2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This paper reports student perceptions of a redesigned introductory materials science and engineering (MSE) course based around computational atomistic models. Atomistic models foster principled understanding of MSE phenomena by foregrounding how meso-level and macro-level material structures and properties emerge from atomic interactions. The interactive models also engage students in active, inquiry-based learning. The computational models were designed and implemented in NetLogo—a popular modeling platform—for most of the major topics covered in a standard introductory MSE course including bonding, crystal structure, point defects, diffusion, mechanical properties, dislocations, polymer structure and synthesis, and electronic properties. The models run in a web-browser and were delivered to students through a digital learning platform designed by the first author that can include other types of content in addition to the NetLogo models such as explanatory text, videos, images, and questions students can answer. The content we have created on this digital learning platform functions as the textbook for the re-designed course.

Students completed an end-of-course survey with four Likert-style question and a number of open-ended questions. The open-ended questions were open-coded to identify recurring themes in student answers.

Results from the Likert-style questions were very positive: 81% of the students rated the course as more engaging than other STEM courses they’ve taken; 80% of students rated their experience with the digital learning platform as great or good; 72% reported feeling they learned more in the course than other courses; 74% felt the course was equally or somewhat more challenging than other courses, and only 13% felt it was much more challenging.

The open-ended questions revealed that many students found the digital learning platform engaging and thought the computational models helped them visualize concepts and understand them better. In general, students preferred activities involving the computational models over video lectures for these reasons, but some students sometimes found the models confusing. Students appreciated that the content on the platform was well-organized, easy to navigate, and reflected exactly the requirements of the course. The most common suggestions for improvement were to fix typos and incomplete sections of the course content.

Overall, a large majority of students had a positive experience in the course, demonstrating that, with the right digital tools, an introductory MSE course based around computational models is both feasible logistically and desirable from the student perspective.