Impact of Upgrading Equipment for Strength of Materials Labs on Student Perceptions, Motivation, and Learning

An important component of teaching introductory Strength of Materials (Mechanics of Materials) concepts to undergraduate engineering and technology students is the inclusion of laboratory experiments, which give the students the opportunity to conduct tests and collect data on the materials to obtain relevant properties. These laboratory experiments also allow students to observe firsthand the behavior of materials under different loading conditions, thereby giving them a greater physical feel for these different behaviors. The equipment used to perform smallscale, desktop experiments can range from simple set-ups constructed using every day materials available at a local hardware store to more sophisticated and expensive apparatus manufactured by companies specializing in educational lab equipment. One question of interest to faculty when faced with the decision of selecting the apparatus to be used for these small-scale experiments is whether student perceptions, motivation, and learning in the course are affected by the sophistication and quality of the equipment used to conduct the experiments. The purpose of this study is to collect and evaluate data to determine if using more sophisticated, higher quality experimental equipment results in improved student outlooks and learning compared to using simple set-ups constructed from every day materials purchased at a hardware store. Data collected include student feedback obtained from short, written surveys about the effectiveness of the laboratories performed with higher quality desktop equipment. The usefulness of the higher end set-ups for improving student understanding of key concepts is evaluated by analyzing student performance on related examination questions and other course components for a cohort who used more expensive apparatus versus a cohort from the previous year who used simple experimental set-ups. In addition, the impact of the laboratory equipment quality and sophistication on student perceptions and motivation for the overall course is studied by looking at course rating information obtained from these two cohorts. Perceptions of the lab instructors on the advantages and disadvantages of using the more expensive versus less expensive experimental set-ups are also presented. The results of this study provide insights on whether upgrading equipment for Strength of Materials labs helps improve the educational experience of students for the overall course and whether those benefits appear to justify the costs of making such upgrades. Background and Purpose of Study Over the years it has been generally deemed important to provide undergraduate students in engineering and technology programs with the opportunity to perform laboratory experiments related to key concepts that they learn in the lecture portion of courses. The laboratories are thought to reinforce key concepts and perhaps improve student learning in terms of application and retention of those concepts. Several researchers have looked at the impact of laboratory experiments for engineering and technology courses on student perceptions, and in some cases student learning, for those courses. P ge 26892.2 Campbell et al. implemented the use of some simple experiments using low cost materials and toys to teach concepts for dynamic systems. They reported that students found these simple experiments to be very effective or effective for helping them understand dynamic concepts, but no specific data were collected in terms of performance on homework or exams to quantify improvements in learning. Cimbala et al. investigated the impact of a take-home pump performance experiment on student understanding of this topic. They found significant gains in student learning resulting from the use of the experiments and students indicated they liked the hands-on approach. Strength of Materials (Solid Mechanics or Mechanics of Materials) is a particular course where laboratory experiments have been used to help reinforce key concepts relating to the behavior of materials under applied loads, although the use of such labs as part of the course is not universal. Wadzuk et al. reported that only 29% of civil engineering programs they surveyed indicated that their program requires a laboratory component for Strength of Materials. There are a few studies in the literature concerning the use of laboratories for Strength of Materials in undergraduate engineering and technology programs where survey data have been collected from students about the effectiveness of the labs. Bhargava et al. used both virtual labs, consisting of high quality video and audio of a lab test, and hands-on physical labs for undergraduate Statics and Strength of Materials courses. Results of their study indicate that students preferred the physical labs due to the hands-on experience, having people available to answer questions, and not having to stare at a computer screen. Douglas and Holdhusen and Denton both had their students perform simple strength of materials experiments using common materials available at a hardware store. Douglas and Holdhusen had on-line students who did the simple experiments at home. They reported that overall the student response to the experiments was positive and the students stated that the labs helped to reinforce concepts from on-line lectures. Denton, who had on-campus students perform simple experiments, reported that 60% to 83% of the students found the experiments to be helpful or very helpful. In all of these studies little to no data were collected and/or reported on whether the use of the experiments produced a change in student performance by looking at exam or other performance measuring data. Denton did indicate a 15% improvement in exam results for students’ abilities to recognize single versus double shear, which was a focus of one of their labs. One important question that can arise when planning laboratories for Strength of Materials is whether the sophistication and quality of the equipment used for experiments have any impact on student perceptions of and motivation for the course, as well as the learning and performance of the students. There were no apparent studies found in the literature that evaluate this issue. The purpose of the study described in this paper is to determine whether using more sophisticated, higher quality desktop experimental equipment results in improved student outlooks and learning in Strength of Materials compared to using simple, homemade set-ups constructed from every day materials purchased at a hardware store. The results of this study should provide insights on whether upgrading equipment for Strength of Materials labs helps improve the educational experience and learning of students for the overall course and whether those benefits appear to justify the costs of making such upgrades.