Strength-Based Projects in the Mechanics of Materials Course to Enhance Inclusivity and Engagement

Sarira Motaref

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: We Love our MOMs (Mechanics of Materials)
Page Count: 11
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41896
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41896
Download Count: 259

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Sarira Motaref University of Connecticut

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Sarira Motaref is an Associate Professor in residence in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Connecticut. She is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Connecticut. She received her PhD in 2011 from the University of Nevada, Reno. She has been teaching junior and senior-level design courses, as well as several large-enrollment classes. Sarira is currently serving as Assistant Director of Faculty Development at the School of Engineering and Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) to enhance teaching and learning effectiveness of engineering courses. She is the winner of 2021 University Teaching Fellow award, 2019 Distinguished Engineering Educator Award, and recipient of 2016, 2017, and 2018 Klewin Excellence in teaching award.

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Abstract

The Mechanics of Materials course is an entry-level class required for several engineering majors such as Civil, Mechanical, Biomedical, Material Science, and Manufacturing Engineering. The course has a large enrollment of 100 students per section with a total of 400 students per academic year. A recent study evaluated the impact of using real-life examples by asking students to share images of engineering concepts. It has been found that while this activity benefits the learning of students, only a small group of students was motivated to actively participate. It was hypothesized that the single-domain approach relying on photography skills as the main interest of students is a limiting factor in broadening the participation of students. The course was re-designed in the summer of 2020 as part of a research project funded by the Engineering Education Center of the National Science Foundation to create an inclusive learning environment that empowers neurodiverse learners. The strength-based approach was adopted for the course to enable students to express their learning through their interests and strengths in different dimensions. In the academic year of 2020-2021, a series of optional small strength-based projects (SBP) were added to the course to further improve student engagement and participation. Students were able to contribute to the course based on their personal interests and expertise. Students were prompted to identify one or more areas of interest such as photography, drawing, filming, sports, programming, game design, comedy, woodworking, cooking, planting, poetry, reading, or puzzles. After students identified their area of interest, the instructor assigned individual, or group projects aligned with the students’ interests and course content. In the first cohort (fall 2020), more than 25% of students participated in this activity compared to 5% in the previous single-mode approach. The participants created unique projects that are being used as learning materials in the course. In the second cohort (fall 2021) more than 40% have participated. This paper discusses the observations from this pilot implementation, the impact of strength-based projects on the students’ engagement, and the improvement in the students’ learning experience. A survey was used to collect the participants’ feedback on whether this activity reinforced their sense of inclusion and improved their skills related to the implementation of their knowledge in real-life problems. Modifications have been made to the structure of these strength-based projects in the academic year of 2021-2022 to enhance the students’ experience and improve the quality of the projects. The changes, expected outcomes, and results of the survey from both cohorts will be presented in this paper.

Citation
Format

Motaref, S. (2022, August), Strength-Based Projects in the Mechanics of Materials Course to Enhance Inclusivity and Engagement Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41896

TY - CPAPER
AB - The Mechanics of Materials course is an entry-level class required for several engineering majors such as Civil, Mechanical, Biomedical, Material Science, and Manufacturing Engineering. The course has a large enrollment of 100 students per section with a total of 400 students per academic year.
A recent study evaluated the impact of using real-life examples by asking students to share images of engineering concepts. It has been found that while this activity benefits the learning of students, only a small group of students was motivated to actively participate. It was hypothesized that the single-domain approach relying on photography skills as the main interest of students is a limiting factor in broadening the participation of students.
The course was re-designed in the summer of 2020 as part of a research project funded by the Engineering Education Center of the National Science Foundation to create an inclusive learning environment that empowers neurodiverse learners. The strength-based approach was adopted for the course to enable students to express their learning through their interests and strengths in different dimensions.
In the academic year of 2020-2021, a series of optional small strength-based projects (SBP) were added to the course to further improve student engagement and participation. Students were able to contribute to the course based on their personal interests and expertise. Students were prompted to identify one or more areas of interest such as photography, drawing, filming, sports, programming, game design, comedy, woodworking, cooking, planting, poetry, reading, or puzzles. After students identified their area of interest, the instructor assigned individual, or group projects aligned with the students’ interests and course content. In the first cohort (fall 2020), more than 25% of students participated in this activity compared to 5% in the previous single-mode approach. The participants created unique projects that are being used as learning materials in the course. In the second cohort (fall 2021) more than 40% have participated. This paper discusses the observations from this pilot implementation, the impact of strength-based projects on the students’ engagement, and the improvement in the students’ learning experience. A survey was used to collect the participants’ feedback on whether this activity reinforced their sense of inclusion and improved their skills related to the implementation of their knowledge in real-life problems.
Modifications have been made to the structure of these strength-based projects in the academic year of 2021-2022 to enhance the students’ experience and improve the quality of the projects. The changes, expected outcomes, and results of the survey from both cohorts will be presented in this paper.

AU - Sarira Motaref
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Strength-Based Projects in the Mechanics of Materials Course to Enhance Inclusivity and Engagement
UR - https://peer.asee.org/41896
DO - 10.18260/1-2--41896
ER -