Research Initiation: Explore student virtual collaborations to prepare for future digital education

虚拟环境中的协作技能对于建筑、施工和工程行业的未来劳动力至关重要，因为虚拟设计和施工正在成为美国建筑项目的一种工作方式和文化。此外，数字化教育（电子学习）的持续发展趋势为培养工程专业学生的虚拟协作技能提供了巨大的潜力。包括土木工程项目在内的广泛学科已经开始为学生提供电子学习机会。自2010年以来，已经出现了5000多个在线课程，而且这个数字还在增长。许多机构已经改变了其教学方式，包括在线或混合方法，预计电子学习的趋势将在大流行后时代继续下去。因此，研究工科学生在虚拟环境下的协作特点和协作过程是十分迫切的。此计划将为工程教育界作好准备，以更好地培养学生在未来数码教育时代的专业技能。具体而言，该项目将改进数字课程或模块的设计和执行策略，使工程学院、管理人员和参与领导、开发或管理电子学习项目的从业者受益。E-learning是指利用数字技术实现学习目的，如在线学习、虚拟学习、远程教育和移动学习。这个启动计划的目标是探索学生在虚拟环境中的合作。该项目的具体目标包括：描述学生合作的特点；确定学生合作的过程及其对学习的影响；提高项目负责人在工程教育研究方面的方法技能和经验。这个项目的重点是学生之间的合作，包括基于项目的学习。项目将采用基于协作网络理论和学生学习与发展的最近发展区理论的治疗与控制研究设计。定量数据和定性数据将被收集，分析，并使用网络方法进行比较，以提供学生虚拟协作的整体解释。这个项目的成果将促进对建筑和土木工程学生如何在虚拟环境中合作以及为什么合作的理解。研究结果将包括有助于电子学习文献、网络理论和学生学习文献的实证数据和案例研究。这些发现将为工程教育工作者和学者更好地培养工程学生的虚拟协作技能奠定基础，这是认证要求和AEC行业需求所强调的。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Collaboration skills in the virtual environment are critical to the future workforce in the architecture, construction, and engineering industry since virtual design and construction is becoming a work style and culture for construction projects in the United States. In addition, the ongoing trend of digital education (e-learning) provides a great potential to foster engineering students' virtual collaboration skills. A wide range of disciplines including civil engineering programs have started to offer students e-learning opportunities. Since 2010, more than 5,000 online courses have emerged and this number is growing. Many institutions have changed their instructional modality to include online or hybrid approaches and the trend of e-learning is expected to continue in the post-pandemic era. Thus, there is a critical and urgent need to investigate the collaboration characteristics and processes of engineering students in the virtual environment. This project will prepare the engineering education community to better foster students’ professional skills in the future era of digital education. Specifically, this project will improve strategies for the design and execution of digital courses or modules that benefit engineering faculty, administrators, and practitioners who are involved in leading, developing, or managing e-learning programs. E-learning refers to the use of digital technology for learning purposes such as online learning, virtual learning, distance education, and mobile learning. The goal of this initiation project is to explore student collaboration in the virtual environment. The specific objectives of this project include: to describe student collaboration characteristics; to identify student collaboration processes and influences on learning; and to improve the PI’s methodological skills and experiences in engineering education research. The focus of this project will be on student collaboration with a scope of project-based learning. The project will apply a treatment and control research design which is built upon the theory of network for collaboration and the theory of the zone of proximal development for student learning and development. Both quantitative data and qualitative data will be collected, analyzed, and compared using network approaches to provide a holistic interpretation of students’ virtual collaboration. The outcomes of this project will advance the understanding of how construction and civil engineering students collaborate in the virtual environment, and why. The findings will include empirical data and case studies that contribute to the e-learning literature, network theory, and the student learning literature. The findings will lay the groundwork for engineering educators and scholars to better foster engineering students' virtual collaboration skills that are underlined by both accreditation requirements and the AEC industry demands.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.