Conference Session

Anything New in the Mechanics of Materials?

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Arturo Fuentes, University of Texas-Pan American; Stephen Crown, University of Texas-Pan American; Bob Freeman, University of Texas-Pan American

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

games and the involvement of students in the gamedesign process, combined loading bone problems and the involvement of students in learningthrough teaching, the concept of functionally graded material structures and their potentialapplications, and the challenges faced in the analysis of graded materials with complexgeometries. The objectives of the challenges include reinforcing students’ understanding aboutsolid mechanics and the difference between analytical and numerical solutions, and fosteringstudents’ interest in the finite element stress analysis for design and research. According to theauthors, students are motivated to learn when they understand the connections between thesubject matter and their interests, values, goals, and career

Conference Session

Mechanics and the Internet

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shahnam Navaee, Georgia Southern University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

project can be used as an effective educational Page 13.1103.23tool to further enhance the students understanding of the subject matter. The student canconveniently alter the problem input and analyze and interpret the obtained results. Theeffectiveness of this project can be evaluated by tracking the academic success of the students intheir future studies and professional careers. The proposed methodology enhances the interest ofstudents in performing research, and encourages them to possibly pursue graduate studies.Bibliography1. Navaee, S., Das, N.K., “Utilization of MATLAB in Structural Analysis,” Proceedings of the ASEE Annual

Conference Session

Mechanics Education Programs and Projects

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cliff Lissenden, Pennsylvania State University; Nicholas Salamon, Pennsylvania State University; Andrew Miller, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

, using standards, and cognitiveskills through provision of mechanical design and data retrieval methodologies, interactivedesign examples, sample projects, and project management for students and faculty via theinternet.2. Attract various faculty to teach application of their science through provision of thewherewithal for students to do design. Our trial application is for the elementary strength ofmaterials course.3. Assess the effectiveness of the design experiences to better prepare students for careers inengineering where they will be required to routinely perform higher level thinking in the form ofsynthesis and evaluation to solve open-ended problems that require iterative divergent andconvergent thinking. Additionally, we must ensure

Conference Session

Enhancing Mechanics Instruction

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gary L. Gray, Pennsylvania State University; Francesco Costanzo, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

amount of material that can be taught and that the students’ interest in the material isenhanced.IntroductionTo maintain and enhance our nation’s ability to be on the forefront of technology development,colleges and universities have been called to adopt the most effective teaching practices of Science,Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses as well as to provide undergraduateswith opportunities to study STEM “as practiced by scientists and engineers as early in theiracademic careers as possible”.1 In fact, the practice of engineering today requires that graduatesbe prepared in a large variety of ways, which are reflected in ABET criteria as well as other recentstudies.2, 3 In addition, as supported by a wide body of literature

Conference Session

Mechanics Education Programs and Projects

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christopher Papadopoulos

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics

own interest in studying textbooks parallels my commitment to teaching studentshow to reason systematically and helping them to develop procedural knowledge. I amgenerally dismayed by corner-cutting that appears in so many standard textbooks, both inthe text and in worked sample problems. Early in my teaching career I developed theattitude that I needed to “teach around the text” by providing additional explanations,insights, approaches, and probing questions. I imagine that many instructors do likewise.In an attempt to quantify the reasons for these attitudes, Rahman, Bostwick, and Ireviewed several standard textbooks, first against the same topics as we reviewed studentwork (VCS, FBD, UNITS)22 and then against other techniques that we