2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Motivation: Free-body diagrams are a fundamental tool in biomechanics for analyzing forces and torques that act on a physical body. However, in undergraduate introductory biomechanics courses, students oftentimes find it difficult to understand biomechanics concepts due to the involvement of mathematical and mechanical concepts of motion, their causes, and the mathematic principles behind them. Literature suggests that active learning instruction can improve learning outcomes and conceptual understanding, which results in problem-solving skills among biomechanics students. To improve student learning of static analysis in an introductory biomechanics course, a novel learning module “Free Body Diagram Yoga” was implemented in an upper division undergraduate biomedical engineering course.

Learning Objectives: The following learning objectives were assessed using this learning module: 1) apply models of rigid bodies and equivalent systems of forces to solve engineering problems, 2) evaluate the equilibrium of rigid bodies, 3) understand distributed forces and how to determine centroids and centers of gravity, and 4) analyze structures.

Implementation: Introductory lectures were provided to introduce students to the concepts underlying each learning objective in the classroom prior to the assignment (e.g. statics of particles, forces, moments, couples, centroids and centers of gravity, analysis of structures). Students were then asked to apply their knowledge of these concepts to an image that they took of their classmate performing any yoga or unique pose of their own choosing as an external assignment. They used the image to develop a free-body diagram and analyze the underlying internal and external forces and torques that acted on the rigid body. Students who were unable to perform unique positions were allowed to analyze forces acting on an outside person or animal that agreed to a photo (e.g. friend or family member, or pet). They were also provided with literature on anthropometric data of human body segments and support model types for different parts of the body to perform the analysis.

Situational Factors: Given the low level of resources required to perform the assignment, the learning module was implemented in both remote and in-person classroom environments across two instructors over the course of 6 years (offered once per year), and was utilized to assess students’ abilities to apply, analyze, and evaluate the learning objectives to a new biomechanics problem. The successful implementation of the learning module allowed students to learn biomechanics principles to fields that interested them, as well as learn how to utilize peer-reviewed literature sources to perform biomechanical analyses. For example, some students created positions during sports they played, such as skateboarding, figure skating, or weightlifting, or utilized it to understand the static principles underlying their interest in veterinary medicine given current veterinary physical therapy literature. Instructors were able to assess higher cognitive levels of understanding of these student outcomes as students had to develop a unique solution to a unique problem instead of a textbook solution to an already provided problem. Future implementations of this learning module among other biomechanics courses may lead to better learning outcomes and enhanced student engagement.