Conference Session

Problem- and Project-based Learning in Engineering Mechanics

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kathryn Hasz, Carthage College

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics Division (MECHS)

design an experiment to address the design brief. In addition tosolving the problem, students must ensure their solution is realistic through considerations ofcosts, safety, and regulations. Students then write a memo, design report, or white paper as theirlab assessment. They report both their technical results, individual interpretations, andrecommendations based on the results.Early labs in the sequence contain significant scaffolding for students through guiding questions,examples, and class discussions. This scaffolding is slowly removed throughout the coursesequence to help students develop independence. The sequence ends with an open-endedlaboratory in which students are given a mystery material and must determine the type ofmaterial and

Conference Session

Unique Pedagogies for Mechanics Education

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Joshua Gargac, Ohio Northern University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics Division (MECHS)

defined skill from 2021 (“Use vectors to evaluate the positions of links in amechanism.”) was split into multiple, specific skills for the 2022 course: • R3: Write vector loop equations for a mechanism of four or more links • R4: Calculate the position of points on a mechanism with four or more links • R5: Perform position analysis on a crank slider • R8-C: Perform analytical position analysis on a four-bar linkage using MATLABPractically, applying this best practice improved the consistency of test questions for the mastery-skills.As a result, students demonstrated higher pass rates for the mastery skills and reported higher levels ofcompetence on post course surveys (see Section 3).Best Practice 2: Lecture materials should

Conference Session

Teaching Mechanics: Modes and Methods

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Christopher Papadopoulos, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics Division (MECHS)

establish a weekly problem set of traditional textbookproblems, lead an opening discussion of how to approach them, and then allow students time towork on them in class, with opportunity to consult directly with me, a peer tutor, or with a fellowstudent. I aimed that students would ‘crack the egg’ of the fundamental ideas during theseworking periods, and then complete them for homework. Nevertheless, I still had the mentality“to cover the material” and “to show students how”. Thus, lectures would tend to migrate backto me serving as the central figure leading a class discussion on how to outline problemsolutions. True, I was not reciting lecture notes, and using a Socratic style, I would not show anyexplicit steps unless a student provided it. I

Conference Session

Keeping It Real: Real World Examples and Systems Thinking

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kathryn Mary Rupe, Western Washington University; Eric Davishahl, Whatcom Community College; Lee Singleton, Whatcom Community College; Rebecca S. Borowski

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics Division (MECHS)

discussed and resolved, resulting in 100% agreement in coding. Moredetails about the development of the codes is provided in the next section.Development of CodesAfter all 10 of the recorded interviews had been completed, a thematic analysis was conductedthrough multiple views of each video. Throughout the videos, key moments were identified astimes where students were actively engaging with or describing their thinking around the tasks.This meant that times when students were reading the directions or writing their responses on theactivity sheet were not considered key moments. After repeated viewings and analyticaldescriptions of the key moments in videos were compiled, themes were developed. Studentsbroadly engaged with the problems using either

Conference Session

Unique Pedagogies for Mechanics Education

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jamal Ardister, Michigan State University; Geoffrey Recktenwald, Michigan State University; Sara Roccabianca, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics Division (MECHS)

work was compared with thecomputer submitted answers.This paper examines what types of mistakes (conceptual and non-conceptual) students were ableto correct when feedback was provided. The answer is dependent on the type and difficulty ofthe problem. The analysis also examines whether students taking the computer-based testperformed at the same level as their peers who took the paper-based exams. Additionally, studentfeedback is provided and discussed.IntroductionAutomated grading has been around since Michael Sokolski invented scantron grading machinesin 1972. Over time, computers have evolved from grading multiple choice exams to acceptingnumerical and written solutions. New systems like PrairieLearn can grade a wide variety ofsolutions

Conference Session

Applications and Computational Tools for Mechanics Education

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Giancaspro, University of Miami; Diana Arboleda, University of Miami; Seulki Jenny Chin, University of Miami; Liping Yang, University of Miami; Walter G Secada, University of Miami

