Collaborative Research: Improving Engineering Students’ Ability to Model and Analyze Systems Using Free Body Diagrams

本项目旨在通过提高工科学生在物理和力学课程中遇到的物理力作用下对系统进行建模和分析的能力，为国家利益服务。自由体图是一种重要的建模技术，因为它可以帮助学生理解和制定物理和力学问题。绘制自由的车身图是许多工程师的基本技能，因为它通常是解决这类问题的第一步。学生通过收到关于他们的图表的及时反馈而受益，这样他们就可以提高他们的建模技能。该项目将开发一个基于手机的应用程序，允许学生在一个积极的学习环境中练习制定自由的身体图，使用一组越来越复杂的问题。这个开放的应用程序可以激励学生在非正式的环境中练习，帮助学生掌握这种建模技能，并帮助学生在工程教育的早期建立自我效能感。该项目将分析学生对应用程序的使用情况，并评估与免费人体图相关的学习收益。该项目将通过为学生提供一个独特的工具来学习如何构建免费的身体图，并提供一个机会来研究主动学习应用程序对学生参与、学习收益和自我效能的影响，从而推进工程教育实践。该项目将使用在线存储库向工程教育社区传播移动应用程序。该项目的三个主要目标是：(1)开发一个基于手机的应用程序，该应用程序结合了良好的教学法和动机设计，以教授工程专业学生如何有效地制定自由身体图；(2)支持代表性不足的学生，特别是女性，提高他们的自由身体图技能；(3)提高女学生对自由身体图技能和她们作为工程师的未来的自我效能感。通过(1)提供一个积极的学习环境，让学生通过解决日益复杂的问题来提高他们的技能；(2)提供即时反馈，教育应用在提供各种掌握体验方面尤其有用，这些体验可以建立自我效能感。参与式设计将与早期本科和高级工程专业学生、早期职业工程师和工程教师一起设计数字学习环境、学生用户教程和教师课程指南。该项目将解决以下研究问题：(1)学生如何参与学习活动和即时反馈，以掌握绘制、标记和分析免费身体图的能力？(2)提供大量有即时反馈的脚手架式练习在多大程度上支持了自由身体图技能的掌握，尤其是对工科女学生？(3)干预在多大程度上提高了学生，尤其是工科女生的自我效能感？探索性研究将采用300-350名学生的非实验混合方法设计来评估教育效果，并建立女性工程师工具的包容性。NSF IUSE: EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving engineering students’ ability to model and analyze systems with physical forces acting upon them that students encounter in physics and mechanics courses. Free body diagrams are an important modeling technique because they help students understand and formulate physics and mechanics problems. Drawing free body diagrams is a foundational skill for many engineers because it is typically the first step in solving these types of problems. Students benefit by receiving timely feedback on their diagrams so that they can improve their modeling skills. This project will develop a mobile-based application that allows students to practice formulating free body diagrams in an active learning environment, using a set of problems with increasing levels of complexity. This open access application can motivate students to practice in an informal setting, help students master this modeling skill, and help students build self-efficacy early in their engineering education. The project will analyze students' use of the application and assess learning gains related to free body diagrams. The project will advance engineering education practice by providing a unique tool for students to learn how to construct free body diagrams as well as providing an opportunity to study the effects of the active learning application on student engagement, learning gains, and self-efficacy. The project will use online repositories to disseminate the mobile application to the engineering education community.The three main goals of the project are: (1) to develop a mobile-based application that incorporates both sound pedagogy and motivation design to teach engineering students how to formulate free body diagrams effectively, (2) to support underrepresented students, in particular women, in improving their free body diagram skills, and (3) to increase female students’ self- efficacy related to free body diagram skills and their futures as engineers. Educational applications can be particularly useful in providing the kinds of mastery experiences that build self-efficacy by (1) providing an active learning environment in which students improve their skills by solving problems of increasing complexity and (2) providing immediate feedback. Participatory design will be employed with early undergraduate and advanced engineering students, early career engineers, and engineering faculty to design the digital learning environment, user tutorials for students, and curricular guides for faculty. The project will address the following research questions: (1) How do students engage with learning activities and immediate feedback to master the ability to draw, label, and analyze free body diagrams? (2) To what extent does providing a large quantity of scaffolded practice with immediate feedback support the development of mastery of free body diagram skills, particularly for female engineering students? (3) To what extent does the intervention increase students’ self-efficacy, particularly for female engineering students? The exploratory study will use a non-experimental mixed methods design with 300-350 students to assess educational efficacy and to establish the inclusivity of the tool for female engineers. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.