| NSF Org: |
IIS Division of Information & Intelligent Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 29, 2017 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 29, 2017 |
| Award Number: | 1735804 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Amy Baylor
abaylor@nsf.gov (703)292-5126 IIS Division of Information & Intelligent Systems CSE Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering |
| Start Date: | September 1, 2017 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $139,365.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $139,365.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
4910 N CHESTNUT AVE FRESNO CA US 93726-1852 (559)278-0840 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
4910 N. Chestnut Ave Fresno CA US 93726-1852 |
| 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): |
EngEd-Engineering Education, Cyberlearn & Future Learn Tech |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| 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): | 47.070 |
ABSTRACT
For students pursuing careers in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry, learning multi-faceted skills are critical for career success. To enable this range of skill development, many schools and universities participate in student-based design and build competitions, where teams of students build actual structures to learn some of these tactile skills. While these competitions can be beneficial for learning, they can also be cost and resource intensive, which limits access to this type of learning experience. This research aims to explore the use of mixed reality as a cyberlearning technology to assess how this type of increasingly affordable technology may be able to provide a similar type of learning experience for physical construction activities. Such insights will advance the understanding of how people learn about Architecture, Engineering, and Construction topics, specifically, and with cyberlearning environments, in general. In the near term, this work will support authentic learning and skill development by leveraging emerging technologies. This approach will offer an educational experience that requires fewer resources than required for a physical design/build experience. In the long term, this study will provide a genre of cyberlearning to prepare students for careers better and faster than traditional approaches. This is especially critical because this hugely impactful industry has struggled in recent years with productivity issues; this will be further challenged as it approaches a major labor shortage. This work offers a new, and potentially more accessible, approach for preparing the next generation of Architecture, Engineering, and Construction professionals capable of improving the field.
The objective of this research is to: develop markerless mixed reality technology (using a Microsoft HoloLens®) aimed at sufficiently replicating physical design and construction learning environments to enable access to students at institutions without sufficient resources; and assess the impact of a mixed reality facilitated cyberlearning environment on promoting cognitive-, affective-, and skill-based learning that occurs during traditional (in-person) design and construction activities. Carnegie's Three Apprenticeships --of the head, heart, and hand-- serves as the theoretical underpinning for this study. The following research questions guide this study: 1) Can mixed reality sufficiently replicate the physical environment and simulate the experience of project design and construction in the building industry? 2) In what ways can a mixed reality cyberlearning environment enable access to learning experiences that are otherwise inaccessible? 3) To what extent does the mixed reality-facilitated cyberlearning environment promote the cognitive-, affective-, and skill-based learning that occurs during traditional design and construction activities? Through a collaborative partnership, the two institutions involved in this work will test this cyberlearning environment with students at two remote locations. One location includes a physical building structure for students to explore, and the other will only include the mixed reality environment. This approach will enable the research team to identify the unique value provided by mixed reality where physical presence is unavailable. Through this structured research, it will also help qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the impacts on explicit and tacit knowledge generation through mixed reality for apprenticeship learning in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry. Ultimately, the work will provide intellectual contributions related to: advancing the development of markerless mixed reality as a cyberlearning technology; enhancing the understanding of learning related to the Three Apprenticeships model; and increasing the understanding of how students learn in a mixed reality cyberlearning environment through a structured research methodology. Findings of this research will provide empirical evidence and guidance for future research initiatives aimed at further leveraging the unique educational value provided by mixed reality.
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.
NSF Outcomes Report
This research project explored the potential for Mixed Reality (MR) to support students in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) domains to apply theoretical knowledge to practical applications using fewer resources than what is required for physical design/build learning experiences. The research team explored this topic through the lens of the Carnegie Foundation?s Three Apprenticeship model that emphasizes learning through head, heart, and hand competencies. More specifically, the team conducted three distinct research phases, the first centered on defined learning activities related to design assessments for wheelchair-bound individuals, which challenged students to apply head and heart competencies. The second phase explored a wood framed construction sequencing activity that required students to apply head and heart competencies. Finally, the team built and deployed a MR learning experience in the third phase focused on designing and constructing a play structure for children which required participants to apply all head, hand and heart competencies (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Phases of research development informed by the Head, Hand, and Heart apprenticeship model
Students from multiple institutions were invited to participate in these learning experiences. After analyzing the participants? performance, the research team observed several common themes in their learning behaviors. When MR enabled students to physically interact with a virtual environment, they demonstrated behaviors and learning competencies that aligned closely to those suggested by both industry professionals and students who had firsthand experience with the more expensive, physical counterpart to these design/build learning activities. Furthermore, students were able to recognize errors and shortcomings with their suggestions with MR more effectively than students who completed corresponding, but non-MR-based learning approximations. While there are still limitations in using MR to completely replace truly authentic hands-on learning experiences involving physical design and construction, the results from this work highlight the opportunity for MR to deliver many of the benefits afforded through MR with far fewer resources. This not only advances learning, but also broadens access to this highly beneficial form of learning. The findings related to these studies have been documented in various peer-reviewed publications, which have been linked to this project via NSF?s repository.
In addition to the outcomes related to intellectual merit, the research team also produced various outputs that have supported, and will continue to support, broad impact. In total, this work involved participation from 122 student participants, 69 industry members, 7 graduate research assistants, and 21 undergraduate computer science engineering developer students. The multidisciplinary nature of the research team?s differing backgrounds and expertise allowed us to disseminate insights about this form of learning to a variety of audiences; this implicitly speaks to the relevance of this project for stakeholders in various disciplines. Additionally, the research helped to spur interest in investing in MR educational infrastructure at several participating institutions, which will help to continue this and related studies in the future. Finally, the research team developed usable learning tools in the form of MR learning experiences, MR deployment protocols, and MR learning assessments that are posted on the PI?s research website. These project outputs will support future researchers and educators interested in replicating and expanding on the findings produced through this work.
Last Modified: 11/10/2022
Modified by: Wei Wu
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