2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Beyond the Final Answer: Using Multi-Path Problems for Deeper Insight in Student Learning and Formative Assessment

Presented at Mechanics Division (MECHS) Technical Session 6

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.

Authors

Dr. Matthew J Jensen http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5229-7382 Utah Valley University [biography]

Dr. Matthew J. Jensen is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Utah Valley University. Matthew has been teaching full time for over 13 years, primarily teaching courses on engineering mechanics, system dynamics and controls.
Dr. Julian Ly Davis http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4109-3904 University of Southern Indiana [biography]

Jul Davis is an Associate Professor of Engineering at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, Indiana. He received his PhD in 2007 from Virginia Tech in Engineering Mechanics where he studied the vestibular organs in the inner ear using finite element models and vibration analyses. After graduating, he spent a semester teaching at a local community college and then two years at University of Massachusetts (Amherst) studying the biomechanics of biting in bats and monkeys, also using finite element modeling techniques. In 2010, he started his career teaching in all areas of mechanical engineering at the University of Southern Indiana. He loves teaching all of the basic mechanics courses, and of course his Vibrations and Finite Element Analysis courses.
Dr. Jiehong Liao http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4083-9663 Florida Gulf Coast University [biography]

Dr. Jiehong Liao is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU). She earned a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Rice University and a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Originally from Hawaii, her journey into academia began with the Rensselaer Medalist award and being selected into the inaugural class of Gates Millennium Scholars. Before joining FGCU, she was a visiting Assistant Professor of Biotechnology in the Division of Science and Technology at the United International College (UIC) in Zhuhai China. She has trained with ASCE’s Excellence in Civil Engineering Education (ExCEEd) initiative, been exploring and applying evidence-based strategies for instruction, and is a proponent of Learning Assistants (LAs). Her scholarship of teaching and learning interests are in motivation and mindset, teamwork and collaboration, and learning through failure and reflection. Her bioengineering research interests and collaborations are in the areas of biomaterials, cellular microenvironments, and tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. She serves on leadership teams for the Whitaker Center of STEM Education and the Lucas Center for Faculty Development at FGCU, and is a member of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) and the KEEN Engineering Unleashed Network as an Engineering Unleashed Fellow.
Dr. Anurag Purwar http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1755-470X Stony Brook University [biography]

Dr. Anurag Purwar is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stony Brook University. His research interests are in bringing together rigid body kinematics and machine learning for design of mechanisms and robots. He has published 109 peer-reviewed conference and journal papers and his research has been funded by National Science Foundation (NSF), NY-state SPIR, NY-state Center for Biotechnology, Sensor-CAT, SUNY Research Foundation, industry, Stony Brook University, and SUNY Office of Provost.

He received A.T. Yang award for the best paper in Theoretical Kinematics at the 2017 ASME Mechanisms and Robotics Conference and the MSC Software Simulation award for the best paper at the 2009 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences (IDETC) . He is the recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching by Stony Brook University and the winner of the 2018 FACT2 award for Excellence in Instruction given to one professor from the entire SUNY system. He also received the 2021 Distinguished Teaching Award from the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Mid-Atlantic Division.

He has been twice elected as a member of the ASME Mechanisms and Robotics committee and served as the Program Chair for the 2014 ASME Mechanisms and Robotics Conference, as the Conference Chair for the 2015 ASME Mechanisms and Robotics Conference and has served as symposium and session chairs for many ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences. He was the general Conference Co-Chair for the 2016 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences (IDETC/CIE).

He won a SUNY Research Foundation Technology Accelerator Fund (TAF) award, which enabled him to develop a multifunctional Sit-to-Stand-Walker assistive device (http://www.mobilityassist.net) for people afflicted with neuromuscular degenerative diseases or disability. The technology and the patent behind the device has been licensed to Biodex Medical Systems for bringing the device to institutional market. The device won the SAE Top 100 Create the Future Award in 2016. Dr. Purwar gave a TEDx talk on Machine Design Innovation through Technology and Education which focused on enabling democratization of design capabilities, much needed for invention and innovation of machines by uniting the teaching of scientific and engineering principles with the new tools of technology. Five of his patented inventions have been successfully licensed to the companies world-wide.

Dr. Purwar is the Secretary and Chair-Elect of the the ASME Mechanisms and Robotics Committee and a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). He is currently an Associate Editor of the ASME Journal of Mechanical Design.
Dr. Hadas Ritz http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5396-2962 Cornell University [biography]

Hadas Ritz is a senior lecturer in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and a Faculty Teaching Fellow at the James McCormick Family Teaching Excellence Institute (MTEI) at Cornell University, where she received her PhD in Mechanical Engineering. Among other teaching awards, she received the 2021 ASEE National Outstanding Teaching Award.

Note

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

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