Impact of Utilizing Immersive Virtual Reality and Dynamic Assessment on Mining Engineering Education from the Community of Inquiry Perspective

国内采矿生产关键矿物的合格劳动力对清洁能源过渡至关重要。然而，目前的美国采矿工程教育项目并不足以培养出符合要求的采矿专业毕业生。对采矿工程所涉及的科学原理缺乏深入了解是阻碍采矿工程师出色履行职责的主要因素之一。要改变这种状况，就需要对传统的采矿工程教育进行创新。本项目将研究沉浸式虚拟现实(IVR)技术作为提高采矿工程教育的创新工具的应用，并以泡沫浮选为试验课题。泡沫浮选是一个复杂的三相矿物分离过程，它依赖于物理、化学和浮选机之间的相互作用来回收有价值的矿物。该项目采取跨学科的方法，与采矿工程、计算机科学和工程、认知心理学、学习分析和化学方面的专家合作，与跨国矿业公司合作，开发一个基于IVR的泡沫浮选教育平台。虽然主要关注的是泡沫漂浮，但通过替换新内容，IVR平台可以应用于广泛的学习领域。该项目还与雷诺内华达大学的大学图书馆@Reality虚拟增强现实实验室合作，为包括大学生和教育工作者、内华达州北部居民及其年幼子女和当地K-12学生在内的广泛访问者促进利用新兴技术进行学习。该项目将以调查社区(COI)作为教学框架，以动态评估方法作为衡量工具。将实现三个目标：1)确定在IVR环境下泡沫漂浮教育的COI框架的含义，2)开发动态评估模型，使用在IVR环境中测量的COI指标来预测学生的学习结果，以及3)展示在COI框架内观察并通过动态评估增强的IVR应用在多大程度上可以促进泡沫漂浮教育。研究成果可能会在三个方面推动当前的最先进水平：1)通过采用创新的教学平台来改进泡沫漂浮教育；2)通过了解COI框架和动态评估的集成如何影响IVR应用程序的效率，为教育科学添加新知识；以及3)从软件规范、设计和实现、可用性以及测试和评估方面推进IVR软件工程。该项目是填补美国国内关键矿物开采劳动力培养缺口的关键第一步。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。

A qualified workforce for domestic mining production of critical minerals is essential to a clean energy transition. However, current U.S. mining engineering education programs are not adequately producing mining graduates with the desired qualifications. A lack of in-depth understanding of the scientific principles involved in mining engineering is one the primary factors prohibiting mining engineers from excelling in their duties. To improve the situation, innovations are needed to transform traditional mining engineering education. This project will study the application of immersive virtual reality (IVR) technology as an innovative tool to improve mining engineering education, with froth flotation as a test topic. Froth flotation is a complex three-phase mineral separation process that relies on interactions between physics, chemistry, and the flotation machine to recover valuable minerals. The project takes an interdisciplinary approach, with experts in mining engineering, computer science and engineering, cognitive psychology, learning analytics, and chemistry, working alongside multi-national mining companies to develop an IVR based platform for froth flotation education. Although the primary focus is on froth flotation, the IVR platform can be applied to a broad range of learning domains by substituting new content. The project also collaborates with the University Libraries @Reality Virtual + Augmented Reality Lab at the University of Nevada, Reno to promote learning with emerging technologies for a wide range of visitors, including university students and educators, Northern Nevada residents with their young children, and local K-12 students. The project will be conducted with the community of inquiry (CoI) as the pedagogical framework and a dynamic assessment approach as a measurement tool. Three objectives will be achieved: 1) determining the implications of the CoI framework in an IVR environment in the context of froth flotation education, 2) developing dynamic assessment models to predict students’ learning outcomes using the CoI indicators measured in the IVR environment, and 3) demonstrating to what extent the application of IVR observed within the CoI framework and augmented by dynamic assessment can enhance froth flotation education. The research outcomes can potentially advance the current state-of-the-art in three areas: 1) improving froth flotation education by adopting an innovative teaching and learning platform, 2) adding new knowledge to the science of education by understanding how the integration of the CoI framework and dynamic assessment can impact the efficacy of the IVR application, and 3) advancing IVR software engineering in terms of software specification, design and implementation, usability, and testing and evaluation. This project is a critical first step in addressing gaps in the preparation of a U.S. workforce for domestic mining of critical minerals.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.