2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Engineering statics is a foundational course for engineering students, serving as a prerequisite for advanced courses such as mechanics of materials and playing a critical role in determining student retention in engineering programs. However, an analysis from a Midwestern university revealed that an average of 11.4% of students across all courses received D, F, or W grades as compared to 26.9% D, F, W rates in engineering statics, highlighting statics as a challenging course for students. A previous study explored instructors' perspectives on the high rate of D, F and W grade in engineering statics, themes such as “difficulty in introducing practical applications, large class sizes, weak foundations in prerequisites, inconsistent use of resources, and insufficient attention to detail” highlighted the reasons why instructors perceive students’ perform poorly in engineering statics.
This paper is a follow up to that study and a deep dive into what students describe as challenging in an engineering statics course. The research questions answered in this study is: What do students perceive as challenging in an engineering statics course?
Data was collected from seven students enrolled in the course during the Spring and Fall 2024 semester. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis to generate themes that address the research questions. The findings from this study aim to inform teaching strategies and interventions that directly target the most challenging aspects of engineering statics as described by the students themselves.