Enhancing Students’ Spatial Skills with Augmented Reality Experiences

该项目旨在通过提高学生在工程制图方面的参与度和学生学习成果来服务于国家利益，工程制图是许多工程项目的基础课程。理解工程设计规范是工程人员做出决策的关键技能。学生需要学习如何分析和解释这些规范，这通常涉及将2D图形可视化为3D模型，反之亦然。能够在这两种表示之间进行转换使工程师能够更有效地与其他利益相关者交流想法和设计。学生的空间技能作为认知技能，可以在有效学习资源支持下的意向性教学中得到提高。这个项目将开发和评估一个增强现实应用程序，该应用程序将显示可视化辅助工具，指导学生分析线条和表面。学生将在一步一步的动画指导下，展示2D图纸与3D模型的关系。这项研究将评估这一应用程序对来自传统上代表不足的工程学群体的学生的参与度和学生空间技能的影响。项目成果将通过项目网站和教师研讨会提供给STEM教育界。该项目的目标是通过让学生参与使用增强现实应用程序的主动学习来提高学生的空间技能。该应用程序将提供突出显示和阴影等视觉辅助工具，以帮助学生理解线和表面之间的关系。学生将能够用手指旋转3D模型，或跟随动画在交互式沉浸式环境中连接点以创建线和曲面。将使用积分、级别、徽章和附加挑战问题等激励机制来激励学生解决问题。嵌入的选择题将被用来评估学生的理解能力。将在每个问题中添加注释和上下文信息，以激励学生并对他们的答案提供反馈。该项目将在受试者内部和受试者之间的设计中使用经过验证的工具，以评估在工程图学课程中主动学习经验对学生空间技能和态度的影响。除了通过同行评议的期刊和会议介绍分享调查结果外，还将开发和维护一个项目网站，以便查阅评估结果和与项目有关的材料。在课程中实施增强现实应用的经验教训和指导方针将通过研讨会和外联活动与感兴趣的教职员工分享。NSF IUSE：EDU计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving student engagement and student learning outcomes for engineering students in engineering graphics, a foundational course in many engineering programs. Understanding engineering design specifications is a critical skill for making decisions in the engineering workforce. Students need to learn how to analyze and interpret these specifications, which often involves visualizing a 2D drawing as a 3D model and vice versa. Being able to convert between these two representations enables engineers to communicate ideas and designs more effectively with other stakeholders. Students’ spatial skills as cognitive skills can be improved with intentional instruction supported by effective learning resources. This project will develop and assess an augmented reality application that will display visual aids to guide students in analyzing lines and surfaces. Students will be guided through a step-by-step animation to show how 2D drawings relate to a 3D model. This study will assess the impact of the application on student engagement and students’ spatial skills for students from traditionally underrepresented groups in engineering. Project results will be made available to the STEM education community through a project website and workshops for faculty.The goal of this project is to improve students’ spatial skills by engaging students in active learning using an augmented reality application. The application will provide visual aids such as highlighting and shading to assist students in comprehending the relationship between lines and surfaces. Students will be able to rotate a 3D model with their fingers or follow an animation that connects points to create lines and surfaces in an interactive immersive environment. Incentive mechanisms such as points, levels, badges, and additional challenge problems will be used to motivate students to solve problems. Embedded multiple choice questions will be used to assess students’ understanding. Annotations and contextual information will be added to each question to motivate students and provide feedback on their answers. The project will use validated instruments in a within- and between-subjects design to assess the impact of the active learning experiences on students’ spatial skills and attitudes in an engineering graphics course. Beyond sharing the findings through peer-reviewed journals, and conference presentations, a project website will be developed and maintained which will provide access to assessment results and project-related materials. Lessons learned and guidelines for implementing the augmented reality application in courses will be shared with interested faculty members via workshops and outreach activities. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.