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics Division (MECHS)

assessment ("post-test").Each learning activity was paper-based and was provided to students at the start of the classsession. Students were permitted to work with their peers in groups of 2 or 3. Control groupactivities involved solving computational problems, some of which had been used as test orlecture example problems by the instructors in previous semesters. In the case of the augmentedreality activities, the worksheet included several exercises (problems) for each student tocomplete. The exercises were arranged in order of increasing difficulty. The instructions on theAR activity worksheets provided scaffolding and paralleled the flow of the app such that studentscould record their work as they progressed through each exercise's tasks

Conference Session

Keeping It Real: Real World Examples and Systems Thinking

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Max Magee, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York; Jessica Swenson, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics Division (MECHS)

. ● Write equilibrium equations for the FBDs. ● Use a coding language or spreadsheet to solve for the joint reaction forces and list in a table. Part IV ● Discuss how to model a support at a point. ● Create shear force and bending moment diagram for the vertical member of the pool lift. ● Determine the maximum shear force and bending moment location and magnitude Part V ● Choose what values to use for bending moment and centroidal axis to the point of interest for maximum

Conference Session

Problem- and Project-based Learning in Engineering Mechanics

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amir H. Danesh-Yazdi, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Aimee Monique Cloutier, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Sean Moseley, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics Division (MECHS)

name afew.By their very nature, fundamental engineering courses do not easily lend themselves to anintegrated design or open-ended element that meaningfully enhances student learning. This isespecially true in the case of Statics, where the primary learning objectives of drawing correctfree-body diagrams and applying them to equilibrium equations to solve for unknowns are usuallyassessed through well-posed problems with unique solutions. An in-depth review of papers inASEE’s PEER repository reveals that the most common open-ended project utilized byinstructors in their Statics courses involves designing, analyzing, constructing, and testing scaledmodel truss bridges using elements made from spaghetti 5 , wooden popsicle sticks 6 , straws 7

Conference Session

Teaching Mechanics: Modes and Methods

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Phillip Cornwell, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Ioan Feier; Nicholas J. Marco; Danielle Ozment

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics Division (MECHS)

are more work since they are required towatch the videos outside of class.Students were asked to complete a “notetaker” while watching the videos. As shown in Table 1,this was required and collected for Instructor 1, but for the other two instructors it wasencouraged, but not collected. The purpose of the notetaker was to help students stay engagedwhile watching the videos and to ensure that they would have a good set of notes. For the lecturematerial, the notetaker consisted of a copy of the PowerPoint slides with blanks for students towrite in key equations. For the example problems, the notetakers consisted of the problemstatements and room to write down the solution from the video. The notetakers were also intendedto provide some

Conference Session

Student Self-assessment in Mechanics Courses

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Amie Baisley, University of Florida; Chiranjeevi Singh Marutla, University of Florida

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics Division (MECHS)

foundations of equilibrium that will be applied in manylater courses. At a large R1 university in the southeast students take the course in a flipped,mastery-based classroom environment. The mastery-based approach is employed for theassessments where students are evaluated for how they demonstrated the course mastery objectiveson each assessment in the course. The students solve a single assessment problem every other weekwhere they are asked to organize their solution following the mastery objectives. The masteryobjectives are the key pieces of the solution solving process for every statics problem. The studentsare required to write, draw, or include equation(s) for each objective for each problem, but thework is unique to the type of problem being

Conference Session

Unique Pedagogies for Mechanics Education

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marguerite Matherne, Northeastern University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Mechanics Division (MECHS)

checked and categorized individually by the instructor.Prompting ChatGPT in this manner – with clear, specific, and explicit instructions – was foundto produce a high rate of accurate classifications. It would miss many responses that should havebeen sorted into one of the groups, but leaving any space for ChatGPT to make its owninterpretation led to many incorrect classifications. Through much trial and error, it wasdetermined that writing the prompt in such a way that does not allow ChatGPT to interpret orassume anything is the best way to avoid false positive or negatives.Using Warm-ups in classFor most classes, the answers to all warm-up questions were summarized on slides and shared atthe beginning of class, starting with the muddiest point