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Play-Doh and Pendulums: Making Mass Moment of Inertia Fun

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Conference

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Location

Virtual On line

Publication Date

June 22, 2020

Start Date

June 22, 2020

End Date

June 26, 2021

Conference Session

Learning Mechanics Through Experimentation

Tagged Division

Mechanics

Page Count

10

DOI

10.18260/1-2--35059

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/35059

Download Count

517

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Paper Authors

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Kathleen Bieryla University of Portland

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Kathleen Bieryla is an assistant professor of biomedical and mechanical engineering in the Shiley School of Engineering at the University of Portland.

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Nikolene A. Schulz P.E. University of Portland

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Nikolene Schulz is an instructor of civil engineering in the Shiley School of Engineering at the University of Portland.

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Rebecca D. Levison University of Portland

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Rebecca Levison is a graduate research fellow working on her doctorate in education at the University of Portland. As a research fellow, Rebecca works on a KEEN assessment project and partnership between the School of Education and the School of Engineering to improve engineering education. When not working on the KEEN project, she works full time for Portland Public Schools as an ESL Teacher on Special Assignment. In that role, Rebecca writes science curriculum accessible to language learners that aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards and trains teachers how to implement new strategies for all learners.

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Heather Dillon University of Portland Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-4467-2306

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Dr. Heather Dillon is an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Portland. She recently served as the Fulbright Canada Research Chair in STEM Education. Her research team is working on energy efficiency, renewable energy, fundamental heat transfer, and engineering education. Before joining the university, Heather Dillon worked for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) as a senior research engineer.

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Abstract

Statics is commonly the first engineering class students take. The version of statics taught at this university ends with a final lecture on mass moment of inertia. This is a segue to dynamics and strength of materials, two classes the students take the following semester. Through the years, students have noted on end of the semester course evaluations mass moment of inertia is a topic of confusion. The goal of this study is to determine if two hands-on activities demonstrating the concept of mass moment of inertia would improve the student’s understanding of the topics. Three classes (two control classes, one experimental class) of statics students completed the study. The experimental class completed the hands-on activities and the control class continued with the general lecture. For the first activity teams of students were provided a simple pendulum. Students added objects of various masses and shapes to the rod of the pendulum. Students made observations about the change in swinging motion as the objects changed. The second activity used Play-Doh to help the students visualize how to use both shell and disk elements for integrating. The control students learned the material in a traditional lecture setting. The next class, all students completed a four-question concept quiz to determine their understanding of mass moment of inertia. A t-test was used to compare groups. Additionally, the experimental class completed a survey to assess learning objectives related to curiosity and making connections. There was no significant difference in scores between the two groups, suggesting the hands-on activity did not increase learning. The pendulum activity was more well received than the Play-Doh activity by the students. Although there was no difference, engagement was improved and no additional time was necessary. In the future, all sections of statics will implement the pendulum activity.

Bieryla, K., & Schulz, N. A., & Levison, R. D., & Dillon, H. (2020, June), Play-Doh and Pendulums: Making Mass Moment of Inertia Fun Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--35059

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