I just like to share a few ideas as you consider starting the Strength of Materials course over the Web. First of all, if you have not read the Strength Introduction  Page, you really should do so. The methodology of the course is generally spelled out there and in   the following steps.

For each topic area the students will:

1. Do assigned reading from the Web Course lecture notes or the assigned textbook.
2. Study examples of specific types of Strength of Materials problems.
3. Work assigned problems and submit to Instructor for grading.
4. Use internet and/or software resources when appropriate to the topic.
5. Communicate with the instructor for help or general discussions
6. When ready, request, work and submit a topic examination.
7. Retest on the topic, if necessary.
8. Continue on the to the next topic area.

The first areas you should be familiar with are simple trigonometric relationships, as we will often be using them to find sides and angle is structures, and also how to break force vectors into their horizontal and vertical components. (See Trig. and Vectors, or the appropriate chapters in your textbook.)

The second area we will be looking at, in the sense that we have to know how to do this, is vector addition / subtraction by the component method. (See Vectors, or the appropriate chapters in your textbook.)

Once we have these skills in hand, we will begin to look at simple structures, and the process of finding support forces on the structure, and internal forces in the structure -- whose values we need to know in order to determine if a structure is safe. And so on.

I still find the course very interesting and I am anticipating that you also will find the course interesting.
If you have any questions, please to not hesitate to contact me. You may use the form at the bottom of this page to email me, or also feel free to phone.