Portfolio-Pat Homen | Mechanical Engineering | Students Sharing Online Challenges | Quizzes for Assessment
ME180: Mechanical Properties of Materials
Reflection on Instructional Change:
The primary focus of my remote learning design was assessment. In response to students' sharing and discussing exam questions via communication using available "chat" apps, and in my response to students requesting and paying for exam answers from online sources, I changed my assessment methods from giving three midterm exams and a final exam to short quizzes given on Canvas.
The "Discussions" engagement tool in Canvas was useful to allow students to engage one another. I found this useful to "break the ice" in the first class session and encourage class participation. My sidecar colleagues helped me to incorporate Canvas "quizzes" into my curriculum for assessment. While the available features did not completely meet my needs, it was an improved tool for assessment in the online platform. Other resources to which my colleagues directed me concerned accessibility. The accessibility tools in Microsoft Office apps were very helpful in creating/converting documents with a high accessibility score.
My Fall 2020 online course included a "Discussion" assignment in which students were given the opportunity to talk about their challenges with online learning. Students' replies to postings were very helpful to create an equitable online course by offering solutions they used to meet their own similar challenges.
Images Illustrating my Remote Course Design
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One student's response to the discussion assignment for student engagement. |
Portion of MS OneNote stress analysis as discussed in lab zoom session. |
One student's response to a Discussion Assignment: Student Tips for Better Online Learning This was one of MANY very good suggestions made by the students helping each other through the challenges of learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
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Faculty Biography
Pat Homen
Hello, my name is Pat Homen and I've been teaching in the Mechanical Engineering Department for 20+ years. My curriculum vitae includes many different courses during my time at Sac State, but ME180 is by far my favorite. My very first semester returning to teach in Spring 2000, I taught only the ME180 lab. Since then I have been teaching ME180 every semester, including summer sessions beginning in 2015. I have a rather unusual story describing my path to teaching at Sac State--one that involves graduate school at Sac State in the early 1980's, small business owner (CA Licensed C-8 Concrete Contractor) from mid 1980's to 2005, and recent graduate school at UC Davis. Yes, I am committed to lifelong learning and will be a student until someone tells me I cannot. To that end, I enjoy that each semester, you, the students, teach me something new in Mechanical Engineering. I will deliver to you in ME180 the critical thinking skills to be an engineer. As a design course, ME180 requires you to think, and not just apply formulas thrown at you. You will be asked to "think like an engineer". We will focus on definitions and derivations--the why and how rather than the plug-and-chug. I will tell you what I know; I will also tell when I DON'T know. Please consider challenging me with questions that may exceed the boundaries of this course. This is how you will help me learn, and, in turn, it will help you learn. Again, WELCOME to ME180, and buckle up!