Enhancing Engineering Students' Performance in the Mechanics of Machinery Course: a Comparative Study of McCarthy's 4MAT Model

Longstanding issues of student attainment in the Mechanics of Machinery course have served to illustrate the weaknesses of traditional approaches in engineering education. In this regard, this study investigates the applicability of an alternative approach to teaching, adopted from McCarthy’s 4MAT model, which aims to respond to multiple intelligences from a pedagogical perspective and improve academic performance. The content of the course has been systematically restructured based on the 4MAT model and has consisted of different techniques to encourage learning and understanding. In order to investigate the effect of the model, an experiment has been carried out over five academic semesters in the College of Engineering at Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. 231 students have been involved. 117 students have trained as traditional learners, and 114 have been among 4MAT-trained students. An examination of academic achievement and grade point averages has indicated that 4MAT students have consistently scored higher than students in the traditional group have. These findings indicate that using the 4MAT model as an instructional tool can contribute to a more effective and comprehensive methodology based on promoting significant learning in engineering education.