2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Work in Progress: Quantification of Problem-Complexity and Problem-Solving Skills with Directed Networks in a Sophomore Course in Mechanics of Materials

Presented at Work-in-Progress Session: Exploring Learning and Development in Engineering Courses

Assessing learners’ problem-solving skills, such as in a sophomore course in Mechanics of Materials (MoM), is critical to course and program accreditation related assessments. Assessments in a MoM course typically involve problems structured as a sequence of steps, each of which transforms data in a directed fashion toward numerical solutions, analysis inferences, or design decisions. Designing assessments to measure learners’ competency is another crucial and essential part of instructional design. From an instructional design perspective, there are challenges in quantifying the complexity of problems, while from the learners’ perspective, the difficulty experienced is not easily quantifiable. In this work-in-progress (WIP) paper, we will demonstrate the feasibility and utility of a quantifiable directed network representation of the sequence of steps in engineering problems in a MoM course. The network representation visually and numerically captures two aspects of problem-solving: concept knowledge and process knowledge. We report quantification of the complexity of an example problem and learners’ problem-solving competency by computing metrics for the directed network representations. Future work will focus on assessing the evolution of learners’ problem-solving competency, utility of the directed network representations in designing course assessments, supporting program assessment and accreditation, and its application in measuring learner’s metacognition.

Authors

Dr. Radheshyam Tewari Michigan Technological University [biography]

Radheshyam Tewari is an associate teaching professor in the Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics department at Michigan Technological University. He has taught numerous sophomore to graduate level courses in mechanical engineering. His industrial experiences and research background are in the macro- and micro-manufacturing areas, respectively. His interests include course, curriculum, and program design, development, revision, improvement, and assessment, education research, and DEIS issues in teaching and learning. He is certified online course instructor and a QM certified peer course reviewer. He holds PhD, MS, and BS degree in mechanical engineering.
Dr. Aneet Dharmavaram Narendranath Michigan Technological University [biography]

Dr.Aneet Dharmavaram Narendranath is currently a Lecturer at Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech). He received a PhD in Mechanical Engineering-Engineering mechanics in 2013. Subsequently, he worked as a visiting assistant professor at Michi
Dr. Jaclyn Johnson Michigan Technological University [biography]

Jaclyn Johnson is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics Department at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan USA. She earned a BA degree in Physics with a minor in Mathematics from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois in 2006, and subsequently a MS (2008) and PhD (2011) in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University. Her research interests focus on STEM education including novel and quantitative assessment techniques, learning analytics, and curriculum development, as well as fundamental diesel spray and combustion characteristics, image processing and thermophysical property modeling. She has published in various journals, such as IEEE Transaction of the Professional Communication Society, Journal of Online Learning, SAE International Journal of Engines, Energy and Fuels, and Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power. She also directs the Michigan Tech Engineering Ambassadors program which is part of the National Engineering Ambassadors Network, who conduct outreach at local K-12 schools to excite and inform students about engineering, while training and improving the University Students professional communication skills.

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