Improving Undergraduate Engineering Students' Spatial Skills Through 3D Interactive Virtual and Physical Manipulatives

通过 3D 交互式虚拟和物理操作提高工程本科生的空间技能

• 批准号: 1831740
• 负责人: Ning Fang
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Utah State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-09-01 至 2022-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1831740&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Improving; Undergraduate; Engineering; Students; Spatial

There is evidence that well-developed spatial skills are strongly correlated with student success in the STEM disciplines. Indeed, the National Science Board identified spatial skills as one of the three critical cognitive skills, along with mathematical and verbal skills, that promote high-level thinking and reasoning leading to the success of students in STEM. This project aims to improve undergraduate engineering students' spatial skills by updating and assessing an educational technology called 3D Interactive Virtual and Physical Manipulatives (VPM). The VPM technology simultaneously integrates virtual (computer) manipulatives and physical (real-world, tangible) manipulatives, so learners can use multiple senses to process a series of dynamic mental images while performing spatial tasks. The goal of the project is to develop new types of manipulatives with real-world engineering applications to improve undergraduate students' spatial skills and to motivate and inspire interest in engineering. The effectiveness of the VPM technology for undergraduate engineering students will be studied through traditional educational research methods involving quantitative and qualitative data collection, and electroencephalography measure neural efficiency while student participants are performing relevant assessment tests. The research findings from this project will add to the STEM education knowledge base by generating new insights into how simultaneous integration of virtual and physical manipulatives works to enhance learning, and why. The successful completion of this project will enable STEM undergraduates, particularly engineering undergraduates, to improve their spatial skills, helping to prepare them for a successful career in STEM. The research results of this project will be disseminated to the STEM education community through conference presentations and journal publications.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.

有证据表明，良好的空间技能与学生在STEM学科中的成功密切相关。事实上，国家科学委员会将空间技能与数学和语言技能一起确定为三项关键认知技能之一，这些技能可以促进高水平思维和推理，从而导致学生在STEM取得成功。该项目旨在通过更新和评估名为3D交互式虚拟和物理操作(VPM)的教育技术来提高本科工科学生的空间技能。VPM技术同时集成了虚拟(计算机)操作和物理(现实世界，有形)操作，因此学习者在执行空间任务时可以使用多个感官来处理一系列动态的心理图像。该项目的目标是开发具有真实世界工程应用的新型机械手，以提高本科生的空间技能，并激发和激发对工程的兴趣。VPM技术对工科本科生的有效性将通过传统的教育研究方法进行研究，包括定量和定性数据收集，以及在学生参与者进行相关评估测试时脑电图法测量神经效率。该项目的研究成果将通过产生新的见解来增加STEM教育知识库，以了解虚拟和物理操作的同时集成如何增强学习，以及为什么。该项目的成功完成将使STEM本科生，特别是工程本科生，提高他们的空间技能，帮助他们为在STEM成功的职业生涯做好准备。该项目的研究成果将通过会议报告和期刊出版物向STEM教育界传播。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Enhancing Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Spatial Skills Through a New Virtual and Physical Manipulatives (VPM) Technology

通过新的虚拟和物理操作 (VPM) 技术提高工程本科生的空间技能

• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: IJEE International Journal of Engineering Education
• 作者: Fang, Ning;Farooq, Ahmad;Goodridge, Wade
• 通讯作者: Goodridge, Wade

Neural efficiency and spatial task difficulty: A road forward to mapping students’ neural engagement in spatial cognition

神经效率和空间任务难度：绘制学生神经参与空间认知的道路

• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Engineering design graphics journal
• 作者: Snowden, Ariel W.;Warren, Christopher M.;Goodridge, Wade;Fang, Ning
• 通讯作者: Fang, Ning