Methods and Measures

1. NSF DUE-0942400 Sketched-Truss Recognition Tutoring System: Improved Student Learning through Active Learning and Immediate Student Feedback PIs: Julie Linsey, Tracy Hammond, and Erin McTigue jlinsey@tamu.edu, hammond@tamu.edu, emctigue@tamu.edu Dept. of Mechanical Eng., Computer Science & Engineering, and Teaching Learning & Culture, Texas A&M University Graduate Students: Martin Field, Olufunmilola Atilola • Project Goals • To provide a more efficient means to teach engineers basic mechanics concepts thus allowing their study time to be more productive and additional material to be added to the curriculum. • To facilitate the incorporation of open-ended design problems into large traditional classes. • To measure the effects on student learning of the Mechanics software through both quantitative and qualitative methods. • To refine and improve Mechanix based on experimental data, customer needs collected from students and professors, and on user feedback and tested in a classroom setting. • Methods and Measures • The effects on student learning of the Mechanics software will be measured through both quantitative and qualitative methods. • Student Groups to be Measured • ENGR 111: Introduction to Engineering- A freshman engineering course which teaches FBDs and the method of joints for truss analysis. • Fall 2010: Initial evaluation of Mechanix and student feedback • Spring 2011: Experiment with comparison groups (n60) • Fall 2011: Experiment with comparison groups (n75) • Experiment • An experiment will compare students engaged with the Mechanix software to students completing the same problems on paper. • Measures • Pre/post Force Concept Inventory • Pre/post Statics Concept Inventory • Quiz scores • Exam Questions • End of Semester Final Questions • Additional Data • Focus Groups • Attitudes in Engineering Technology Survey (adapted from Fogarty et. al, 2001, Mathematics Education Research Journal). • Confidence/Efficacy in Engineering • Confidence/Efficacy in Technology • Attitude towards using technology for learning engineering • Value of Sketch-Truss Diagrams (adapt from Tapia & Marsh, 2004) Figure 3: Mechanix can provide instant feedback to the students. Here Mechanix is diagnosing a problem with the input forces (the correct input should be 1000 lbs). • Preliminary Findings • The effects on student learning of the Mechanics software was measured using the Force Concept Inventory, Statics Concept Inventory and through a focus group. • Overall, students believe Mechanix is a useful tool for learning. • Students desired Mechanix to be more thoroughly integrated in their class from the beginning of the semester. Other modules to cover topics such as FBDs will need to be created to meet this request. • Students desire more informative feedback and error messages. Updated feedback is shown in Figures 1 & 2. • Very little time is required for students to learn the software;its interface is very intuitive. Figure 1: Shown above is a sketched truss with several reaction force errors. Mechanix is designed to help students solve static truss and free body diagram problems. The first step toward solving either type of problem is to draw the truss or free body diagram. When Mechanix has identified a truss or free body diagram, the shape is compared to the reference solution (explained in more detail later). If the truss or free body diagram matches, then nodes are automatically added to the diagram and labeled. Conclusion and Future Work Preliminary Findings Preliminary data is demonstrating that the students believe Mechanix is useful as a tool for learning. They are excited about the new approach. Future work will more robustly evaluate the impact of Mechanix on students learning of truss analysis both in terms of immediate impact and over the semester. Data from the concept inventories is currently being processed. Two more semesters of data collection are planned. Methods and Measures Figure 2: Two other examples of sketched trusses that the software has recognized. Once a truss is recognized, Mechanix automatically labels the nodes according the instructor’s solutions. This also indicates to the student that the truss has been recognized correctly by the software.