2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This Work in Progress Paper highlights the development of an Open Educational Resource being developed at a large mid-Atlantic research university for a foundational strength of materials class. This resource is part of a larger suite of strength of materials tools that have been developed over the last two years, including a textbook and associated problem database, and expands the suite of tools to include Learning Management System integration and assessment feedback.

Instructors are able to assign individual homework problems and groups of problems in a homework batch to students, with settings available for the number of attempts, due dates, type of feedback given to students, and gradebook integration within the Learning Management System. Students are able to solve a system of equations for homework problems using an equation builder toolkit with custom variable entry and receive feedback.

The homework system is currently being piloted over three homework assignments in the Fall 2025 semester with approximately 80 students, with an anticipated full rollout of the homework system for all homework assignments in Spring 2026 for around 300 students. Student feedback on the Open Educational Resource suite is collected via class surveys and used to inform future development of the resources.

In keeping with the objective of open educational resources, the homework system will be hosted under a Creative Commons license in GitHub following the completion of initial system development in May of 2026. This open educational resource for mechanics helps to inform educators on additional technology enhanced assessment of large class sizes and can be adopted and integrated directly into the learning management system to promote seamless interaction with the tool by students.