This project is presented as a Work-In-Progress. Use of auto-graded online homework in engineering mechanics courses such as Statics and Dynamics has several benefits for both students and faculty. For example, students are able to receive instant feedback, while faculty don’t have to hand grade dozens if not hundreds of problems in a timely manner. One significant drawback to these systems is the reliance on a single correct answer that can’t capture how a student went about solving the problem. As a formative assessment tool, auto-graded homework does not lend itself to providing instructors with insight on what concepts their students are grasping well, and what they may be struggling with. Additionally, since many mechanics problems have multiple correct ways to solve the problem, it would be useful to capture how the students find their answers.
A new problem type called Multi-Path Problems (MPP) has been developed by McGraw Hill for their Connect online homework platform. MPPs include a problem statement similar to typical end of section or chapter problems found in textbooks, but instead of only capturing the students final answer, the problem is scaffolded with ten or more individual questions walking the students through the various steps of solving the problem. Students are allowed to explore various paths as they work through the problem without the software forcing them to take a particular approach. For example, a student may choose to use either a graphical method or a vector math method for solving a static equilibrium problem.
This project seeks to better understand how MPPs can be used to strengthen formative assessment of student learning. Faculty at two different universities assigned the same MPP in their respectively dynamics courses. The authors developed a visual flowchart to quickly illustrate how their students approached the problem, including what steps they took. Additionally, a comparison of how students interacted with the MPPs compared to other assignments was conducted. In general, the students were actively engaging with the MPP for a much longer amount of time that their regular online homework. There wasn’t any statistically significant correlation between student performance on MPPs and that of regular online homework, quizzes or exams. However, students that made significantly more attempts to complete the MPP did have lower grades on quiz and exam questions focused on the same topics, indicating that MPPs could make for an early warning system to identify concepts students may not fully understand.
The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025