Identifying Sticking Points: Common Mechanics Errors Made by Civil Engineering Students.

Many fundamental mechanics concepts are critical to success in upper-level courses in traditional civil engineering curriculum. To evaluate retention of mechanics concepts and encourage review of the material, a mechanics diagnostic exam has been administered to civil engineering students at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point since 2018. The exam is administered to junior and senior students at the start of the fall semester. It was designed as a no-stakes assessment tool to identify common errors in students' comprehension of foundational engineering mechanics concepts. The diagnostic exams consisted of ten mechanics calculationbased problems including topics of truss analysis, indeterminate static equilibrium, and combined loading. For each problem, students were asked to rate their confidence in their solution and estimate the time spent on each problem. The purpose of administering these exams was two-fold: (1) provide longitudinal assessment data to inform changes made to mechanics courses in the civil engineering program and (2) provide self-assessment for students to identify areas of weakness before being required to apply the concepts in follow-on courses or on the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam. In addition to summarizing quantitative performance on the exam, the confidence and time spent on each problem were analyzed to identify trends. Completed exams were also reviewed to identify common errors made on each problem. This paper summarizes those common errors for mechanics concepts included in the exam. Errors were categorized as conceptual, non-conceptual, or execution errors. Recommendations are provided for instructors to address these common errors during future delivery of the course material. Some of the errors identified suggest misconceptions; a future research project will be designed to help identify why some misconceptions may exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]