Using Hands-on Models to Improve Student Learning Outcomes in Statics

BACKGROUND: Traditionally, Engineering Statics is one of the most difficult courses that first year engineering students have to deal with. It is also one of the most important and pivotal courses in their development and understanding of basic engineering principles. Poor performance in Statics often has a follow-on effect that causes students to struggle with simple concepts throughout the rest of their studies (Steif, 2004; Molyneaux et al., 2007) or even to drop out of engineering programs altogether (Rezaei et al., 2007; Devine & Kimmins, 2010). The difficulties engineering students have with learning Statics are well recognised and a substantial amount of literature has been published in this area (Steif, 2004; Goldfinch et al., 2008; Dollár & Steif, 2006). PURPOSE: This paper describes an initiative to improve student learning outcomes in Engineering Statics and Mechanics of Materials by developing a set of low cost, hands-on, interactive models for students to use to demonstrate the underlying theory and to help them to better understand basic engineering mechanics principles. DESIGN/METHOD: Practical classes were developed that centred on the use of hands-on, interactive models to demonstrate fundamental engineering mechanics principles. Students were asked for feedback on the individual practicals and whether they thought that the practicals were effective in demonstrating the particular underlying principles. Students were also asked to comment on whether they thought that the practicals had actually improved their understanding of the theory and for any suggestions on how to improve the effectiveness of the practical projects. Students’ final grades were also compared to those from other engineering institutions in an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of the initiative. RESULTS: The new practical classes using the hands-on demonstration models were very successful and students were observed to fully engage with the activities during the classes. Student feedback after using the models was overwhelmingly positive with many students affirming that using the models had helped them to better understand the theory. Some valuable insights into student perceptions were gained through the feedback process and useful suggestions on how to improve the classes in future were obtained. Pass rates for this class were better than average rates presented in the literature (Manteufel & Karimi, 2010; Benson et al., 2010). CONCLUSIONS: This paper reports on the effectiveness of using low cost, hands-on, interactive models to improve student learning outcomes in Engineering Statics and Mechanics of Materials. Student evaluations on the use of the models demonstrated that they were very effective in explaining the underlying concepts and helped students to better understand the relevant theory. Although there is insufficient evidence available at this stage to make any substantial claims on the pedagogical benefits of using the hands-on models, the level of student interest and engagement during the practical classes was clearly evident and this reinforces previous study results