Work in progress-blown away on the very first day-measuring outcomes for statics & mechanics of materials

In an effort to measure desired outcomes of our "statics and mechanics of materials" course, a trial is being conducted where students are given a relatively complex problem on the first day of class and then given the same problem on the final exam. The problem in this research involves the structure of a cantilever boat dock. To determine the change in understanding during the course, both problems are graded using a rubric to gage the levels of understanding relative to five tasks: 1) identify the likely failure location, 2) identify the different load types, 3) combine the effects of multiple loadings, 4) calculate the stresses within the structure, 5) calculate the safety factor. Results will also be compared to the previous semester (Fall 2003) where the same problem was given on the final exam but not discussed earlier in the course. A further objective of this work is to stimulate curiosity by challenging students to solve a combined statics and mechanics problem.