Enhancing Student Performance in Engineering Mechanics Course Using Mathcad Interactive Tutorial Assessment

Narasimha Siddhanti Malladi; Ramalingam Radhakrishnan

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Gulf Southwest Annual Conference
Location: Prairie View, Texas
Publication Date: March 16, 2022
Start Date: March 16, 2022
End Date: March 18, 2022
Page Count: 14
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--39179
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/39179
Download Count: 405

Paper Authors

biography

Narasimha Siddhanti Malladi Malladi Academy orcid.org/0000-0003-2658-3577

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Having graduated as B.E. (Mechanical Engineering) in 1965 from Osmania University, India, M.Tech. (Machine Design) from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and Ph.D. (Mechanisms) from Oklahoma State University, USA, Dr. Malladi has Teaching, Industry and Research & Development experience in Both India and US and won awards in each field. He designed Computer, ATM, and Railway Mechanisms and served two summers at NASA Kennedy Space Center as a Research Fellow. He has developed Five Simplified Integrated Methods of Solution (SIMS) for his book on "Essential Engineering Mechanics" and is working on Integrated Instruction, Learning and Assessment (IILA) Software for "Education with Excellence" so that even an initially failing student can eventually get an A Grade, with Correct Answers to all questions in every quiz, test or exam.

At present, he is working on a Five Fold Plan for Enhancing Student Performance in Engineering Mechanics using Mathcad Interactive Tutorial Assessment.

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biography

Ramalingam Radhakrishnan Prairie View A&M University

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Dr. Ramalingam Radhakrishnan is a professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), TX. He is teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in structural engineering. He represents PVAMU in the Texas Space Grant Consortium (TSGC) and have participated in Texas Space Grant Consortium activities since 1990 and as PVAMU representative to TSGC involved UG students on space research and promoted several UG student Scholarships and Graduate Fellowships Awards. He conducted Summer Transportation Institute at PVAMU funded for High School Students by US DOT FHWA from 2000 to 2013. He is a Fellow Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

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Abstract

Students in general attend classes unprepared for the lesson to be taught. If the teacher engages the attention of students in a creative way, then more students tend to concentrate and learn better and remember the subject material taught. On the other hand, if a system is designed so that students come prepared to the class, usually reading a textbook, then each student will learn better and faster. The authors present in this paper a systematic “Five-fold Plan,” with methods and samples to enhance student's total engagement and performance, before, during and after the class. The two authors became colleagues and friends at one of the HBCUs for a year and over decades were in contact to discuss about progressive student engagement to improve their performance. The first author developed Five Simplified Integrated Methods of Solution.(SIMS) and wrote a Class-book on Engineering Mechanics.

Based on the Class-book, the student at home (1) Reads the Lesson and study the basic concepts in its Review online; (2) Watches a 15-minute Review Video that uses Mathcad for Solving Problems in a standard format of Data and SIMS; the student then (3) Applies his learning by solving a Prep-Tutorial set; during the tutorial, the student opens an Integrated Instruction, Learning and Assessment (IILA) Box in it; gives oneself full marks for the “Correct Step” and half marks for the “Corrected Step” using SIM Hint. During the Class, online or in-person, the Teaching Professor will engage students by lecture and in (4) Discussion in an interactive Mathcad environment. After the class the student (5) Practices one or more Class-Tutorials and reaches an expected performance level and learning outcome for each class lesson. The Course Tests and Examination will be proctored. The Course Examination will have 6 Random Course Tutorial-sets, one from each of the 6 units of the Class-book.

This paper will illustrate the proposed Five-fold Plan method of teaching Engineering Mechanics, with brief class lessons, tutorial samples and, show how problem-solving skills of students will be enhanced and student learning objectives and improvement in performance will be achieved.

Citation
Format

Malladi, N. S., & Radhakrishnan, R. (2022, March), Enhancing Student Performance in Engineering Mechanics Course Using Mathcad Interactive Tutorial Assessment Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Gulf Southwest Annual Conference, Prairie View, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--39179

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Students in general attend classes unprepared for the lesson to be taught.  If the teacher engages the attention of students in a creative way, then more students tend to concentrate and learn better and remember the subject material taught.  On the other hand, if a system is designed so that students come prepared to the class, usually reading a textbook, then each student will learn better and faster.  The authors present in this paper a systematic “Five-fold Plan,” with methods and samples to enhance student&#39;s total engagement and performance, before, during and after the class. 
          
 The two authors became colleagues and friends at one of the HBCUs for a year and over decades were in contact to discuss about progressive student engagement to improve their performance. The first author developed Five  Simplified Integrated Methods of Solution.(SIMS) and wrote a Class-book on Engineering Mechanics.

Based on the Class-book, the student at home (1) Reads the Lesson and study the basic concepts in its Review online;  (2) Watches a 15-minute Review Video that uses Mathcad for Solving Problems in a standard format of Data and SIMS;  the student then (3) Applies his learning by solving a Prep-Tutorial set; during the tutorial, the student opens an Integrated Instruction, Learning and Assessment (IILA) Box in it; gives oneself full marks for the “Correct Step” and half marks for the “Corrected Step” using SIM Hint.  During the Class, online or in-person, the Teaching Professor will engage students by lecture and in (4) Discussion in an interactive Mathcad environment.  After the class the student (5) Practices one or more Class-Tutorials and reaches an expected performance level and learning outcome for each class lesson. The Course Tests and Examination will be proctored.   The Course Examination will have 6 Random Course Tutorial-sets, one from each of the 6 units of the Class-book.  

This paper will illustrate the proposed Five-fold Plan method of teaching Engineering Mechanics, with brief class lessons, tutorial samples and, show how problem-solving skills of students will be enhanced and student learning objectives and improvement in performance will be achieved. 
AU  - Narasimha Siddhanti Malladi
AU  - Ramalingam Radhakrishnan
CY  - Prairie View, Texas
DA  - 2022/03/16
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Enhancing Student Performance in Engineering Mechanics Course Using Mathcad Interactive Tutorial Assessment
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/39179
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--39179
ER  -