Problem solving is integral to the engineering field. A significant piece of building strong problem-solving skills is having the correct understanding of fundamental engineering concepts. However, students may struggle to make the correct connections between different concepts when first learning material. Additionally, faculty may fail to identify which parts of the material students are not fully comprehending as they understand material at a higher level than students. The purpose of this engineering education research is to provide a framework for faculty to use when creating course materials for introductory statics courses, specifically for the teaching of shear and moment forces. By transferring the APOS (Action, Process, Object, Schema) framework first used to characterize students’ understanding of mathematical concepts to the engineering education field, this research applies framework relatively new to engineering education researchers to create a guide on building a rubric to characterize student conceptual understanding in introductory statics courses. It also helps determine how much students can understand about a specific engineering concept during their first exposure within the curriculum. This research consists of three stages. First, background literature review was performed, and an APOS framework for statics was developed. Second, students in introductory statics courses will be interviewed and their work will be recorded. Third, the results of the interviews will be analyzed, and final recommendations will be created. In providing guidance to instructors on how to develop course materials, this research will help establish new exam questions that will more fairly judge student understanding even in the presence of different backgrounds and educations. It will also provide essential exposure to common research procedures, analysis, and presentations for the undergraduate researcher.
Author: Simon DeBruin
Advisor: Katherine Ehlert, Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering
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