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CE 160: Introduction to Structural Analysis

Mastery-Based, Equitable, Inclusive

Reflection on Instructional Change:

I changed my assessment strategies to a mastery-based approach. My section of this course has suffered from an excessively high DFW post-COVID (30-40%) that was not seen pre-COVID (DFW was 10-15%). I attribute a lot of this to students struggling to recall prerequisite material they learned in online courses taken at the height of the pandemic when they likely had a lot of other worries on their minds. Switching from peer-reviewed homework, quizzes, two midterms and a final to simply nine single-question exams that they can repeat as many times as necessary to pass the course provides them with time to improve the fundamental skills from the prerequisite courses needed to succeed in this advanced course.

While the exams are still timed, this change is meant to address the low-context cultural bias surrounding time. It provides for the understanding that learning takes time and students are going to process the material at various paces. It allows students to grapple with material, struggle, and ultimately learn without fear of their grades suffering from early misunderstandings or confusion. Students can also move on to other material and come back to previous material when they're ready instead of feeling like they can only move through the course material in a linear manner.

The nine exams are each focused on a single course learning objective/topic. Exam rubrics are provided beforehand and students are graded on a scale of 1-4. They must earn a 2 or higher on each exam to pass the course. Class time + final exam period allows for one attempt and one retry per topic, but students can make appointments outside of class to retake an exam as many times as needed to achieve a passing score or improve their grade.

This FLC helped me update some language in my syllabus to be more inclusive and encouraged me to leap mastery-based grading for this course after reading Grading for Equity by Joe Feldman.

**Evidence of Instructional Change**
Example Learning Objective and Associated Exam Rubric	View of the Learning Mastery Gradebook in Canvas

Changes in Course Syllabus and Schedules:

Pre FLC - Syllabus and Schedule

Post FLC - Syllabus and Schedule

**Faculty Bio**
	Dr. Fogarty is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) who earned her B.S. in Civil Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, M.S. degrees in both Civil and Aerospace Engineering, a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, and a certificate in Engineering Education Research from the University of Michigan. She is currently an Associate Professor in Civil Engineering at California State University, Sacramento with research interests ranging from the seismic behavior of steel structures to improving/expanding the educational methods used in the formation of engineers.

This work was supported by grant funding from:
	STEM4Equity: US Dept. of Education STEMHSI P031C210012 NSF STEMZone: 1832335 *Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sacramento State.