A specifications-based approach for the design and delivery of a statics/dynamics course

Abstract

This paper has looked at the use of a specifications-based approach for the design of a Statics/Dynamics course. The premise of the paper is that if we can design good learning processes into a course, then the student outcome will be good learning. The course design incorporates a variety of assessments in the course where each assessment is designed to promote one or more specific learning behaviors in the students. The initial results presented in this paper seem to indicate the students are executing the learning processes as intended. As a final thought, a show on National Public Radio (NPR) recently addressed the idea of using "clickers" to train people in various tasks associated with locomotion [15]. The concept was similar to that presented in this paper with an emphasis on getting the person to execute the proper physical processes to perform a task. To set up the method, the show looked at the training of animals, such as training a pigeon to press a button in a box to get food. One button gives food, one button does nothing, and one button gives the bird a slight shock. Pretty soon the pigeon is only pressing the button that gives food. The transcript from the show poses this thought: The challenge in teaching pigeons doesn't actually lie in teaching pigeons. The challenge lies in building a box in which the pigeons can learn. How to design learning so it becomes natural, commonplace, even predictable? The show goes on to consider the role of the teacher: Now, you might think that this makes teachers unimportant. You'd be completely wrong. The teacher is anything but a bystander. That's because it's the teacher who designs the world in which the student learns. The goal of this paper has been to present the design of a better box in which students can learn. The work is ongoing.