Asee peer logo

Can Enforcing an Organized Solution Lead to Better Grades?

Download Paper |

Conference

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

New Orleans, Louisiana

Publication Date

June 26, 2016

Start Date

June 26, 2016

End Date

June 29, 2016

ISBN

978-0-692-68565-5

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Homework, Learning, and Problem Solving in Mechanics

Tagged Division

Mechanics

Page Count

7

DOI

10.18260/p.26429

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/26429

Download Count

566

Paper Authors

biography

Julian Ly Davis University of Southern Indiana

visit author page

Julian received his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in Engineering Mechanics in 2007. He spent a semester teaching at community college in the area and then spent two years at University of Massachusetts continuing his research in finite element modeling and biomechanics and continuing to teach. In 2010, he began his current tenure track position at the University of Southern Indiana.

visit author page

biography

Thomas McDonald University of Southern Indiana

visit author page

Tom McDonald is an Associate Professor in the Engineering Department at the University of Southern Indiana. Prior to joining USI he taught for six years in the School of Technology at Eastern Illinois University. He earned his BSIE and MSIE degrees in Industrial Engineering from Clemson University and his PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech.
His research and teaching interests primarily include lean manufacturing, discrete event simulation and modeling, and engineering economy. Tom has been involved in lean manufacturing and modeling of production lines since 1999 and has worked with private organizations such as Danaher/Kollmorgen and AT&T.

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

Online homework systems have been used in math, engineering and other sciences for several years to distribute, collect and assess homework problems. As these systems have grown publishers have added beneficial features such as hints, based on student input and the ability to assess electronically drawn diagrams. Many studies have shown that there is no significant difference between different modes of homework delivery (handwritten, online or a hybrid of the two) and the success of a student within the class. However, missing from online homework systems is the assessment a student’s ability to present a clear and logical solution: technical communication.

The objective of this study is to assess the relationship between student's ability to present a clear and organized solution and their ability to correctly solve a problem. A 4 section rubric is used to score homework and exam problems over 3 semesters of mechanics classes (Statics and Dynamics). Included in the rubric are scores associated with solving the problem: the Solution score, and a Presentation score evaluating the organization of the solution.

Analysis of these data (over 1,000 samples), indicate a significant positive relationship between the Presentation score and the Solution score. With such a strong correlation between a students’ ability to present a logical problem solving process and their ability to formulate & solve engineering problems, should we not consider teaching students how to effectively present their work?

Davis, J. L., & McDonald, T. (2016, June), Can Enforcing an Organized Solution Lead to Better Grades? Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.26429

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2016 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015