This research-based full paper focuses on building confidence and inclusion for women engineering students by implementing various modes of learning (e.g., an interactive online textbook, Pre-recorded Lecture Videos (PLVs), and equally gendered-ratio teams for in-class team worksheets and course project) into a sophomore-level engineering course. It has been recognized that lack of inclusion has been linked to negative outcomes in student performance, specifically for women. As men dominate most engineering majors, it has been seen that women students find it hard to participate in group work settings. When working in groups, women students have experienced gender biases that were demeaning and often have their ideas or designs second-guessed. These feelings of self-doubt and lack of involvement, repeated over time, led many women students to leave engineering. It is hypothesized that by providing many learning opportunities outside the classroom that positively reinforce their knowledge and understanding and by balancing the gender ratio of teams, women will be more confident in their abilities and feel more included, respectively. Confidence plays a deciding factor in the retention rates of women within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields of study. Anecdotally, it was discovered that during the development and implementation of an interactive online textbook and using PLVs, many women within the introductory Statics and Mechanics of Materials 1 course felt something unfamiliar compared to other STEM courses: confidence. Confidence is a prime indicator of successful completion of a program. To further explore this finding, a study involving focus groups was conducted with three assemblages of women within the course. Two focus groups discussed using the interactive online textbook$(n=\mathbf{8}$and$n$= 9), while one discussed using PLVs$(n=\mathbf{8})$. These focus groups were moderated by two women, a Ph.D. student in Physics and a current Mechanical Engineering undergraduate student. The focus groups were recorded using the University's approved video recording platform (Panopto) and transcribed using NVivo, being corrected and verified by researchers. Various themes were found, with one indicating that women felt more confident about their abilities and knowledge when engaging with the interactive online textbook than when using traditional educational methods. Interestingly, using the textbook and PLVs also helped women feel more confident going into and asking questions in the classroom. Another finding was that the women viewed the equally gendered structuring of groups for in-class team worksheets and projects as a very positive action. The findings of this study set up future work scrutinizing which mechanisms not only promote confidence but a sense of belonging for women within engineering and, hopefully, other fields within STEM.

This research-based full paper describes a qualitative study to gain further insight into how and why an interactive online textbook developed for a Statics and Mechanics of Materials I course affects students' perceived learning. Data gathered to date has indicated positive effects on students, but detailed explanations of what aspects of the textbook are causing these effects have remained vague, unclear, or nonexistent. This research serves to better understand the different aspects of learning underpinning the textbook and how, in detail, they contribute to student performance. It further expands and validates the list of best practices for interactive textbooks. Colleges and universities continually work to improve their curriculum, teaching efficacy, and student outcomes. Didactic lecturing has been the cornerstone of most institutions' pedagogy; however, it has changed with advancements in educational theory. Flipped classrooms have become increasingly common in academia, as well as courses utilizing project-based learning. Research has shown that when implemented correctly, these methods improve student retention and confidence and, as a result, increase program completion rates. In addition to lecture style, several different learning modes may be used across a school's curriculum. Narrowing the scope to individual courses reveals an often understudied aspect of the classroom-the textbook. Previous qualitative studies on the interactive, online textbook showed that students felt their required reading material positively impacted their learning of class material, with themes such as “Beneficial” and “Helpful” applicable to numerous open-ended responses coded by the research team. This study, then, is a direct result of these findings, intending to achieve a deeper understanding of the nuances of these general themes. Three focus groups consisting of different genders and majors (n = 4, 7 and 7), were formed and given an identical set of questions concerning the interactive-online textbook. Two interviewers were present in each group to moderate the discussion. The focus group conversations were recorded using the university-approved recording platform, Panopto, and transcribed using NVivo, with a researcher making corrections if needed and confirming the accuracy of each transcript. The transcripts were then coded according to Creswell, and specific themes emerged. The most commonly discussed topic was the benefits of the embedded questions within the text-book. Students noted that the questions allowed for immediate feedback, validating their understanding of the content before moving on to new material. For example, if they answered a question incorrectly, the problem would provide a hint to help guide them to the correct answer. In addition, the students enjoyed the low-stakes learning environment of the text as the questions were scored on participation and not correctness. Another finding was that students found the organization of the textbook to be helpful. The text was built using Cognitive Load Theory and followed a Concept-Example-Question format. Students appreciated how this layout separated the material into smaller, easier-to-understand sections. These findings are invaluable to the development and implementation of interactive and engaging online textbooks.

