Wireless Communication Testbeds for Authentic STEM Learning

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Given the critical importance of undergraduate STEM education to prepare the next generation workforce, universities must continuously research and implement enhancements to the undergraduate STEM curriculum and pedagogy to meet technological and societal needs and to help faculty educate and motivate their students. This project brings together experts from different spheres to meld innovative research in wireless communications, visual analytics, and game-based learning (also known as "gamification") for authentic, transformative STEM learning. The project builds on a foundation of knowledge related to visualization, gamification, and virtual and remote laboratory experiences, and their use in achieving instructional outcomes. The project will merge the ideas of radio resources and dynamic spectrum management with cutting edge visualization tools to transform the students' engagement in the learning process. The implementation will enable students in Electrical and Computer Engineering to visualize and understand radio frequency environments and behavior of spectrum managers, human operators and autonomous radios. For example, students will be able to discover from first-hand experience the existence of the Nash equilibrium in certain scenarios involving the coexistence of multiple self-interested autonomous radios. The project will take advantage of Virginia Tech's Cognitive Radio and Network (CORNET) testbed that allows students to operate radios in a safe environment to provide a strong sense of realism, combined with space to experiment and fail. The project will contribute to the research literature on effectiveness of visualization and gamification techniques for enabling deep understanding of abstract and not normally perceptible STEM concepts and phenomena. Student learning will be assessed using both in-class measures administered by the instructors and external, qualitative evaluation using surveys, reflective essays, and focus groups. In addition, access to a novel hands-on experimental tool will make concepts in Electrical and Computer Engineering accessible to more students.