SBIR Phase I: Spatial Visualization Training with Touchscreens

这个SBIR第一阶段项目将为教育素描提供一个互动的学习环境，这在许多科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)领域是至关重要的。素描是从小学算术到高中物理教育不可或缺的一部分，从医学到工程等专业都有使用。素描是空间可视化培训的一部分，已被证明可以提高毕业率，特别是在妇女和其他代表性不足的少数群体中。到目前为止，素描作业一直是用笔和纸完成的。这个项目将为平板电脑和电脑的触摸屏带来素描任务。开发的算法将根据学生的初步尝试为他们提供实时反馈，教师将能够准确地看到学生在哪里遇到困难。这种方法的一个独特优势是，它跟踪学生的坚持性，并奖励那些坚持草图作业直到正确完成的学生。与大多数在线教育相比，这是一个优势，因为在线教育依赖于只能尝试一次的多项选择题。该项目最初将侧重于大学工程专业学生的空间可视化培训，但最终将扩展到整个STEM，并适用于K-12。STEM留学生人数的增加将有助于实现支持经济增长的国家目标。开发的软件将自动给学生的素描评分，并提供类似于专家教师的反馈。当学生犯错误时，会生成个性化的提示。通过提供循序渐进的帮助和奖励学生自己尝试，鼓励学生的毅力。草图将在触摸屏上进行，该软件将与iOS、Android、Windows、Chrome和Linux操作系统兼容。给素描评分有很大的挑战，特别是与多项选择题相比。如果评分算法过于宽松或过于严格，学生就会对软件失去信心。评分算法将考虑素描图像、作业的难度，并将利用早期试验的素描数据进行微调。将根据需要提供难度逐渐增加的个性化作业，以及交互式3D图形和动画。将开发一个教师界面，显示每个学生的进度，直到每一次素描尝试的细节。此外，还将制定一项指标，根据对暗示的依赖程度来量化学生的坚持性，以确定哪些学生需要更多的个人指导。这个项目的范围是评分算法、用户界面、作业和教程内容以及教师界面的开发。

This SBIR Phase I project will provide an interactive learning environment for educational sketching which is critical in many Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. Sketching is an integral part of education from elementary school arithmetic to high school physics, and is used in professions ranging from medicine to engineering. Sketching is part of spatial visualization training, which has been shown to increase graduation rates, especially among women and other underrepresented minorities. Until now, sketching assignments have been done with pencil and paper. This project will bring sketching assignments to touchscreens on tablets and computers. The algorithm developed will provide students with real-time feedback based upon their preliminary attempts, and teachers will be able to see exactly where students are having difficulty. A unique advantage of this approach is that it tracks student persistence and rewards students who stick with a sketching assignment until completed correctly. This is an advantage over most online education that relies on multiple-choice questions, which can only be attempted once. The project will initially focus on spatial visualization training for college engineering students, but ultimately will extend throughout STEM and be adapted for K-12. The increase in retention of students in STEM will aid in meeting the national targets to support economic growth.The software developed will automatically grade student sketches and provide feedback similar to an expert teacher. When a student makes an error, personalized hints are generated. By providing incremental help and rewarding students when they try on their own, student persistence is encouraged. The sketching will be performed on touchscreens, and the software will be compatible with iOS, Android, Windows, Chrome, and Linux operating systems. There are significant challenges with grading sketches, especially when compared to multiple-choice questions. If the grading algorithm is too lenient or too strict, students will lose confidence in the software. The grading algorithm will consider the sketched image, the difficulty of the assignment, and will utilize sketching data from early trials for fine-tuning purposes. Personalized assignments that gradually increase in difficulty as needed, as well as interactive 3D graphics and animations will be provided. A teacher interface will be developed that shows each student's progress down to the detail of each sketch attempt. Additionally, a metric will be developed to quantify student persistence based upon reliance on hints in order to identify which students need more individual mentoring. The scope of this project is the development of the grading algorithm, user interface, assignment and tutorial content, and teacher interface.