| NSF Org: |
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 5, 2013 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | September 5, 2013 |
| Award Number: | 1245529 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Yvette Weatherton
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | September 15, 2013 |
| End Date: | February 29, 2016 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $149,128.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $149,128.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1523 UNION RD RM 207 GAINESVILLE FL US 32611-1941 (352)392-3516 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
304 Rnk Hall Gainesville FL US 32611-5703 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
S-STEM-Schlr Sci Tech Eng&Math, TUES-Type 1 Project |
| Primary Program Source: |
1300XXXXDB H-1B FUND, EDU, NSF |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
Many problems in construction management involve complex spatial reasoning in an environment that changes continuously until the project is complete. However, the ability of construction management students to solve these spatial-temporal problems is hampered by their lack of exposure to construction processes on the job-site, and a lack of appropriate pedagogical materials hinders instructors' ability to bring on-site experiences into construction courses. Hence, many students do not develop an understanding of the dynamic, complex spatial constraints (e.g., how construction products are related to one another in a particular contextual space) and the temporal constraints (e.g., the dependencies for coordinating subcontractors' processes).
This project uses Augmented Reality Technology (ART) as an instructional mechanism to incorporate virtual job-site visits through the combination of two layers (the real environment and the computer-generated information). ART enhances the physical, real-world environment through computer-generated sensory input. ART enables students to enhance their perception of the job-site and, more importantly, allows them unlimited access to otherwise limited opportunities to participate in job-site experiences. This research investigates the use of virtual objects and geometric models to enhance the understanding of products within construction processes by boosting a student's spatial and temporal cognition skills. The project is creating instructional modules using ART for to be used within the construction management curriculum on two campuses: The University of Florida and Florida International University. By using control and treatment groups for each module, the project is assessing the effects of using ART on students' spatial-temporal skills as well as their problem solving skills. These skills are being assessed using validated instruments administered by an independent evaluator.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Throughout the project lifecycle, the PIs at the UF and LSU have been collaborating on data collection. Over the course of this study 201 paired data sets were collected from an estimating class at UF and 79 more were collected from a similar estimating class at LSU. The collected data was analyzed for the significance of the impact of the augmented reality technology (ART) on student learning as compared with traditional classroom learning.
The results for both the masonry and roofing portions of this study showed the effectiveness of ART in enhancing educational experiences for construction management students as follows:
1. The masonry wall assembly test results showed that the augmentation video increased students’ understanding of brick veneer wall elements. The group that had access to the lecture and video had the highest benefits. That means the augmentation video helped stress the concepts and elements introduced in class. The video helped those students visualize and remember the brick ties and flashing elements of the wall more clearly. Furthermore, more students who had access to the video without the lecture remembered the brick ties than those in the lecture only. However, those students did not know the correct terminology since it was not mentioned in the video. Therefore, the best outcome can be achieved by exposing the students to the augmentation video as a supplement to the class instead of a complete replacement.
2. The augmentation level affected thestudent;s level of understanding and ability to recall information. The results indicated that their ability to recognize the brick ties element was impacted more by the augmentation than their recognition of the flashing element. This is attributable to the fact that the brick ties had a higher level of augmentation and frequency of appearance in the video, whereas the flashing was only highlighted. The addition of virtual models, present during the brick ties portion of the ART video, was more successful in impacting the students’ spatio-temporal understanding of the masonry construction process than highlighting style augmentations alone.
3. The roof assembly test results also indicated an increase in students’ understanding and identification of the roof elements. The ART enabled roof video helped students identify and remember certain elements in the roof structure that they would not have in a regular classroom environment.
a.The augmentation helped highlight some of those elements which attracted the students’ attentions. As opposed to the findings in the masonry assembly section however, the group exposed to the ART enabled video only showed a higher impact from the video (lower p-value). This, however, still emphasizes the impact of the AR video on knowledge perception and retention.
b. Although the vapor barrier element was highlighted in the video, it did not show significant differences between the groups. On the other hand, insulation and metal decking elements were visible in the same frame, but were not highlighted, which appear to have caught students’ attention. Because there was no indication of which element was highlighted, different students perceived the highlight differently. The majority of students that watched the AR video noticed and remembered the metal decking element. Students that attended the lecture only did not remember metal decking as part of the roof assembly.
4. In general, there was no significant correlation between the knowledge transfer and the participants’ familiarity with IT, which indicates that such familiarity will not impact the knowledge transfer through ART media.The low correlation can be attributed to the fact that IT is becoming the norm and an integral part of human work and entertainment interactions.&...
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