Mechanics of Materials I: Fundamentals of Stress & Strain and Axial Loading

I took this course as a refresher course for the Mechanics I course I took in college, Statics of Rigid Bodies, which I mostly forgot but still lingered in my mind.

The course is divided into modules, each starting off with the objectives, or what the students expect to learn at the end of the session. Although objectives have been a mainstay of course curricula, they do not make more sense to a beginner student until he thoroughly understands the concept of the module. For example, the objective might say “To make use of the FBD in analyzing irregularly shaped bodies”. If a student does not know anything about FBD yet, the entire objective sounds meaningless. I suggest that instead of enumerating the objectives, the content of the lesson be listed.

As I have prior exposure to this topic, I can safely say that I could keep up with the pace of the course although some students have expressed difficulty in catching up with it. For beginners, it might be a little bit too fast, but since this is online, the students are expected and strongly urged to keep with the pace. Coursera, or Dr. Whitman, could not do anything more to make this course less difficult as it is inherently difficult even for those who have taken this before. But of course the vast majority will find this enjoyable.

What the students could do is that they could watch the videos several more times in order to get a good grasp of the course and supplement themselves with all the available literatures, most of which are available online.

The course is not entirely that difficult at all, which I believe has something to do with a focused discussion, unlike in college where some professors might veer off the topic to talk about something else that happens to cross their mind.

One thing I would like to have included in this course is how to draw the inflection of the curve of 2nd degree equations in moment diagrams such that if the distributed force is varying from one point to another, the curve in the moment diagram would be concave or convex upward or downward

Overall, this course is very good although to some extent a very basic one. However, it still provides the necessary foundation for other succeeding courses of Dr. Whitman, especially for the 2D and 3D dynamics, which are a set of courses in a totally different league.

The following might further improve this course.
1. More solved examples videos (not necessarily have to be shown as a lecture)
2. A mention of references such as Meriam Kraige, Hibbeler, Ferdinand Singer. And working on some of their problems.
3. A little bit more challenging exams

amazing course , The Stress-Strain Program course provides an in-depth exploration of material behavior under various loads, blending theoretical concepts with practical applications. It covers essential topics like elastic and plastic deformation, yield criteria, and failure analysis, making it suitable for both beginners and advanced learners. The interactive approach, including case studies and real-world examples, enhances understanding and retention. Instructors are knowledgeable and responsive, fostering a collaborative learning environment. Overall, the course equips participants with valuable skills to analyze and predict material responses, essential for engineering and design applications. Highly recommended for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of material mechanics.

I highly recommend the series of Mechanical Engineering courses offered by Dr. Whiteman. The courses are self contained if taken in order, and all the theorems given are developed in the class, no formulas are thrown at you, so you can understand where the formulas come from and how to apply them. There are well developed and relevant examples in the lessons, often taken from real life engineering problems. And Dr. Whiteman does an excellent job in presentation, often with live demonstrations so you can get a better feel of the explanations. The courses provide a solid introduction to mechanical engineering, and even if you have taken some ME, these are a good review. What is presented in the courses are sufficient to understand most engineering designs. I have used what I learned here to study further engineering structures, for example, I am interested in the construction of Renaissance cathedrals, and applied what I learned to better understanding how they were built.

I took this course as a review of concepts I learned in my Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Civil Engineering a few years back. I have also never taken a Coursera course prior to this and was initially weary as online courses tend to be shallow and the technology in general limits the full learning experience. However, I must say that the concepts and explanations in this online class we're delightfully presented. Dr. Wayne Whiteman is organized and clear in his instructions. I often paused video lectures to try out calculations on a notepad or do a quick search on the side to learn more about a concept. All in all, I really enjoyed how compact, practical, and straightforward this course was for me! I highly recommend it if you're studying engineering or want a review of concepts related to civil/mechanical/industrial engineering.