DIP: Collaborative Research: Mixed-Reality Labs: Integrating Sensors and Simulations to Improve Learning

这个合作项目正在研究混合现实学习环境的特征，该环境将物理实验室的丰富背景和多感官体验与虚拟实验室的交互模拟相结合。混合环境集成了传感器和模拟，以互补的方式发挥每种设置的优势。研究小组正在为中学水平的化学和物理课程开发四种这样的混合现实实验室体验，并在这些背景下研究学生的学习。其中两项活动使用集成策略，即使用从物理实验实时获取的数据来控制虚拟实验。这种耦合的好处是，当物理实验正在进行时，抽象的概念或看不见的过程可以在计算机屏幕上可视化。每当学习者与物理实验的动手交互改变了传感器测量时，虚拟实验中的可视化就会做出相应的反应，在这两个世界之间建立一种亲密的联系。另一种集成策略是并行使用物理和虚拟实验，要求学生将传感器测量的结果与模拟计算的结果进行匹配。这种配置中的学习潜力来自于在两个世界之间来回移动的能力，调整虚拟实验以匹配物理实验，然后调整物理实验以测试虚拟实验的保真度。这四项活动在八个教室中的实施情况正在与内容相似的课程进行比较。这个项目的智力价值在于它研究了网络学习技术改变实验室提问的潜力。此外，该项目还利用了一支公认的研究团队的专业知识。该项目正在通过确定一种新的STEM教育教学方法来发挥其更广泛的影响。物理实验室和虚拟实验室的结合具有广泛应用的潜力，该项目开发的见解和例子可能适用于整个STEM教育。事实上，因为所有的项目软件都是开源的，而且材料可以从项目的网站上免费获得，所以学校唯一的费用就是传感器。一个关键的设计标准是，所有项目软件都与来自多个供应商的传感器兼容，这样学校的选择就不会受到限制。

This collaborative project is investigating the characteristics of a mixed-reality learning environment that combines the rich context and multi-sensory experiences of a physical lab with the interactive simulations of a virtual lab. The hybrid environment integrates sensors and simulations to bring out the advantages of each setting in a complementary way. The research team is developing four such mixed-reality laboratory experiences for secondary school level chemistry and physics courses and studying student learning in these contexts. Two of the activities use an integration strategy in which data acquired in real time from a physical experiment are used to control a virtual experiment. The advantage of this coupling is that abstract concepts or invisible processes can be visualized on the computer screen while the physical experiment is underway. Whenever the learner's hands-on interaction with the physical experiments changes the sensor measurement, the visualization in the virtual experiment responds accordingly, creating an intimate link between the two worlds. The other integration strategy uses physical and virtual experiments in parallel, challenging the student to match the results measured by the sensors and the results computed by the simulations. The learning potential in this configuration stems from the ability to go back and forth between both worlds, adjusting the virtual experiment to match the physical experiment and then adjusting the physical experiment to test the fidelity of the virtual experiment. Implementations of the four activities in eight classrooms are being compared to classes covering similar content. The intellectual merit of this project lies in its investigation of the potential of cyberlearning technologies to transform inquiry in the lab. In addition, the project brings to bear the expertise of a recognized team of researchers. The project is exercising its broader impacts through its identification of a new instructional approach to STEM education. The combination of physical and virtual labs carries the potential for broad utility, with the insights and examples developed by this project potentially applicable throughout STEM education. In fact, because all of the project software is open source and the materials made available freely from the project's website, the only expenses to schools are for the sensors. A key design criterion is that all project software is compatible with sensors from multiple vendors so that schools are not limited in their choices.