanics of Materials course lends itself particularly well to mapping homework sets toexamination questions. Groups of students can be restricted from using a WeBWorK set (andgiven paper assignments instead), then their performance on the corresponding examinationquestion can be compared to those using WeBWorK. The authors find this to be a less intrusivetechnique of performing a study like this, and plan to publish the findings
reference to design, [which is] created for business plans. Design [is] usually of structures such as trusses [and] cantilevers. Structures [can be] analyzed by methods of joints, methods of sections, [and] rechecks. Structures must be ethically sound (meaning oversight and approval of licensed engineers [and using] safety factor above legal obligation), well-designed so [it] holds up given physical stress/strain [and] in equilibrium, [and] statistically determinant.Discussion and Implications The concept maps proved to be a great way to learn how the class could be improved as awhole. Teachers can use this tool in order to learn how their students are reacting to thecurriculum. However, throughout the
operators and phone carriers (DSL), and 3) campus connections that isprovided to students by universities. As expected, mobile data and home broadband had similartotal time results. These type of connections can vary due to network congestion and plan levelOn the other hand, university provide connections generally have faster response times andhigher capacity which enable campus operations to be about 10% faster. In all cases, the actualcalculation time would be nearly identical since all HPC nodes are the same. Table 6.2: Total Time for Solution (Network and Calculations) Total Phone Tablet Tablet Nodes Mobile Data Home Broadband
invoke literary and artistic perspectives on the central issue. We felt it critical to includecase studies about construction, planning, and possibility, and not exclusively about structuralfailures and ethical lapses, in order to help students appreciate the engineering enabled by thecourse theories, and to develop a sense that ethical decision-making is relevant in all situations,not simply when trying to assign blame for a disaster.Transfer of Approach to New InstitutionThe relocation of one of the authors to a new college presented an opportunity to test our theorythat our approach was readily transferable. The institutions were similar in some ways: bothundergraduate liberal arts colleges. However, at the new institution only half the
Research Fellowship. His research interests range from sophomore-level engineering curricula to spatial ability and creativity to student entrepreneurship.Mr. Steven David Wood, Utah State University Steven Wood is a junior in the Civil Engineering program. After finishing his BS he plans on completing a MS in Civil Engineering. In addition to studies, he is a teacher’s assistant and he teaches a recitation class for the Statics course. His Interests in the field of engineering are public transportation, specifically in rapid and heavy rail systems. His research interests include spatial ability, learning styles, and gender differences in meta-cognition. c American Society for Engineering
modules developed through thisresearch are interactive and require student exploration. They, along with other learningactivities could easily be used to encourage a more active classroom.As Finite Element Analysis is taught concurrently with Machine Design II at University, studentswere learning to use ANSYS software and the FEA theory simultaneously with machine designcontent. Students stated that the FEA activities helped them understand the machine designcontent much better than just performing book problems. However, due to sequencing in the twocourses, many students also found performing the FEA analyses to be beyond their abilities.Future plans for this research include sequencing the FEA and Machine Design courses to allowbetter synergy
tolerances were defined individually based on each answer’s precision.Sequential question setIn general, the open-ended mechanics problems are constructed with a narration of givenconditions and values to be determined, then expect test-takers to find suitable solving methodsand appropriate equations following the process of interpretation, planning, and execution (IPE)[10] until they determine the values of the required ultimate parameter. The ordinary open-endedproblems give test-takers freedom in this IPE step and thus develop their own IPE skills.However, considering that students in the low-level courses need to first build a sturdyfoundation before personalizing their own methods, the author has bravely tried to reform thegeneric IPE steps and
along the floor. It is possible to obtain s(t) using just the tangential acceleration. However, the calculations involved are complex,xiinvolving the solution of a differential equation where the forcing function is the data input (See Equation (1)). The Page 13.1054.16author has done this (obtaining accurate results) with a previous class but felt that the complexity of the calculationsmade the use of accelerometers seem very challenging and confusing for students. The use of the rate gyro shouldmake this much more straightforward; therefore the author is planning on doing this experiment with an upcomingclass.VI
