Research Initiation: Improving engineering mechanics self-efficacy by focusing on abstracting the physical world as a precursor to analysis.

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This project will improve the retention of engineering students in undergraduate programs by helping them make direct connections between their second-year mechanics classes and the real world in which they live and will work. Second-year mechanics classes are often one of the biggest reasons for students to leave engineering because of the abstract nature of typical course instruction. The team will develop a lab-based mechanics class where students interact with physical models of real-world engineered structures and learn how to abstract these physical objects into engineering models. Making this direct connection between the real world and abstract mechanics models will enable students to see the value of their studies and improve their motivation to continue in their chosen profession. Retaining more students in engineering, from a diversity of backgrounds, will help build the U.S. STEM workforce.The research team will develop a second-year mechanics class that flips the traditional approach by starting with the physical world application and building students’ ability to develop engineering models of physical systems, i.e., abstracting the physical world into mathematical/engineering models. The hypothesis of the proposed research is that, by starting with abstraction, students will build a stronger connection between the physical world and mechanics modeling. In turn, this will improve students’ perceptions about their ability to solve engineering mechanics problems and their future-oriented motivation to be engineers. The specific research questions we seek to answer are: (1) In what ways does teaching students how to abstract the physical world affect their self-efficacy in basic mechanics classes, and to what extent do students build direct connections between the physical world they live in with the mechanics models they will use in their studies? (2) In what ways does showing students how to abstract the physical world into tractable engineering science problems affect their future-oriented motivation, and to what extent do students make connections between what they are learning and the physical world they will work in upon graduation? The research team will publish the class materials online with open access, enabling instructors at other institutions to adopt the proposed pedagogical approach. This will include the model designs, class activities, assignments, and assessment tools. The research program will train the PI and graduate student in engineering education research and will increase the community of practitioner researchers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.