This research-based full paper investigates Pre-recorded Lecture Video (PLV) viewership habits and elucidates correlations between practice and course performance. Using PLVs and Flipped Class Formats (FCFs) is increasingly prevalent in colleges and universities, driven by various motivating factors. Delivering content that was traditionally done didactically in a format that is both accessible and engaging has many benefits to not only the students but also instructors. For example, students can review PLVs multiple times at their convenience until they understand the material. From an instructional standpoint, PLVs and FCFs allow for more classroom interaction, whether through instructor-led examples or peer-to-peer learning activities. As with any new instructional technique, there are best practices that maximize both student performance and satisfaction, often guided by research. Previous studies have investigated both student use and interaction mechanisms of PLVs, specifically their level of viewership and completion of conceptual check-point questions that could be answered while or after watching assigned videos. Students who had substantial viewership and interacted with the PLVs by answering questions witnessed a statistically significant increase in their course grades compared to those who did not. However, viewership and interaction with a PLV do not tell the whole story. To this end, it is crucial to understand how students use PLVs, specifically, what habits they form while watching PLVs and how this behavior affects their performance in the course. During two years, 445 students enrolled in a sophomore-level Statics and Mechanics of Materials course were instructed using PLVs and an FCF. The students were required to view PLVs before class (on the University's approved Learning Management System, Canvas, using Panopto) and answer basic conceptual questions on Top Hat. Student viewership data (date and time watched, minutes delivered, etc.) was collected through Panopto. PLV viewership habits were ascertained: full-watching (e.g., watching and skipping, watching and rewinding), partial-watching (e.g., incomplete watching, skipping), and no viewership. Additionally, normalized viewership and average number of views per video were characterized. Correlations are drawn between viewership habits and final course grades. Students in the lower-performing group displayed poor habits with the PLVs (i.e., they had low normalized viewership and did not view many videos). In contrast, the middle- and higher-performing students displayed much better viewing habits (i.e., the opposite of low-performing students) and earned higher final course grades. It was also seen that the Top Hat cohort had greater upward mobility than their Traditional textbook counterparts.

This research-based work-in-progress (WIP) addresses the use of flipped class formats (FCFs) in a collegiate environment, particularly student engagement with pre-recorded lecture videos (PLVs). FCFs have gained popularity in the past decade, for the student-centered instruction method provides pupils with additional opportunities to engage with the course material, their peers, and/or instructor, typically more than they would have received through a traditional didactic lecture. Although shown to increase student engagement, satisfaction, and performance, FCFs, in particular on-line lecture videos, have not been scrutinized in terms of student interaction with PLVs. To this end, it is hypothesized that by providing a means of interaction during a lecture video, students will be more engaged with the digital content and subsequently will perform better than their peers who did not engage with online media. During the fall 2022 term, 183 students enrolled in a sophomore-level Statics and Mechanics of Materials course were taught using a FCF. The students viewed a total of 65 PLVs encompassing the content for 23 lectures on the university's approved video platform, Panopto, and integrated in a Learning Management System, Canvas. Oftentimes there were multiple videos for one lecture, as to minimize the length of the video. The PLVs had a total run-time of 271 minutes and 21 seconds; the average video length was 4 minutes and 10 seconds, and the mode of the lecture video length was 3 minutes and 26 seconds. Twenty-one pre-recorded lectures had an accompanying set of questions administered through Top Hat that tested the students' conceptual understanding of the material presented during the videos. These questions took three common forms–multiple-choice, true or false and matching–and totaled 162. There were an average of 7.5 questions per lecture, and the mode of questions per lecture was 8. Hints for incorrect answers were provided to students. Student engagement with the lecture videos was analyzed through quantitative Panopto and Top Hat data. Student engagement metrics such as normalized video viewership and the answering of Top Hat questions (answering habits, correctness to attempts ratio) were determined. Correlations and trends between video viewership, interactions with Top Hat, and course performance were elucidated using statistical methods, namely$H$-tests and analyses of variance. Students who answered Top Hat video questions after watching lecture videos performed half a letter grade better than those who answered the questions prior to viewing the videos. The top and middle terciles of normalized video viewership cohorts had a corresponding 6% and 3.6% increase in performance over the lowest tercile group; the more a student watched lecture videos, the better they performed. Students who had high correctness scores in comparison to their attempts on Top Hat video questions (namely the top and middle tercile cohorts) performed 10.6% and 5.2% better than the lowest tercile group, respectively. Lastly, students who answered all Top Hat video questions on average earned a 5% higher score than students who skipped questions.

