Learning statics through in-class demonstration, assignment and evaluation

Abstract

Statics is the well-established first course in mechanics for first-year engineering students all over the world. For this reason, good learning modules (making use of computer animation, group-based projects, practical labs, internet, etc.) have been developed for teaching statics especially at education-oriented universities. It seems, however, that rarely found are ‘in-class’ demonstrations or ‘hands-on’ teaching methods for statics which turn out to be crucial for encouraging first-year students to become quickly engaged in mechanics. There is indeed a lot of evidence that students fully appreciate physical concepts right in the classroom via these hands-on teaching methods. In this paper, one such hands-on teaching method, so-called ‘in-class demonstration, assignment and evaluation’ (DAE, for short), is presented. DAE involves six exercises that can be immediately adopted in the classroom to clearly convey to students the major concepts arising in statics, such as equilibrium, centre of gravity, stability and friction. It is found that DAE can get approximately 94% of the students in class to engage in learning and reduce the percentage of low-motivation students by 7–11%.