Collaborative Research: Sizing Up Physical Computing to Explore Threshold Concepts in Cyber-Physical Systems

协作研究：评估物理计算以探索网络物理系统中的阈值概念

• 批准号: 2302787
• 负责人: Philip Odonkor
• 金额: $ 59万
• 依托单位: Stevens Institute of Technology
• 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: 2023-09-01 至 2026-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2302787&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Sizing; Up; Physical

As the applications of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) continue to advance, it is becoming critical to address the educational challenges and needs associated with cultivating a competitive U.S. workforce with competence in CPS. However, given the relative youth of CPS technology, a crucial challenge lies in characterizing what key concepts are necessary for CPS mastery. Furthermore, the lack of collaborative CPS learning tools has resulted in a trend of solitary learning practices among students, which contradicts the collaborative nature of CPS design practice. This project seeks to overcome these challenges by designing and implementing a physical computing testbed that will foster problem-based, collaborative learning of CPS concepts. The testbed will allow groups of students, co-located around a table, to interact with CPS using a tangible-user interface. As a generative source of informal learning and sense-making, the testbed will help foster a social approach to CPS education, while advancing our understanding of the discipline-specific concepts required for CPS mastery.The project aims to develop a physical computing testbed for collaborative, problem-based CPS learning to explore and characterize the CPS discipline’s threshold concepts – which represent transformative, and potentially difficult-to-grasp, ideas that integrate multiple concepts in a given discipline. The project will first engage CPS experts in academia and industry through a Delphi study to seek consensus on the fundamental concepts necessary for CPS mastery. Next, the research approach will intersect threshold concepts with collaborative problem-based learning (PBL) to identify key formative learning experiences necessary for mastering CPS design concepts. These key formative learning experiences, anchored in student-centered threshold concepts, will be investigated by engaging students in multi-stage problem scenarios called model-eliciting activities. During the model-eliciting activities, their interactions with one another and the testbed will be analyzed using constructivist grounded theory. A comprehensive CPS concept inventory and innovative classification of threshold concepts will be created by integrating the various data sources, leading to a new understanding of how best to leverage PBL and physical computing in CPS education. The findings will improve CPS learning capabilities in academia and enhance CPS design capabilities for practitioners, strengthening the core function of U.S. federal agencies in administering CPS ecosystems with broad societal impacts. The testbed will empower undergraduate students to engage in CPS learning through collaborative play, and the knowledge generated will benefit industry, defense, and critical infrastructure.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.

随着网络物理系统（CPS）的应用继续前进，应对与CPS培养具有竞争力的美国劳动力相关的教育挑战和需求变得至关重要。但是，鉴于CPS技术的相对青年，至关重要的挑战在于表征CPS掌握所需的关键概念。此外，缺乏协作性CPS学习工具导致了学生之间扎实学习实践的趋势，这与CPS设计实践的协作性质相矛盾。该项目旨在通过设计和实施经过测试的物理计算来克服这些挑战，该计算将促进基于问题的CPS概念的协作学习。测试床将允许在表周围共同分配的学生组使用有形用户界面与CPS进行交互。 As a generic source of informal learning and sense-making, the Testbed will help foster a social approach to CPS education, while advancing our understanding of the discipline-specific concepts required for CPS mastery.The project aims to develop a physical computing tested for collaborative, problem-based CPS learning to explore and characterize the CPS discipline’s threshold concepts – which represent transformative, and potentially difficult-to-grasp, ideas that integrated multiple concepts in a given 纪律。该项目将首先通过Delphi研究吸引学术界和行业的CPS专家，以就CPS掌握所需的基本概念达成共识。接下来，研究方法将与基于问题的学习（PBL）相交，以确定掌握CPS设计概念所需的关键形成性学习经验。这些关键的形成性学习经验以学生为中心的阈值概念，将通过让学生参与多阶段的问题情景来调查称为模型阐明活动的情况。在模型的活动活动中，将使用建构主义扎根理论分析它们与彼此的相互作用。通过整合各种数据源，将创建一个全面的CPS概念清单和创新分类，从而创建对如何最好地利用CPS教育中的PBL和物理计算的新理解。这些发现将提高学术界的CPS学习能力，并增强从业者的CPS设计功能，从而增强美国联邦机构在管理具有广泛社会影响的CPS生态系统方面的核心功能。经过测试的将使本科生通过协作娱乐从事CPS学习的能力，并且产生的知识将使行业，国防和关键基础架构受益。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准通过评估来进行评估的。