This Innovative Practice Full Paper notes that recent research has indicated that large numbers of college and university students make limited use of their class textbooks. This is particularly true in terms of assigned readings - whether they are required for the course or not. Students are knowingly depriving themselves of an important means of learning. While the falling use of textbooks among students is concerning, it should be especially so because of the ongoing pandemic. The pandemic has forced much of the secondary educational experience online, limiting forms of in-person lectures and group activities, and severely restricting or rendering impossible hands-on assignments such as labs and projects. It is clear that the current environment students find themselves in is not optimized for learning. In an attempt to increase student understanding of course material, an online, interactive textbook was created using the software platform Top Hat The book is in its first edition, and is for use with the university's engineering course Statics and Mechanics of Materials. It was written and developed by a professor with years of teaching experience and course development, and by a student who had previously taken the course and has worked as a certified tutor for the university. The textbook employs pedagogies designed to increase student understanding of material, such as active learning, and is used in conjunction with a flipped classroom format. To facilitate this approach, the book has readings that are to be completed before lecture in preparation for various class activities, including group assignments and discussions and think-pair-share. Questions are embedded within the assigned readings for the students to check their understanding of the material. These questions provide instant feedback to the students, either informing them their answer was correct, or alerting them it was incorrect and giving hints to help solve the problem. As the textbook makes use of educational strategies known to improve student learning, it is desired to know if the book had a positive impact on their understanding of the course material. One method of evaluating the online text is to compare students' text use with their level of achievement in the course. Two factors related directly to text use were investigated: the number of questions in the textbook students answered correctly (Correctness) and the number of questions in the textbook answered in general (Participation). The students were categorized into three levels (low, medium, and high) based on their respective score for each variable and two, one-way between-subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA) were performed to determine if there existed a significant difference between student textbook usage (participation and correctness) and overall course grades. Post hoc testing was then performed to determine differences between the three groups. Both F-tests were significant, with significant differences found between the different groups for both correctness and participation. The largest difference occurred between the top and bottom thirds of the class with respect to question correctness, with the difference in mean final course grades being a full letter grade.

This Work In Progress (WIP), Research to Practice Category paper, addresses a new approach to teaching concepts within introductory statics for undergraduate engineering students using a low-resolution-preto/prototyping makerspace. As the benefits of physical modeling and communities of practice have been increasingly documented, makerspaces have sprung up across numerous college and university campuses. Although makerspaces vary between institutions, they generally have resources that provide users the opportunity to perform hands-on design and obtain build experience. These facilities also bring people of different disciplines together, encouraging the sharing of perspectives and fostering collaboration among users. Literature pertaining to makerspaces shows that enhanced learning occurs within students who utilize these spaces. The new approach was pilot tested in the fall 2018 semester. In this math and physics-intensive sophomore-level course, the instructional goals in utilizing the makerspace included an enhanced understanding of the physical significance and application of core course concepts. The main course concept demonstrated was planar truss design, as pursued through the physical construction and testing of balsa wood bridges. Students were asked to design, build, and test a bridge prototype in a hands-on fashion using the makerspace. A second section of the course taught by the same instructor did not utilize the makerspace to build and test a prototype; instead, the students designed and analyzed a bridge prototype using 3D modeling and finite element analysis software, enabling a comparison. An assessment plan was developed that included the gathering of both student-perspectives, as well as direct performance data, including students’ performance on the bridge prototyping project. Via survey, students were asked, prior to and after completing the bridge project, their perspectives about the makerspace, and if the makerspace enhanced their understanding of statics as well as their creativity and other professional skills, respectively. In this WIP paper, we will describe the bridge prototyping project and students’ use of the makerspace from the instructional team’s viewpoint. We will also present preliminary assessment data demonstrating student perspectives on the approach. Lessons learned will also be discussed, including the instructor’s plans for continuing this approach in future semesters.