2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Pre-training refers to the process of acquiring knowledge or skills before attending a lecture or other format of learning event. It is an important method to reduce students’ cognitive load when learning new concepts during the lecture. In addition, pre-training can also help to increase student engagement and motivation during lectures. Evidence suggests pretraining can help improve knowledge transfer and retention. Some studies found that students who received pre-training in engineering were more likely to continue with their studies and to report feeling more confident in their ability to succeed in an engineering program.

Most commonly used pre-training materials are textbook reading, flipped lectures, and the use of online modules. However, often these methods are not very successful in engaging students and thus fail to encourage students to complete the pre-training. Hands-on inquiry-based learning activities (IBLAs) have the potential to better engage students in the pre-training and improve students’ retention and transfer. Hands-on IBLAs provide the students an opportunity to explore the concepts through interaction with hardware devices, thus better understanding the concept. IBLAs in Statics and Mechanics of Materials courses as pre-training and their impact have not been studied well. Subject matter in the Mechanics of Materials is an important foundational topic for many disciplines, such as mechanical engineering, structural engineering, etc. Conceptual mastery of this content is important for student's academic success in upper-division classes, as well as for their future careers.

This paper investigates the use of IBLAs for a mechanics of materials class as pre-training materials and its impact on students’ learning. The purpose of this study is to report the development of 5 new hands-on IBLA models for solid mechanics classes used in a large public university. The impact of the IBLA as pretraining on students' performance is studied through regression analysis. Through delayed tests (quizzes, midterms, and final exams), it is found that IBLAs have a positive impact on students learning outcomes in the topics using IBLAs.
Effective IBL in engineering mechanics courses requires a clear and relevant driving question, structured inquiry activities, and opportunities for student reflection and self-assessment. Thus, we will demonstrate the details of the IBLA hands-on models as an open source for other instructors interested in using them.