Student Use Of Textbook Solution Manuals: Student And Faculty Perspectives In A Large Mechanical Engineering Department

Anecdotal evidence indicates that Mechanical Engineering students have unprecedented access to textbook solutions manuals, and possibly a large percentage of students regularly refer to these manuals when working graded homework assignments. Many faculty voice concerns regarding the ethics of this behavior and its affect on student learning; however, the prevalence of the solutions manual usage and its effects on learning are not well documented. To better understand how students use solutions manuals, a survey was submitted to undergraduate students and faculty of the Mechanical Engineering Department at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, as part of a larger study on the effects of solution manual access on student learning. The methodology emulates earlier studies at M.I.T. 1 and Georgia Tech 2 that addressed student perceptions of cheating. This survey was administered in a number of required courses, with multiple sections that are typically offered every quarter at Cal Poly. The goal of this survey was to determine the incidence rate of solution manual use and student perceptions on the ethics and educational value of using the solution manuals when working homework assignments. Faculty perceptions were also tabulated using a similar survey. Quantitative results are presented along with an assessment of interactions between student perceptions and their use of the solution manuals.