Introduction and Assessment of i-Newton for the Engaged Learning of Engineering Dynamics

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A sound understanding of Newton's laws is essential for students pursuing multiple engineering degrees. While many engineering students have little difficulty reciting Newton's laws, few master the ability to apply these laws to real engineered systems. This failure likely traces to over exposure to highly idealized textbook examples and under exposure to actual engineered systems that display motion. This project aims to change that by introducing a novel learning technology, referred to as interactive-Newton or i-Newton, to promote the engaged learning of Newtonian mechanics for engineering. The i-Newton technology delivers an inexpensive and highly portable device (an inertial measurement unit) for measuring and analyzing motion, essentially a "dynamics laboratory at your fingertips." The rich motion data harvested from i-Newton allows detailed exploration and engaged leaning of dynamics and without the expense of a brick and mortar laboratory. This project will generate knowledge of how i-Newton (1) deepens the conceptual understanding of Newtonian mechanics, (2) builds student self-efficacy, and (3) increases student intention to persist in engineering. Extending beyond these goals, the research team aims to institutionalize i-Newton in the engineering curricula at the University of Michigan and to lay the foundation for the large-scale adoption at other institutions through a commercialization pathway. Given that Newtonian mechanics is taught to the more than 37,000 engineering undergraduates per year in the U.S., the potential reach of this project is massive.