Impact of Interactive Holographic Scenes in Developing Engineering Students' Competencies in Sensing Technologies

Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program: Education and Human Resources (IUSE: EHR), this project aims to serve the national interest by preparing construction engineering and management students to use modern sensor technologies at construction sites. Over recent years, the construction industry has adopted widespread use of sensing technologies at construction sites, with resulting operational and safety benefits. The use of these sensing technologies has triggered a demand for construction engineering graduates who can enhance industry operations, innovation, and safety through successful deployment of sensor systems. However, it is difficult to prepare a future workforce that is technologically competent in the use of sensing technologies because safety, schedule, and weather-related constraints limit student access to construction sites. This proposal aims to overcome these limitations, in part, by using a mixed reality pedagogical framework combined with holographic telepresence technology. This educational approach is intended to equip construction engineering and management students with competencies in sensor technologies. The project promotes academia-industry partnerships by involving industry practitioners in determining the relevant construction engineering competencies and in developing an appropriate pedagogical approach. The learning activities developed for undergraduate students will also be adapted for use in K-12 programs. In this project, holographic telepresence is being employed to bring digital participants and remote locations into the engineering classroom in 3D, thereby permitting hard-to-reach construction site personnel and experiences to be imported into the engineering classroom in real time. The goal is to create and assess a pedagogical framework for equipping construction engineering and management students with the competencies required on construction project sites. Specifically, the proposed framework involves projecting interactive holographic scenes of construction sites into the classroom environment, so that students can explore strategies for finding data sensing solutions to industry problems. A mixed method research study will be conducted to answer research questions that address the nature of the expected core competencies of graduating construction engineers and the value of the interactive holographic scenes in training construction engineers. The findings will serve as a guide for developing: (1) an innovative construction engineering and management education curriculum; and (2) a training program tailored towards improving existing construction workforce technical competencies. The plans include investigation of demographic influences on learning and spatial reasoning in the 3D holographic environment, which is likely to yield interesting insights regarding broadening participation in engineering. An important benefit of the project to society lies in the potential to demonstrate that affordable holographic telepresence technology can be harnessed by our educational institutions to provide higher levels of engagement in the STEM teaching and learning process. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.