Analysis on the Cognition of

Performance in the subject of Statics

of Rigid Bodies

Chiqui I. Tan
University of the Philippines
 Rationale
• The transition period from the 2nd year of
engineering education to the 3rd year or the
majoring stage is usually the most difficult
part for a student.
• Engineering education, needs to help
engineering students develop the necessary
skills to confidently and successfully handle
design problems according to Adams
(2003).
 Statement of the Problem
• Engineering mechanics is chosen as the topic
under study because the subject entails not only
mathematical skills but also analytical and
comprehensive skills.
• This subject is a pre-requisite of other major
subjects taken by all engineering students
regardless of their major.
• This contributes to the problem of high failing
rate of engineering students on the said subject
which further adds to the delay of completion of
an engineering course.
 Scope and limitations
• The study is focused on the subject of
engineering mechanics as offered by the
Faculty of Engineering of the University of
Santo Tomas.
• High achievers from the Industrial
Engineering Department who took up the
subject during the first semester of school
year 2009-2010 are the focus of the
methodology of the study.
 Scope and limitations
• Qualification of being a high achiever is
based on scholastic performance and class
participation as documented by subject
instructors.
• All students who had taken part in the study
are in their 4th year in college at the
University and are aged 19-22.
 Methodology
• Interview Questions
To gain better insight on the development of
the questions, it is vital to first define the
different aspects of good performance and
the cognitive needs (Reif, 2008) that are
involved in each aspect as listed below:
 Aspects of Good Performance

• Usability
– Important kinds of knowledge
– Specifying and interpreting concepts
– Managing memory
• Effectiveness
– Methods and inferences
– Describing Knowledge
– Organizing Knowledge
Aspects of Good Performance

• Flexibility
– Making decisions
– Solving problems

• Efficiency and compiled knowledge

• Reliability
– Quality assurance
 Interview Questions
• Usability
- Give a usual concept in mechanics. Describe it.
- How do you determine it? (if to be solved)
- What factors/characteristics do you consider in
differentiating a mechanics concept from concepts in
other subjects?
- What other concepts is mechanics related to?
- How did you make sure that you remembered the
concept/lessons in mechanics after it was taught?
 Interview Questions
• Effectiveness
– What do you usually do when you are given a new
concept in mechanics? How do you try to understand it?
– How do you assess your solution after solving a problem
in mechanics?
– Explain the concept of moment.
– If you are to teach the concept of moment to others who
do not have any idea what it is, how will you go about it?
– How will you describe solving a problem that requires
the determination of moment?
– How will you teach this to another person?
 Interview Questions
• Flexibility
– - If you are unsure about a specific formula in
solving a problem, what do you do?
– In scanning through a problem in mechanics
involving several questions, what makes you
decide which question to answer first?
– How can you characterize the problem that you
encounter in mechanics?
Interview Questions
• Flexibility
– How is it different from other math subjects in
terms of problem solving?
– What kind of interaction do you apply / prefer
in solving problems? Individual? Group? With
the teacher?
– Using a simple mechanics problem (involving
force and distance), how will you describe it?
– Describe how you will solve the problem?
– How will you assess your answer and solution?
Interview Questions

• Efficiency and Reliability

– How long is the estimated time that you think it
will take for you to answer the question?
– What are the most common mistakes that you
have done in solving mechanics problems? Are
these the same with other subjects?
– Do you check the correctness of your work? At
what point do you do this?
 Data Gathering
• The interview was conducted individually
• The interview was done in such a way as to provoke
a psychological analysis of how they will answer
the questions.
• They answers were in Taglish (use of both Filipino
and English languages) and interpretation of their
answers were done as concisely as possible to
eliminate any misrepresentation.
• Each interview took 30 to 40 minutes
 Results and Discussion

• Usability
- most of the students relate more to both
declarative and procedural knowledge
- are inclined with the particularity of the
information that they have.
- when it comes to mathematical and scientific
concepts, the students’ cognition is more
about the generic concept and how it is used to
explain a wide range of phenomena.
 Results and Discussion
• Usability
- When it comes to memory management, almost
all of the students are able to elaborate the process
involved in the subject discussed.
- they are able to both recognize and generate
knowledge which is a good practice of retrieval.
- students rely largely on application of the concepts
that they know, determination of patterns among
applications and gaining a deeper understanding of
these concepts instead of mere memorization.
 Results and Discussion
• Effectiveness
- value for logical explanations in terms of analysis
of problems
- note taking and determination of patterns among
examples
- With regards to knowledge description, the
students provided coarse or sketchy description of
the concept discussed.
- Most of the students also gave precise description,
thus, allowing fine discriminations between
significant features.
 Results and Discussion
• Effectiveness
- knowledge of the students is presented in a
procedural manner which helps improve
retention of information.
- Elaboration of knowledge of the students
appear to be either coarse to detailed or
primary to derivable.
- Knowledge organization of the students is
also hierarchically clustered with task
adaptation.
 Results and Discussion
• Flexibility
- Flexibility in performance is measured in
terms of how a person makes decisions and
solves problems.
- In terms of decision making, the students
consider their retention of information,
perceptual recognition, cost-effective
assessment (time and effort), utility,
assessment of options.
 Results and Discussion

• Flexibility
- In terms of what the students do when they
are unsure about a specific formula to be
used, they try to retrieve a visual memory of
the formula.
- There are also situations when they do
trial and error and look at the units involved
to get a logical explanation for the results
that they obtain.
 Results and Discussion
• Flexibility
- In solving problems, a usual problem on force
and distances is given to them for reference and
is shown below:
A uniform rod AB has length 6m and mass 4kg.
It is resting in equilibrium in a horizontal
position in supports at points X and Y where AX
= 2m and AY = 4.5m. A particle of mass Mkg is
placed at point C where AC = 5m. Given that
the rod is on the point of titling about Y,
calculate the value of M.
 Results and Discussion

• Flexibility (Problem Solving)

- the students follow the basic steps needed in
thoroughly going through them:
1. the information given
2. information required
3. a visual representation of the data (free body
diagram)
4. the formula needed and the actual solution to the
problem.
 Results and Discussion

• Flexibility (Problem Solving)

- Consistency in units is also done to

validate their answers

- the students also prefer to work

independently.
 Results and Discussion
• Efficiency and Reliability
- Efficiency in performance can be
described as fast and effortless.
- In terms of efficiency, the students were
asked how long it would take them to
answer the problem given.
- All of them said that they would be able to
answer the problem in less than ten (10)
minutes.
 Results and Discussion
• Efficiency and Reliability
- Reliability of the students’ performance is
reflected on how they assess their final
answers when it comes to solving problems
in the subject under study.
- Checking of relevance of results is done
depending on the questions given and their
interrelatedness.
Conclusion and Recommendations
• Students’ performances differ in various aspects
especially in the field of science and engineering.
• The students greatly emphasize the need for logical
analysis and practical application of any process of
problem solving.
• It is vital to follow an organized process when it
comes to problem solving that starts with
determination of available data and ends with the
assessment of results in comparison to the data
given.
Conclusion and Recommendations

• emphasis must be given on

1. the logical explanation behind every step of
the process of problem solving
2. efficient way of decision making
3. stimulation of the students’ way of thinking
by creating an atmosphere that promotes
independence, critical thinking, and continual
assessment of one’s learning.
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