Wireless Communication Testbeds for Authentic STEM Learning

鉴于本科STEM教育对培养下一代劳动力至关重要，大学必须不断研究和实施本科STEM课程和教学法的改进，以满足技术和社会需求，并帮助教师教育和激励学生。该项目汇集了来自不同领域的专家，将无线通信，视觉分析和基于游戏的学习（也称为“游戏化”）的创新研究融合在一起，以实现真实的，变革性的STEM学习。该项目建立在与可视化，游戏化，虚拟和远程实验室体验相关的知识基础上，并将其用于实现教学成果。该项目将把无线电资源和动态频谱管理的思想与最先进的可视化工具相结合，以改变学生在学习过程中的参与。该实施将使电气和计算机工程专业的学生能够可视化和理解无线电频率环境以及频谱管理员，人类操作员和自主无线电的行为。 例如，学生将能够从第一手经验中发现纳什均衡在涉及多个自利自主无线电共存的某些场景中的存在。该项目将利用弗吉尼亚理工大学的认知无线电和网络（CORNET）测试平台，允许学生在安全的环境中操作无线电，提供强烈的现实感，并结合实验和失败的空间。该项目将有助于可视化和游戏化技术的有效性的研究文献，使抽象的和通常不可感知的STEM概念和现象的深入理解。学生的学习将使用由教师管理的课堂测量和外部，定性评估使用调查，反思文章和焦点小组进行评估。 此外，获得一个新的动手实验工具将使更多的学生接触到电气和计算机工程的概念。

Given the critical importance of undergraduate STEM education to prepare the next generation workforce, universities must continuously research and implement enhancements to the undergraduate STEM curriculum and pedagogy to meet technological and societal needs and to help faculty educate and motivate their students. This project brings together experts from different spheres to meld innovative research in wireless communications, visual analytics, and game-based learning (also known as "gamification") for authentic, transformative STEM learning. The project builds on a foundation of knowledge related to visualization, gamification, and virtual and remote laboratory experiences, and their use in achieving instructional outcomes. The project will merge the ideas of radio resources and dynamic spectrum management with cutting edge visualization tools to transform the students' engagement in the learning process. The implementation will enable students in Electrical and Computer Engineering to visualize and understand radio frequency environments and behavior of spectrum managers, human operators and autonomous radios. For example, students will be able to discover from first-hand experience the existence of the Nash equilibrium in certain scenarios involving the coexistence of multiple self-interested autonomous radios. The project will take advantage of Virginia Tech's Cognitive Radio and Network (CORNET) testbed that allows students to operate radios in a safe environment to provide a strong sense of realism, combined with space to experiment and fail. The project will contribute to the research literature on effectiveness of visualization and gamification techniques for enabling deep understanding of abstract and not normally perceptible STEM concepts and phenomena. Student learning will be assessed using both in-class measures administered by the instructors and external, qualitative evaluation using surveys, reflective essays, and focus groups. In addition, access to a novel hands-on experimental tool will make concepts in Electrical and Computer Engineering accessible to more students.