Engaging Undergraduate Students with Themes and Hats from Popular Media in a Statics Course

Matthew Rhudy

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Conference: ASEE Mid-Atlantic Section Spring Conference
Location: George Washington University, District of Columbia
Publication Date: April 19, 2024
Start Date: April 19, 2024
End Date: April 20, 2024
Page Count: 15
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--45720
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/45720
Download Count: 61

Paper Authors

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Matthew Rhudy Pennsylvania State University, Berks Campus orcid.org/0000-0001-7613-4003

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Matthew Rhudy is currently an Associate Professor of Engineering at Penn State Berks. He received a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering (AE) at West Virginia University (WVU), a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering (ME) from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.S.

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Abstract

A program called “The Many Hats of Statics” was created for use within an engineering mechanics course, statics, to improve the student engagement by incorporating fun activities into the classroom experience. The centerpiece of these activities was a theme and corresponding hat which the instructor would wear, related to a popular movie or TV series. Themes consisted of science fiction movies like Star Wars, fantasy movies like Lord of the Rings, and other iconic pop culture references like the Karate Kid and Robin Hood. The theme was introduced in a theatrical manner by first introducing the theme through a sound clip related to the theme, which was usually a song from the soundtrack. Then, students were given an opportunity to guess the theme in a Name-That-Tune manner before the instructor appeared from behind a screen wearing a hat related to the theme. Then, various activities related to the theme were presented, including a video clip, information about an engineering invention, and an example problem, all of which directly related to the theme.

This program was implemented in two sections of a statics course in Fall 2023 and evaluated using a student feedback survey. This survey assessed the perceived fun of the various elements of the project as well as traditional course activities using a Likert scale ranging from 1 = not at all fun to 5 = extremely fun. The survey also assessed general statements about the student learning experience and engagement in the course ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. The results of this survey indicated strong student support for the program. Specifically, students reported mean ± standard deviation for the overall project as 4.45 ± 0.577, indicating that they generally found the project to be fun. The highest perceived fun level was indicated for the hat as 4.73 ± 0.532. Students also reported 4.41 ± 0.606 for the project having a positive impact on their learning, and 4.59 ± 0.497 for the project having a positive impact on their engagement, indicating that they agree to strongly agree with these statements. Therefore, this project was determined to be a successful approach for incorporating fun elements into the classroom to help improve perceived student engagement in the course. The ideas presented in this work have the potential to be implemented in other courses including other disciplines to achieve similar benefit.

Citation
Format

Rhudy, M. (2024, April), Engaging Undergraduate Students with Themes and Hats from Popular Media in a Statics Course Paper presented at ASEE Mid-Atlantic Section Spring Conference, George Washington University, District of Columbia. 10.18260/1-2--45720

TY - CPAPER
AB - A program called “The Many Hats of Statics” was created for use within an engineering mechanics course, statics, to improve the student engagement by incorporating fun activities into the classroom experience. The centerpiece of these activities was a theme and corresponding hat which the instructor would wear, related to a popular movie or TV series. Themes consisted of science fiction movies like Star Wars, fantasy movies like Lord of the Rings, and other iconic pop culture references like the Karate Kid and Robin Hood. The theme was introduced in a theatrical manner by first introducing the theme through a sound clip related to the theme, which was usually a song from the soundtrack. Then, students were given an opportunity to guess the theme in a Name-That-Tune manner before the instructor appeared from behind a screen wearing a hat related to the theme. Then, various activities related to the theme were presented, including a video clip, information about an engineering invention, and an example problem, all of which directly related to the theme.

This program was implemented in two sections of a statics course in Fall 2023 and evaluated using a student feedback survey. This survey assessed the perceived fun of the various elements of the project as well as traditional course activities using a Likert scale ranging from 1 = not at all fun to 5 = extremely fun. The survey also assessed general statements about the student learning experience and engagement in the course ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. The results of this survey indicated strong student support for the program. Specifically, students reported mean ± standard deviation for the overall project as 4.45 ± 0.577, indicating that they generally found the project to be fun. The highest perceived fun level was indicated for the hat as 4.73 ± 0.532. Students also reported 4.41 ± 0.606 for the project having a positive impact on their learning, and 4.59 ± 0.497 for the project having a positive impact on their engagement, indicating that they agree to strongly agree with these statements. Therefore, this project was determined to be a successful approach for incorporating fun elements into the classroom to help improve perceived student engagement in the course. The ideas presented in this work have the potential to be implemented in other courses including other disciplines to achieve similar benefit.

AU - Matthew Rhudy
CY - George Washington University, District of Columbia
DA - 2024/04/19
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Engaging Undergraduate Students with Themes and Hats from Popular Media in a Statics Course
UR - https://peer.asee.org/45720
DO - 10.18260/1-2--45720
ER -