in 20039. Thiscourse involves a “roving laboratory” for undergraduate students. Experiments in the rovinglaboratory are to be carried out in class, in two different on-campus facilities, and in the field.Experiments are used by the instructor to motivate each and every theoretical discussion in class,to teach students how to plan, conduct and interpret their own experiments, and to exposestudents to important emerging areas of experimental mechanics. Students are then required todesign and implement a vibration test. The original offering of this course only had 14 students,and it is not clear if this approach is scalable to larger classes.It is clear that experimental vibration analysis is an important tool for identifying dynamicproperties
instructor’s control. Ongoing and adequate emergency plans should be on hand to prevent a “house of cards” condition in the event of, for example, an unexpected server interruption.Effort, Reward and PotentialThis paper’s title promises revelations on these topics. Effort refers to the instructor’s labourcommitment, over and above that of a non electronically bundled course. Considerable front-endeffort makes an ePAC format worthwhile only if the format is to be used in a series of courses.Reward refers to benefits arising from features that are unique to an ePAC. Potential refers topossible development of the ePAC, with some of the improvements lying outside this author’scontrol. Effort Rewards/Achievements
seen. In the future, weplan to have a more in-depth discussion after the first horizontal pull, then have them completethe second portion with the vertical pull. We are also planning on developing a simulation Page 23.761.12module that would indicate the direction of the friction under different forces. Additionally, wewill assign a homework problem, including some conceptual questions, to help solidify theirlearning.The Cylinder/Pipe IBLA was successful, but we did encounter some difficulties duringimplementation. It is important to make the ramp angle shallow – otherwise small differencesare exacerbated as the objects “race” to the bottom
II, and Structural Analysis. We are hopefulthat in the longer range we will, in fact, see a difference in student performance among thecohort of students who took Statics and Mechanics of Materials with the modules developed byour project.Finally, next semester (Spring 2013) will be the first introduction of new modules in theMechanics of Materials I course. Some of these modules will strategically build off of themodules introduced in statics, whereas others will be new. We plan, in particular, to introduce atleast one module that incorporates the use of finite element analysis software. While we believethat spreadsheets serve an important introduction to the idea of simulation in Statics, it isimportant to expose students to other
://ecluster.ou.edu/apps/solid3d/default.aspx. Once the tool appears in the webpage (seeFigure 2), the user controls are located at the top of the window. The 3D solids tool has onlybeen recently incorporated into the mechanics eBook, and, as a result, there has been insufficienttime to assess the impact of the tool in an actual classroom setting. The effects of the 3D solidstool on professor pedagogy and any observed improvements in student performance will betopics of a planned future paper. Page 25.1010.5 Figure 2: Tool interface with loaded geometry1. Loading a geometry fileThe user can choose to upload a geometry file from
requested to answer (with a five pointscale: 1-very poor, 2-poor, 3-satisfactory, 4-good and 5-very good) an anonymous questionnaireas shown in Table 1, and based on their feedback we will refine and improve the laboratoryactivities and manuals. Similar surveys were or are planned to be conducted at the end of eachquarter of the current and next academic years. Also, more in-depth evaluation and assessment ofthis course will be performed starting with the next academic year. The future procedure isdescribed below. Page 25.516.9Evaluation of the course and data collection will begin soon after the start of the course. On thefirst meeting of each
proposed approach has been used for small design homework problemsand the design projects discussed in this paper. The proposed approach can also be used infollow up design and non-design courses that includes advanced mechanics of materials,machine design, structural analysis, structural design, etc. The first author and other instructorshave observed that students who have used the proposed approach are more prepared to solvemore complex design problems than previously considered in the follow up machine designcourse than students who were not exposed to the proposed approach. Future research willassess how successful the proposed approach compares to the previous approach in terms ofstudent learning. Furthermore, we plan to assess how the
ReportsWe plan to develop reports that quantify participation in individual interactive exercises for allthe modules of the course. While log files are kept for activities in all modules, such data are notuseful real-time analysis. Thus far, only in modules 6 and 7 are student activities in theinteractive exercises processed for immediate use in the DDL. Figure 4 shows a snapshot of thereport providing quantified information on overall class use of interactive exercises in module 6. Page 15.1313.6 Fig. 4 Screenshot of Module 6 Assignments and Students Report 6The instructor will also be
degree programs or leaving theuniversity (and perhaps higher education altogether). The prerequisite skills exam implementedin solid mechanics appears to offer such an indicator. The author plans to continueimplementing the exam in future semesters and monitor student outcomes during the final Page 22.88.11exams.Prerequisite skills exam learning materialsThe author is happy to provide any educator with the learning materials described earlier in thispaper. The four documents include the (1) list of skills, (2) practice exam, (3) final solutions,and (4) worked solutions to the practice exam, and are the same documents provided to all
