Work in Progress: Project-Based Homework: An Ongoing Study on Engineering Analysis-Dynamics

TITLE: Work in Progress: Project-Based Homework: an Ongoing Study on Engineering Analysis-Dynamics Previous studies on engineering education have shown that teaching based solely on lecturing, does not adequately prepare today’s students to succeed in their majors and engineering careers. High-impact learning practices such as hands-on project-based homework (PBH) as previously implemented by one of the authors in a Statics course have demonstrated better results regarding student success. As a logical consequence, efforts were made to extend this practice to the next course in the curriculum: Engineering Analysis-Dynamics. This ongoing study presents some very promising results of incorporating collaborative active learning hands-on project-based homework (PBH) as a strategy for improving the students’ success in a large sophomore engineering class: Engineering Analysis Dynamics. Several hands-on project-based collaborative learning assignments on selected topics such as curvilinear motion, equations of motion, energy and momentum conservation, were prepared to improve the students’ comprehension of these topics. The PBH assignments complemented the regular homework assignments and were offered as extra-credit assignments to persuade students in completing these assignments. Students were asked to demonstrate the tested concepts through physical models, experimentation, and analysis and calculations. For each PBH assignment, the students were required to submit a formal project report and a brief video clip explaining their set-up and results. The impact of PBH on the student’s success is summarized and presented in this paper.