Corleto, C. R., & McVay, M. T. W., & Beck, D., & Schmitt, A. (2020, June), WIP: Study to Lower DFQ Rates in Statics and Dynamics for Multiple Engineering Majors  Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--35571

\bibitem{asee_peer_35571}
  Corleto, C. R., \& McVay, M. T. W., \& Beck, D., \& Schmitt, A. (2020, June), \emph{WIP: Study to Lower DFQ Rates in Statics and Dynamics for Multiple Engineering Majors}
  Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line .
  10.18260/1-2--35571

Carlos R. Corleto, Matilda (Tillie) Wilson McVay, Doug Beck, and Ashley Schmitt.  "WIP: Study to Lower DFQ Rates in Statics and Dynamics for Multiple Engineering Majors".  2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line , 2020, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2020.  https://peer.asee.org/35571 Internet.  03 Apr, 2025

\bibitem{asee_peer_35571}
  Carlos R. Corleto, Matilda (Tillie) Wilson McVay, Doug Beck, and Ashley Schmitt.
  "WIP: Study to Lower DFQ Rates in Statics and Dynamics for Multiple Engineering Majors".
  \emph{2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line , 2020, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2020.
  https://peer.asee.org/35571 Internet.  03 Apr, 2025

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_35571
author = "Carlos R. Corleto, Matilda (Tillie) Wilson McVay, Doug Beck, and Ashley Schmitt"
title = "WIP: Study to Lower DFQ Rates in Statics and Dynamics for Multiple Engineering Majors"
booktitle = "2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access"
year = "2020"
month = "June"
address = "Virtual On line "
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/35571}
number = {10.18260/1-2--35571}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Study to Lower DFQ Rates in Statics and Dynamics for Multiple Engineering Majors

The Department of Mechanical Engineering (MEEN) at Texas A&M University offers a course in Statics and Dynamics for non-MEEN majors, MEEN 221 on a yearly basis. The students who take this course are primarily from industrial systems engineering (INEN), nuclear engineering (NUEN), petroleum engineering (PETE), biological agricultural engineering (BAEN), electrical engineering (ELEN), and chemical engineering (CHEN). Prior to the fall semester of 2015, mechanical engineering students would take this same course.  However, starting in the Fall 2015 term, the Mechanical Engineering Department had MEEN students take a different statics-dynamics course exclusively for MEEN students, MEEN 225. This new course was designed to better prepare students for subsequent MEEN curriculum.  Topics covered are very similar, however MEEN 225 uses group projects and online quizzes in addition to homework and major exams for assessment. The students must also attend a 3-hour recitation every week in MEEN 225.
 
Since the Fall 2015 term when non-MEEN majors took MEEN 221 and MEEN majors took MEEN 225, the department has seen a much higher percentages of students earn a grade of a D, an F, or who drop (Q-drop) in  MEEN 221; thus, higher DFQ rates.  However, the DFQ rates for MEEN 225 has been, on average, significantly smaller particularly in the fall and spring semesters.  This has become a concern with our MEEN 221 faculty. MEEN 221 faculty want to make changes in the MEEN 221 course structure in order to lessen the DFQ rates.  Efforts to look at possible reasons and solutions of why higher DFQ rates for MEEN 221 have occurred are ongoing. There are many factors to consider: class format; academic efforts of students in different majors; impact of group projects; preparedness and how students performed in pre-requisite coursework (physics-mechanics and calculus); and the length of time transpired between MEEN 221 and its pre-requisite courses.  All of these attributes are expected to have an impact on student success. To start addressing this problem, one possible solution has been implemented in the fall 2019 semester in an attempt to decrease MEEN 221 DFQ rates.  

Currently, there are four sections of MEEN 221 in  fall 2019 semester with approximately 345 students in total enrollment. MEEN 221 faculty has changed how quizzes are administered during class from past semesters. We now have six quizzes to assess students’ performance, two before each of the three major exams the students take in the semester. Quizzes are administered in two parts. Students take the first part of the quiz online during class where they only submit answers to each question. The quizzes are automatically graded and each question is either correct or incorrect. After a quiz is completed in class, the students have 48 hours to rework the quiz problems and submit a scanned copy of their solution called a “solution report” that validates their answers, or corrects their wrong answers.  The students must provide details in the solution report on the governing equations used as well as include any free body diagrams that are needed.  The solution reports are graded by the graduate teaching assistant in the same way an exam problem is graded. The idea behind these quizzes is to prepare the students for the three major exams they take in the semester. The online portion of the quiz lasts 20-25 minutes, which is equivalent to the time they have per problem during major exams. The quiz problems are previous exam problems so students have experience working a similar problem in exam conditions.  The solution report gives the students a  chance to correct their answers and learn from their mistakes. We are hoping this will better prepare them for exams where failure has more consequences in their grade. We hope it will help the students figure out what they do not truly understand and give them a chance to learn this material before the exam.  The online portion of the quiz is worth 20% to motivate them to understand the similar homework problems that have been assigned. This also allows us to make sure the students are completing part of the quiz without external help.  Students can earn the other 80% by correcting their answers as applicable and submitting a complete solution. 

This study is the first of a series of efforts to decrease the DQF rate in MEEN 221. The final goal is make necessary changes to the way the class is taught and assessed to help students master the course material and lower the DFQ rates for non MEEN majors. Results of the implementation of the new quiz approach to the outcome of student grades for the fall 2019 semester will be included. 

AU  - Carlos R. Corleto
AU  - Matilda (Tillie) Wilson McVay
AU  - Doug Beck
AU  - Ashley Schmitt
CY  - Virtual On line 
DA  - 2020/06/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - WIP: Study to Lower DFQ Rates in Statics and Dynamics for Multiple Engineering Majors
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/35571
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--35571
ER  -