Social Virtual Reality enabled Learning to Empower Special Education Students in Gaining Competence to Join the Future Technology Workforce

社交虚拟现实使学习能够帮助特殊教育学生获得加入未来技术劳动力的能力

• 批准号: 2302596
• 负责人: Noah Glaser
• 金额: $ 85万
• 依托单位: University of Missouri-Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2026-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2302596&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Social; Virtual; Reality; enabled; Learning

This project aims to enhance STEM education and workforce development for transition-aged adults with a variety of cognitive conditions including autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and dyslexia. It is aimed at fostering STEM identity and promoting STEM pathways for individuals with neurodevelopmental and learning disabilities, who have often been overlooked in STEM education and outreach. This project leverages advancements in virtual reality (VR), intelligent pedagogical agents, and asynchronous learning technologies to create an accessible, inclusive approach to STEM education. Upon completion, the project will provide a highly accessible cybersecurity curriculum using the latest VR technologies, available as a free, open educational resource under a Creative Commons license. By reducing barriers to participation in STEM fields, the project will open pathways to STEM careers for this traditionally underserved population.The project framework is based on three pillars: a STEM curriculum centered on computational thinking (CT) using cybersecurity scenarios to encourage collaborative learning, immersive learning in a game-like VR platform with attack impact analysis and defense solutions, and accessibility and usability through learner-centered, inclusive approaches. The curriculum follows a three-phase pedagogy: learning foundational concepts, applying concepts to problem scenarios, and creating novel solutions to open-ended problems. Learners will engage in a series of units to explore a range of cybersecurity scenarios involving attacker-defender games, encompassing software engineering, data analysis, and teamwork within a social competencies framework. CT practices will be organized under four dimensions: data, modeling & simulation, computational problem solving, and systems thinking. Research will also be conducted to develop intelligent pedagogical agent techniques to enable self-paced and high-scale deployment of training. The project will openly disseminate outcomes, including new theory, software elements for social VR environments, and special education content data sets. Programs that serve neurodivergent learners will be partnered with to assist in recruiting neurodiverse co-designers and to ensure the sustainability of the project efforts.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.

该项目旨在加强STEM教育和劳动力发展的过渡年龄的成年人与各种认知条件，包括自闭症，注意力缺陷/多动障碍（ADHD），和阅读障碍。它旨在培养STEM身份，并为患有神经发育和学习障碍的个人促进STEM途径，这些人在STEM教育和推广中经常被忽视。该项目利用虚拟现实（VR），智能教学代理和异步学习技术的进步，为STEM教育创造一种可访问的，包容性的方法。完成后，该项目将使用最新的VR技术提供一个高度可访问的网络安全课程，作为知识共享许可下的免费开放教育资源。通过减少参与STEM领域的障碍，该项目将为这一传统上服务不足的人群开辟STEM职业道路。该项目框架基于三大支柱：一个以计算思维（CT）为中心的STEM课程，使用网络安全场景鼓励协作学习，在类似游戏的VR平台中进行沉浸式学习，并提供攻击影响分析和防御解决方案，以及通过以学习者为中心的包容性方法的可访问性和可用性。该课程遵循三阶段教学法：学习基础概念，将概念应用于问题场景，并为开放式问题创建新颖的解决方案。学习者将参与一系列单元，探索一系列涉及攻击者-防御者游戏的网络安全场景，包括软件工程，数据分析和社交能力框架内的团队合作。CT实践将在四个维度下组织：数据，建模仿真，计算问题解决和系统思维。还将进行研究，开发智能教学代理技术，以实现自定进度和大规模部署培训。该项目将公开传播成果，包括新理论，社交VR环境的软件元素和特殊教育内容数据集。为神经多样性学习者服务的项目将与之合作，以帮助招募神经多样性的共同设计者，并确保项目工作的可持续性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。