Fritz Hillman, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus Edward Hillman is a recent BSc mechanical engineering graduate from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayag¨uez Campus. During his Bachelor’s he studied the mechanical characterization of full culm bam- boo and worked as a systems engineering intern at Lockheed Martin. He plans to pursue a graduate degree in his field of Mechanical Engineering with an interest in Mechatronic system design.Mr. Gerald Luciano Figueroa, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus Gerald L. Figueroa is an artist and graphics designer, currently expanding his skillset while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. Gerald has always been engaged in diverse projects which
answeredfastest (many in 20-30 minutes). Thequickest response time for a challengeproblem was 40 minutes.Finally, one can examine when studentspost questions or look for the solutions.Figure 4 shows that most question postsoccur at the outset of the exam. Theseposts were likely a planned method forpassing the exam, rather than impulsiveacts of (like the posts that occur near theend of the exam). Notably, students arelooking for answers at the outset of theexam as well, but views increase over theduration of the exam. Because of Figure 4 – Timing of students posting (red) orlimitations of the data set, it is not known if looking (green) at Chegg during the 2-hour examlooking truly increases over the exam time period for the whole
Mechanics Project across the three constituent courses was doneover a period of three years, as illustrated in Fig. 3. By accident of history, we implementedDynamics first. In one semester, we put in place all four of the major changes of (1) moving tothe flipped recitation using UGTAs and one lecture per module, (2) creating course materials—notes and examples—that allowed (3) the implementation of mastery-based grading, and (4) theintroduction of computing projects as a major component of the course. A year later we hoistedup Statics, and a year after that Deformable Solids.While not part of an intentional plan, there was some advantage to working through Dynamicsbefore Statics. For example, many of the notational decisions were made to support
problems that exercise theseconcepts, (c) identify commercially available models and tools that closely represent theproblems, (d) tailor the textbook problems to match the physical model, (e) develop a teachingframework engaging the students to experiential learning, (f) and finally conduct surveys andcompare the exam results for assessment.First, the classroom and laboratory setup are described. Second, the critical concepts areidentified based on literature and experience. Third, example teaching frameworks for threemodules are presented. Each framework includes four sub-steps (objectives a-d) describing theconcept, textbook problem, physical model, and model problem. Finally, a plan for assessment isprovided.Classroom and Laboratory SetupThere
2.90 1100 sheet Totals 62.02 49.07 Note: Quantity usually includes the total quantity (amount, length, etc.) of product used in the entire design. For item No. or Part names in call-outs, length for each is determined from the drawing, not the total value given here. Also note that Sch 40 means item 1 is pipe, not tube, but you may include the word pipe. Weight is the total for the quantity specified. Costs given here are examples and may be inaccurate.2. Methods (15%). This section summarizes in narrative form your design process: your plan or strategy, approach to
, another class style needsto be developed which approximates the success of students in the flipped sections. Alternateformats which mandate and reward group performance may work. The balance between face-time and independent study will vary between groups of students.References1 NC State University Office of Institutional Research and Planning. (2016.) Spring 2016 Sophomore Survey. Retrieved from URL https://oirp.ncsu.edu/surveys/survey-reports/studentalumni-surveys/sophomore-survey.2 Lord, Susan M., et al. "Who's persisting in engineering? A comparative analysis of female and male Asian, black, Hispanic, Native American, and white students." Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering 15.2 (2009).3
given a unique hint meant to simulate therole of different perspectives on problem solving. For example, one hint asked students toconsider the effect of the moving crane load on the maximum shear and moment experienced bythe crane rail. Another hint gave students design tables from the AISC Manual of Steel Designand guidance to help them pick an appropriate shape. Teams completed the assignment outsideof class as homework. Plan View (view from above) Section View (view from end) 35 ft. 35 ft. Hoist is free to move Hoist
** 105 8% 2.90 2017 96 12% 3.03 *QOTD and Video Introduced ** Class Summaries IntroducedFuture WorkWe plan to continue to provide the Questions of the Day and the daily class summaries in futureofferings of the course. We may increase the homework assigned slightly, with two originalproblems for every assignment. The additional original problem allows a good opportunity forinterleaving, a technique in which prior material is mixed in with the new material. [9] Thistechnique has been shown to improve long-term retention of concepts. Even though thepercentage of students watching the videos was low, the fact that a