Board 38: Student-led Curriculum Development: Incorporating Mechanics of Materials Students in the Design of Statics Curricula (Work in Progress)

Matthew Stephen Barner; Sean Lyle Gestson; Audrey Dewey

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Civil Engineering Division (CIVIL) Poster Session
Tagged Division: Civil Engineering Division (CIVIL)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/46964

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Paper Authors

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Matthew Stephen Barner University of Portland orcid.org/0000-0002-8581-6708

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Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at University of Portland

Research interests include: curriculum and faculty development

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biography

Sean Lyle Gestson University of Portland

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Sean Gestson graduated from the University of Portland (UP) in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and received his M.S. and Ph.D. in civil engineering with a research emphasis in engineering education from Oregon State University (OSU). During his time at OSU, Sean taught multiple undergraduate engineering courses including, geotechnical engineering, highway design, surveying, and senior capstone design. His engineering education research aims to understand more about the gap in student preparedness for the engineering workplace. He has worked closely with engineering practitioners, faculty, and students to understand more about their problem-solving behavior, beliefs around engineering knowledge, and learning more about what it means to be an engineer. Sean enjoys being active outdoors with his family and friends while climbing, mountain biking, and camping.

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Audrey Dewey

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Abstract

“Student Led Curriculum Development: Incorporating Mechanics of Materials Students in the Design of Statics Curricula. A Work in Progress”

Students are a valuable stakeholder in curriculum design, yet they are seldom involved in curricular design efforts. One of the main concerns inhibiting student involvement in curriculum development is their perceived lack of required knowledge and pedagogical training. However, what if the goals for including students in curriculum design were not exclusively focused on creating adoptable curricula?

The purpose of this study was to provide students enrolled in a summer term of mechanics of materials an opportunity to develop a learning activity or tool for statics. While the students were encouraged to develop something that might be adopted in future offerings of statics, the authors’ other goals were for the students to enhance their own understanding of a statics topic through the curriculum development process and gain a deeper appreciation for the challenges of designing effective curricula.

At the beginning of a Summer 2023 offering of mechanics of materials, five students were assigned a project to choose a statics topic that they previously struggled with and brainstorm ways they would want that topic taught to themselves knowing what they know now. The mechanics of materials instructor interviewed each student individually early in the term using a semi-structured interview format with the goal of helping the students brainstorm curricula for their chosen topic. The students then had the remainder of the six-week term to develop their curriculum and were interviewed individually again at the end of the term by the instructor using a semi-structured interview format. The students presented their curriculum during the second interview and were questioned on their lessons learned throughout the development process.

The five students in this study picked a variety of statics topics and curricular activities. The quality of their developed curricula varied with some students putting more effort into this project than others, as was expected. All the students expressed enjoying the opportunity to develop curricula and thought this was an interesting project that should be continued. Each student also articulated the challenges they faced in their curriculum design, notably the iterative process, trying to accommodate different learning styles, and getting their curriculum to match their intention.

This study is a work in progress that will be continued and improved in future summer offerings of mechanics of materials. While students were able to ultimately develop some form of curriculum by the end of the summer term, the range in quality and effort was considerable for the small sample. Based on feedback from the students, the authors will be adding an additional interview in the middle of the term during future offerings to help track and guide the students’ progress. Ultimately, a statics instructor was interested in adopting three of the five students’ developed curricula to some extent. The greater success of this project, however, was exposing students to their metacognition of statics and their gained appreciation for the challenges of curriculum design. The authors hope that similar projects will foster greater empathy from students towards their instructors that are developing and testing new curricular activities.

Citation
Format

Barner, M. S., & Gestson, S. L., & Dewey, A. (2024, June), Board 38: Student-led Curriculum Development: Incorporating Mechanics of Materials Students in the Design of Statics Curricula (Work in Progress) Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/46964

TY - CPAPER
AB - “Student Led Curriculum Development: Incorporating Mechanics of Materials Students in the Design of Statics Curricula. A Work in Progress”

Students are a valuable stakeholder in curriculum design, yet they are seldom involved in curricular design efforts. One of the main concerns inhibiting student involvement in curriculum development is their perceived lack of required knowledge and pedagogical training. However, what if the goals for including students in curriculum design were not exclusively focused on creating adoptable curricula?

The purpose of this study was to provide students enrolled in a summer term of mechanics of materials an opportunity to develop a learning activity or tool for statics. While the students were encouraged to develop something that might be adopted in future offerings of statics, the authors’ other goals were for the students to enhance their own understanding of a statics topic through the curriculum development process and gain a deeper appreciation for the challenges of designing effective curricula.

At the beginning of a Summer 2023 offering of mechanics of materials, five students were assigned a project to choose a statics topic that they previously struggled with and brainstorm ways they would want that topic taught to themselves knowing what they know now. The mechanics of materials instructor interviewed each student individually early in the term using a semi-structured interview format with the goal of helping the students brainstorm curricula for their chosen topic. The students then had the remainder of the six-week term to develop their curriculum and were interviewed individually again at the end of the term by the instructor using a semi-structured interview format. The students presented their curriculum during the second interview and were questioned on their lessons learned throughout the development process.

The five students in this study picked a variety of statics topics and curricular activities. The quality of their developed curricula varied with some students putting more effort into this project than others, as was expected. All the students expressed enjoying the opportunity to develop curricula and thought this was an interesting project that should be continued. Each student also articulated the challenges they faced in their curriculum design, notably the iterative process, trying to accommodate different learning styles, and getting their curriculum to match their intention.

This study is a work in progress that will be continued and improved in future summer offerings of mechanics of materials. While students were able to ultimately develop some form of curriculum by the end of the summer term, the range in quality and effort was considerable for the small sample. Based on feedback from the students, the authors will be adding an additional interview in the middle of the term during future offerings to help track and guide the students’ progress. Ultimately, a statics instructor was interested in adopting three of the five students’ developed curricula to some extent. The greater success of this project, however, was exposing students to their metacognition of statics and their gained appreciation for the challenges of curriculum design. The authors hope that similar projects will foster greater empathy from students towards their instructors that are developing and testing new curricular activities.

AU - Matthew Stephen Barner
AU - Sean Lyle Gestson
AU - Audrey Dewey
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Board 38: Student-led Curriculum Development: Incorporating Mechanics of Materials Students in the Design of Statics Curricula (Work in Progress)
UR - https://peer.asee.org/46964
ER -