UROP Project | Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement

Development of a formative and summative multiple choice assessment platform for Dynamics I

Dynamics, teaching, programming, assessment program

Research Mentor: Dr. Taylor Higgins, She/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Mechanical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
Contact Email: th22u@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: Anyone how has strong MATLAB programming skills and is interested in how students learn Dynamics 1 (a required mechanical engineering course)
Project Location: AME Building (2003 Levy Ave. Tallahasse, FL)
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Yes
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10 (negotiable), During business hours
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Not participating in the Roundtable

Project Description

Dynamics 1 is often one of the first really difficult courses for mechanical engineering students. The best way to learn, however, is to actually attempt to solve problems and to receive feedback on these problems. I would like to develop a Matlab GUI software that let’s Dynamics Students do multiple-choice practice problems chosen by topic, choose from a set of ‘life-line’ hints to get them moving when they get stuck, and have their answers automatically graded. The platform should keep track of student’s use of the life-lines, and guide students to try to reduce their life-line usage as they practice. It should also show students how they are scoring according to the topic, so that they can compare their current scores (and life-line usage) to the topics that will be covered in upcoming exams. The platform may have a formative-mode (during learning/practice, where life-lines are allowed) and a summative-mode (for test-taking, where life-lines are not allowed). Researchers will program the learning platform in Matlab and also start to develop a problem library.

Research Tasks: MATLAB GUI programming. Will involve working with Dynamics 1 topics. Developing multiple-choice Dynamics 1 problems.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Strong Matlab programming skills are a must! We will work together to design the platform’s features.

Mentoring Philosophy

As a mentor, I work best with students who are inquisitive, pro-active, and problem solvers. I do not like to micro-manage. I see my job as being a resource to my research students, helping to solve problems when stuck, providing overall vision, and occasionally giving nudges in the right direction. I see my students as the expert in their given project, and I expect students to go learn skills, find possible solutions, try many things that may or may not work, and ultimately to come to research meetings ready to teach me all the cool things they’ve learned, tried, and developed. I aim to creating a safe environment in which mentees feel that is acceptable to fail and learn from their mistakes. I do expect mentees to take ownership of their work and have accountability for their effort in the project. Overall, I want to do fun engineering work that makes a difference in human lives, and I want my students to feel empowered to do difficult things and solve challenging problems.

Additional Information

Link to Publications

https://tgambon.wixsite.com/taylorgambon

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