Enhancing Student Learning in Mechanics of Material Course through Contextual Learning

Mechanics of materials is a foundational and interdisciplinary course for mechanical, civil, and aerospace engineering disciplines. It provides a fundamental understanding of the mechanical properties of various materials and their behavior subjected to different kinds of loading. In Civil engineering, basic concepts learned through this course are the prerequisite for various higher-level courses such as structural analysis and design of various structural elements. Teaching a course on Mechanics of Material is challenging as it involves mathematical formulation and calculations which needs a student to have critical thinking skills and different orientations to understand this subject. Therefore this paper describes contextual learning of the Mechanics of Material by associating the classroom teaching to real-world experiences. A practical assignment is given to students at the end of each course chapter, so that students can visually inspect the structural members and visualize its behavior subjected to various forces, stresses deformation developed in a real-time structure to enhance learning efficiency. The object of this work is to promote experiential learning, critical thinking and to upgrade knowledge regarding innovations in new structural materials through contextual learning. The course delivery and assessment strategies were meticulously executed in the form of assignments to foster experiential learning that leads to the attainment of higher levels in graduate attributes as related to Bloom's taxonomy in the cognitive domain. This pedagogical transition effect was measured in the form student feedback surveys, and course learning outcomes. It was observed that the strategies helped students with better understanding of the subject.