Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Statics Recitation Course

This work in progress paper describes the development and implementation of a Statics Recitation Course designed to improve both the passing rate in a fundamental class and student retention in the engineering program. The recitation's effectiveness will be measured by comparing the passing rate of Statics students who participated with those who did not participate in the recitation. This will be achieved by collecting data through a baseline period when the course is not yet offered (fall 2020) and implementation period (spring 2021) when the recitation is first offered. Learning data such as midterm grades and short surveys were analyzed to evaluate trends in student progress throughout the traditional Statics course. Paired t-tests showed no statistical difference between midterm and final grades, and the correlation coefficients suggested a correlation between student performance on the midterm and overall course grade. If this trend persists as data collection continues over the coming semesters, it will be used as a tool to predict student success in the course and invite at-risk students to participate in the recitation course. Data from recitation students will be analyzed to evaluate the impact on student success in the Statics course and identify areas of improvement. This paper discusses the motivation for intervening with Statics, the data collection procedure, and the recitation course pedagogy.