In this paper we analyze the success of a new assessment method. The method was first developed in an introductory strength of materials course at Michigan State University in 2016, and the initial results were presented at the annual ASEE conference in 2018. The purpose of this paper is to quantify the improvement made by students in classes that use the new method while controlling for differences in faculty. Each instructor involved in this study taught the same course in fall semester 2017 and fall semester 2018. The success of the new method is measured by comparing final exam scores on similar exam problems given in fall semester 2017 and fall semester 2018.
Ron Averill joined the faculty at Michigan State University in 1992. He currently serves as the Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. His research focus is on pedagogy, design optimization of large and complex systems, and design for sustainable agriculture.
Sara Roccabianca is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Michigan State University (MSU). She was born and raised in Verona, Italy and received her B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Trento, Italy. She received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Trento in 2011. She then was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University, in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, working on cardiovascular mechanics.
Sara’s research at MSU focuses on urinary bladder mechanics and growth and remodeling associated with bladder outlet obstruction (e.g., posterior urethral valves in newborn boys or prostate benign hyperplasia in men over the age of 60). Her goals are to (i) develop a micro-structurally motivated mechanical model to describe the non-linear elastic behavior of the urinary bladder wall, (ii) develop a stress-mediated model of urinary bladder adaptive response, and (iii) understand the fundamental mechanisms that correlate the mechanical environment and the biological process of remodeling in the presence of an outlet obstruction.
Dr. Recktenwald is a lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at Michigan State University where he teaches courses in in mechanics and mathematical methods. He completed his degree in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at Cornell University in stability and parametric excitation. His active areas of research are dynamic stability, online assessment, and instructional pedagogy.
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