| Abstrakt: |
Many engineering courses have lecture components but no laboratory component. Although lecture courses of this sort can be strengthened through the incorporation of active or problembased learning, the addition of short, focused experiments can have a profound effect on student learning, motivation, and retention of knowledge. This paper describes the development of a small, portable beam bending apparatus to highlight concepts of stress and strain in an undergraduate strength of materials course. The experiments are designed to target particular concepts about which students typically have misconceptions. The apparatus was fabricated and implemented in a single section of strength of materials, and preliminary data was gathered on student understanding through use of a concept-inventory test administered before and after the experiment. The paper describes the experimental platform and gives preliminary results from the concept-inventory assessments. It was seen that the experiment helped to dispel some of the students' misconceptions, but that further refinement of the experimental procedure may be needed to address other conceptual errors about stress, strain, and the role of material properties, loading conditions, and beam geometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
