2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This poster will report on the progress made in the second (implementation) phase of a project funded through the NSF Research Initiation in Engineering Formation (RIEF) program. The project is focused on students’ problem-solving skill acquisition in a sophomore level engineering mechanics course (statics) with emphasis on building their skills related to problem abstraction. The first phase of the project involved planning and development of course materials and research studies. The second phase of the study involves teaching the course using instructional approaches that allow for students to practice developing problem abstraction skills through physical models and group problem solving. This poster will provide a summary of lessons learned in the implementation phase of the project, specifically the use of physical models, shared group explanations of problem framing and solutions, homework problems, test questions, reflection prompts and problem-solving assessment techniques.

Instructional approaches in this course were designed to encourage cooperative learning. Students were organized into teams by the instructor primarily based on compatibility of students’ schedules. Teams began working together by collaboratively developing team contracts outlining roles and expectations. Teams worked together in class on problems and outside of class on homework problems. In-class problems often included analysis and manipulation of physical models to aid in the development of problem abstraction skills. Groups were also responsible for reporting out to the class on their homework solutions.

Students’ problem solving skills were assessed using an established rubric that gives students feedback on how well they completed various steps in the problem solving process, including developing a problem statement, representing the problem with a free body diagram, organization of the information provided, use of equations and calculations, explanations of solution and checking for accuracy. Students were also prompted to rate their confidence in their knowledge needed to complete the problem, the amount of effort they put into the problem, their level of frustration, and their confidence in being able to solve a similar problem in the future.

Indicators of student learning and the success of instructional approaches used in the course include observations about student engagement in the course activities, student performance on homework problems and tests, students’ self-reported confidence in their knowledge and skills, and how well teams are functioning in the team-based approach to problem solving using an established teamwork survey (ITP Metrics).

Preliminary results show student engagement is as anticipated: students are explaining their homework problem solutions to peers, working on teams on homework problem sets, manipulating the physical models (with guidance) in class. All students completed team contracts and engaged with their teams effectively to submit assignments. Initial results from graded homework problems indicate that students are feeling confident in their knowledge to complete the problems and in their ability to solve similar problems in the future. Challenges to implementing these instructional approaches include timing of class activities, specifically the amount of time that students took to work with the physical models, and the time involved with developing class activities.