Identifying And Investigating Difficult Concepts In Engineering Mechanics And Electric Circuits

Abstract

Indiana University at Bloomington. She is co-principle investigator of three NSF-sponsored projects: Developing an Outcomes Assessment Instrument for Identifying Engineering Student Misconceptions in Thermal and Transport Sciences (DUE -0127806), Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education (ESI-0227558), and Rigorous Research in Engineering Education: Creating a Community of Practice (DUE-0341127). Monica Geist, University of Northern Colorado MONICA R. GEIST is a doctoral student in the Applied Statistics and Research Methods program at the University of Northern Colorado. Monica has taught math at the college level for 15 years. Monica is presently conducting research on engineering student misconceptions in electrical and mechanical engineering. Ravel Ammerman, Colorado School of Mines RAVEL F. AMMERMAN received his BS in Engineering in 1981 at Colorado School of Mines (CSM), Golden, Colorado. He also received his MS in Electrical Engineering (Power Systems and Control) at the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1987. He has over 24 years combined teaching and industrial experience. Mr. Ammerman has co-authored and published several technical articles on Engineering Education, Curriculum Development, and Computer Applications related to Power Systems Engineering. He is an accomplished teacher having received the CSM Graduating Senior Outstanding Teaching Award in Electrical Engineering on numerous occasions. Currently, Mr. Ammerman is pursuing his Ph.D. degree in Engineering Systems (Electrical Specialty -Power Systems). His research interests include Computer Applications in Power Systems Analysis, Electrical Safety, and Engineering Education. He is a member of IEEE. Candace Sulzbach, Colorado School of Mines CANDACE S. SULZBACH is a Lecturer in the Division of Engineering at Colorado School of Mines and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Colorado. She has taught for 23 years and is the Faculty Adviser for the student chapters of the Society of Women Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers and Tau Beta Pi. She also serves on the ASCE "Committee on Student Activities." Ronald Miller, Colorado School of Mines RONALD L. MILLER is professor of chemical engineering at the Colorado School of Mines where he has taught chemical engineering and interdisciplinary courses and conducted research in educational methods for the past twenty years. He has received three university-wide teaching awards and has held a Jenni teaching fellowship at CSM. He has received grant awards for educational research from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education (FIPSE), the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.

Does Conceptual Understanding Matter: Patterns Of Error In Senior Engineering Students Problem Solving In Statics?

“…Findings from studies of the data suggested that civil and mechanical engineering students do not understand accurately the concept of force. In conjunction, their findings indicate that these students view force as a material object 5 .…”

“…It is not clear if this misconception of force may also impair or limit a student's ability to understand, recall and apply more advanced and related Statics concepts such as FBD and equilibrium to the solution of Statics problems. The study described in this paper re-looks at the data from Streveler and colleagues 4,5 earlier study.…”

“…Seniors were used in this study because it was assumed that they had already mastered these fundamental concepts and also should know how to solve these problems. Students were asked to think aloud as they solved a problem based on the target concepts of free body diagram (FBD) and equilibrium 13 .…”

“…Failure to show clearly in their illustration which body is being considered for equilibrium Page 15.428. 13 12. Failure to treat a collection of parts as a single body, dismembering a system into its parts or dividing a part into two as needed 13.…”

“…In an effort to identify the difficult concepts in Statics, Streveler and colleagues 4,5 studied how nine civil and mechanical engineering students who were asked to think aloud while they solved four problems involving force. From this study it was found that seniors do not fully understand the concept of force.…”