Collaborative Research: Transforming Teaching of Structural Analysis through Mobile Augmented Reality

结构分析是一门入门核心课程，几乎在美国所有的土木工程、建筑工程和建筑本科课程中都有教授。以前的研究揭示了由于传统讲授方法的缺陷，学生在理解三维(3D)环境中结构构件的行为方面存在缺陷。特别是，这种方法往往过于强调对单个结构构件的分析，从而未能提供一种坚实、易于遵循和全面的方法来理解和分析具有大量相互关联的复杂结构。这项研究正在改变现有的结构分析教学方法，并填补了美国机构目前向美国未来劳动力教授结构工程的一个主要空白。在这个项目中，移动增强现实(AR)被用来将真实世界的视图与计算机生成的结构在荷载下的3D模型叠加。在这样做的过程中，正在系统地评估AR在改进学习和提高学生对学习过程的参与度方面的潜力。基于人们如何学习的理论观点，该项目还研究了涉及AR的教学方法是否为学生创造了有效的学习环境，以及是否增强了适应性灵活性，这被认为是21世纪成功工程师的关键。该项目的更广泛影响超越了其范围，开展了一些外联活动，例如将AR技术融入较低水平的工程课程，目的是增加攻读STEM学位的不同种族学生的数量。将AR整合到结构分析教学中的学习模块将在网上提供。网站和在线资料库应包括关于学习目标、实施程序和教师对实施教学技术时需要考虑的事项的具体细节。开发的软件组件和3D模型将是开源的。

Structural Analysis is an introductory core course that is taught in almost all civil engineering, architectural engineering, and construction undergraduate programs across the U.S. Previous research unveils students' deficits in understanding the behavior of structural elements in a three-dimensional (3D) context due to the shortcomings of traditional lecturing approaches. In particular, such approaches often put too much emphasis on the analysis of individual structural members, thereby falling short in providing a solid, easy-to-follow, and holistic approach to comprehending and analyzing complex structures with a large number of interconnected elements. This research is transforming existing teaching pedagogy in structural analysis and filling a major gap in how structural engineering is currently taught to the nation's future workforce in U.S. institutions. In this project, mobile augmented reality (AR) is used to superimpose views of the real world with computer generated 3D models of structures under load. In doing so, the potential of AR for improving learning and increasing student engagement in the learning process is being systematically assessed. Building upon theoretical perspectives on how people learn, this project is also examining if pedagogy involving AR creates an effective learning environment for students, as well as if it enhances adaptive flexibility, which is deemed to be essential to be a successful engineer in the 21st Century. The broader impacts of this project extend beyond its confines through outreach activities such as integrating AR technology into lower-level engineering courses that aim to increase the number of ethnically-diverse students pursuing STEM degrees. The learning modules integrating AR into teaching of structural analysis will be made available online. A website and online repository are to include specific details about the learning objectives, implementation procedures, and instructor reflections on things to consider while implementing the teaching techniques. The developed software components and 3D models will be open source.