Impact of student problem creation on self-reported confidence in mechanics

Michael Sekatchev; John Graeme Dockrill; Agnes Germaine d'Entremont

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Zone IV Conference
Location: Vancouver
Publication Date: May 12, 2022
Start Date: May 12, 2022
End Date: May 14, 2022
Conference Session: Student Success and Interactions
Tagged Topics: Diversity and Conference Submission
Page Count: 18
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--44739
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/44739
Download Count: 72

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Paper Authors

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Michael Sekatchev University of British Columbia

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Michael Sekatchev is a third-year student at the University of British Columbia, studying Honours Physics. While studying full-time, this past year Michael has been working on an open educational resources (OER) project, a joint effort by UBC’s Mechanical Engineering department and Douglas College to develop practice problems for engineering students. He is also currently working at TRIUMF since May 2020 on the Hyper-K experiment, performing a combination of hands-on engineering work and simulations using python. Michael is also working as a teaching assistant for courses in engineering and physics at UBC.

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John Graeme Dockrill University of British Columbia, Vancouver

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Agnes Germaine d'Entremont P.Eng. University of British Columbia, Vancouver orcid.org/0000-0002-9736-119X

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Dr. Agnes d'Entremont, P.Eng., is an Associate Professor of Teaching in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UBC. Her teaching-related interests include team-based learning and flipped classroom approaches, open educational materials, and educat

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Abstract

(We intend to follow up with a full paper). Learning in engineering science courses typically involves solving textbook-style questions (given a problem statement, with one correct answer). As part of a project developing practice problems for students, we anecdotally noted that creation of problems deepended content understanding for the student problem developers. Problem creation could be an effective part of the engineering science teaching and learning toolbox. There is evidence of learning gains with student-created problems in immunology (Shakurnia 2018), general pathology and pathophysiology (Herroro 2019). Within the field of engineering, there are mixed results, with a study in the field of electrical engineering showing no effect on student learning (Algarni, 2021), and a study in manufacturing engineering showing significant improvement in learning (Brink 2004). No studies have examined the effectiveness of student problem creation in engineering mechanics, however. We seek to determine whether creating their own practice problems improves students' self-reported understanding of dynamics, and is viewed as an effective studying strategy.

In this cohort study, we will use primarily quantitative methods to assess self-reported confidence and understanding of mechanics topics related to problem-creation activities within two populations. For the first population, a group of 135 students from a second-year dynamics course will be sent a pre-survey assessing their understanding of topics in dynamics, whether or not they create their own practice problems to aid with studying, and why they do or do not create practice problems. Students will be asked to develop their own practice textbook-style problem with a full solution as an optional bonus assignment. A second post-survey will ask students (both those who submitted problems and those who didn't) to repeat a self-evaluation of their understanding, and ask whether or not they plan to incorporate problem creation into their regular studying habits (and why or why not). Finally, a third separate survey will be sent out to 13 current and previous members of our open mechanics homework problem project (an ongoing 2-year project where students create ~50-100 problems each per work term), to evaluate whether creating their own problems improved their understanding of dynamics and/or statics, and whether they have since implemented problem creation into their studying.

From the results from our pre and post surveys, we will measure any changes in the students’ self-reported confidence in the concepts behind their question before and after they have completed it. We will also measure any change in whether the students would consider creating problems as part of their regular study practices. For the OER Mechanics survey, we will assess if students observed a change in self-reported confidence in the topics they created homework problems in.

The results of this study can help inform whether student creation of problems could be used as an effective learning tool in engineering mechanics courses.

Citation
Format

Sekatchev, M., & Dockrill, J. G., & d'Entremont, A. G. (2022, May), Impact of student problem creation on self-reported confidence in mechanics Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Zone IV Conference, Vancouver. 10.18260/1-2--44739

TY - CPAPER
AB - (We intend to follow up with a full paper). Learning in engineering science courses typically involves solving textbook-style questions (given a problem statement, with one correct answer). As part of a project developing practice problems for students, we anecdotally noted that creation of problems deepended content understanding for the student problem developers. Problem creation could be an effective part of the engineering science teaching and learning toolbox. There is evidence of learning gains with student-created problems in immunology (Shakurnia 2018), general pathology and pathophysiology (Herroro 2019). Within the field of engineering, there are mixed results, with a study in the field of electrical engineering showing no effect on student learning (Algarni, 2021), and a study in manufacturing engineering showing significant improvement in learning (Brink 2004). No studies have examined the effectiveness of student problem creation in engineering mechanics, however. We seek to determine whether creating their own practice problems improves students&#39; self-reported understanding of dynamics, and is viewed as an effective studying strategy.

In this cohort study, we will use primarily quantitative methods to assess self-reported confidence and understanding of mechanics topics related to problem-creation activities within two populations. For the first population, a group of 135 students from a second-year dynamics course will be sent a pre-survey assessing their understanding of topics in dynamics, whether or not they create their own practice problems to aid with studying, and why they do or do not create practice problems. Students will be asked to develop their own practice textbook-style problem with a full solution as an optional bonus assignment. A second post-survey will ask students (both those who submitted problems and those who didn&#39;t) to repeat a self-evaluation of their understanding, and ask whether or not they plan to incorporate problem creation into their regular studying habits (and why or why not). Finally, a third separate survey will be sent out to 13 current and previous members of our open mechanics homework problem project (an ongoing 2-year project where students create ~50-100 problems each per work term), to evaluate whether creating their own problems improved their understanding of dynamics and/or statics, and whether they have since implemented problem creation into their studying.

From the results from our pre and post surveys, we will measure any changes in the students’ self-reported confidence in the concepts behind their question before and after they have completed it. We will also measure any change in whether the students would consider creating problems as part of their regular study practices. For the OER Mechanics survey, we will assess if students observed a change in self-reported confidence in the topics they created homework problems in.

The results of this study can help inform whether student creation of problems could be used as an effective learning tool in engineering mechanics courses.
AU - Michael Sekatchev
AU - John Graeme Dockrill
AU - Agnes Germaine d'Entremont P.Eng.
CY - Vancouver
DA - 2022/05/12
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Impact of student problem creation on self-reported confidence in mechanics
UR - https://peer.asee.org/44739
DO - 10.18260/1-2--44739
ER -