This project will enhance student problem-solving ability in Statics and Mechanics of Materials by creating and delivering a new set of ill-structured problem modules. These problems will be open-ended, require students to formulate assumptions that are implicitly given, and/or anticipate ideas at that stretch across the boundary of the given course material. Students will engage in design or design-like exercises and use modern simulation tools as they approach such problems efficiently and maturely. Research conducted will determine the pedagogical efficacy of ill-structured problem-solving, including the development of declarative, procedural, and conceptual knowledge. This will be achieved by creating an experimental cohort of students who will receive instruction with new modules, and evaluating the cohort's performance (in comparison with a control group) on various academic instruments and responses to questionnaires. New modules will be developed to teach fundamental topics in Statics and Mechanics of Materials. Topics for the modules will be developed via a modified Delphi process in which experts in mechanics education will recommend topics of greatest importance. These tools will be assessed, along with learning gains of students who use them. In particular, the research design for this project makes use of tracking student performance along a "curricular strand" of four consecutive courses in order that retention and transfer of skills can be measured longitudinally. This project will take place at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, where more than 99% of students are Hispanic and speak Spanish as their native language, and 32% of undergraduates in the College of Engineering are female (a rate which significantly exceeds the national average). In addition, recruitment of experts for the Delphi process will ensure that a meaningful number of participants are from Hispanic-serving institutions, and the new modules developed in this project will be available in both English and Spanish. Therefore, this project will engage underrepresented minorities (Hispanics) and women both through the direct participants in this project, as well as by reaching potential future users of the products developed.
