Collaborative Research: Curricular Materials and Methods for Student Conceptual Understanding in Mechanics of Materials

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Assessment/Research (91)Engineering - Civil (54)The goal of this project is to investigate student conceptual understanding in Mechanics of Materials. The project will investigate student misconceptions and characterize student beliefs about learning in Mechanics of Materials in order to develop curricular materials and an instructional plan to improve student conceptual understanding. The proposed work builds on research in two areas - theoretical cognitive research that explains causes for students' conceptual difficulties, and action research that describes successful methods for overcoming these challenges. This project addresses students' previous beliefs about content and learning that interfere with their development of conceptual understanding. The project is employing interview and analysis methods that model earlier work by physics education researchers who have shown that it is possible to change student beliefs about content and learning in order to enable conceptual understanding. The project is also employing proven methods for developing curriculum materials and instructional strategies to address misconceptions and deepen conceptual understanding and student engagement.