Collaborative Research: Improving Undergraduate Education in Civil & Building Engineering through Student-centric Cyber-Physical Systems and Real-world Problems

该项目旨在为高质量本科工程教育的国家利益服务。 它将通过将基于智能手机的数字可视化技术整合到土木和建筑工程课程中来实现这一目标。该项目预测，这一增加将提高学生在工程课堂上的参与度。 教育研究表明，主动学习可以提高学生的学习积极性。然而，积极的学习经验是具有挑战性的，纳入土木和建筑工程，因为这些领域解决的问题是大规模的或本地不可用。此外，学生往往认为土木和建筑工程负面的“低技术”，使其更具挑战性的兴趣潜在的专业。该项目提出了一种新的方法，以增加招生，保留和成功的土木和建筑工程学位课程：使用低成本的技术，以提高学生的学习经验。 具体而言，土木和建筑工程中的现实问题将通过土木和建筑工程系统的交互式数字可视化带入本科课堂。学生将能够通过负担得起的传感技术控制系统，如智能手机，相机和物联网传感器。由此产生的教育工具，该项目称之为以学生为中心的网络物理系统，预计将促进主动学习，因为学生与这些系统实时互动。这些工具还将向学生介绍用于智能基础设施的创新传感器，这可能会激发学生的兴趣，并增加学生的招募和保留。通过基于设计的实施研究，这个探索性项目将开发以学生为中心的网络物理系统，用于建筑科学和结构分析，并解决以下问题：1）学生的兴趣，动机和参与度如何变化？2)以学生为中心的网络物理系统如何影响学生感知和预测问题解决方案的能力？3)如何接触到以学生为中心的网络物理系统的传感技术和数据科学方面影响学生对土木和建筑工程的看法，特别是该领域的低/高科技性质？开发的以学生为中心的网络物理系统工具将在两所大型公立研究型大学进行测试和评估。该项目计划产生理论，以指导跨多个STEM领域的下一代以学生为中心的网络物理系统工具的过渡。在土木和建筑工程方面吸取的经验教训可以与其他领域分享，有可能产生广泛的国家影响。以学生为中心的网络物理系统工具也将用于K-12公立学校的推广工作。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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 in high quality undergraduate engineering education. It will do so by integrating smartphone-based digital visualization technology into Civil and Building Engineering curricula. The project predicts that this addition will improve student engagement in the engineering classroom. Education research shows that active learning increases student motivation and learning . However, active learning experiences are challenging to incorporate into civil and building engineering, because these fields address problems that are large-scale or not available locally. Additionally, students often view civil and building engineering negatively as “low-tech,” making it more challenging to interest potential majors. This project proposes a novel approach to increase enrollment, retention, and success in civil and building engineering degree programs: the use of low-cost technologies to enhance the student-learning experience. Specifically, real-world problems in civil and building engineering will be brought into undergraduate classrooms through interactive digital visualizations of civil and building engineering systems. Students will be able to control the systems through affordable sensing technologies, such as smartphones, cameras, and Internet of Things sensors. The resulting educational tools, which the project calls student-centric cyber-physical systems, are expected to promote active learning as students interact with these systems in real-time. These tools will also introduce students to innovative sensors for smart infrastructure, which may stimulate additional interest and increase student recruitment and retention.Through design-based implementation research, this exploratory project will develop student-centric cyber-physical systems for building science and structural analysis, and address the following questions: 1) How do students’ interest, motivation, and engagement vary? 2) How does student-centric cyber-physical systems affect student ability to sense and predict solutions to problems? 3) How does exposure to sensing technology and data science aspects of student-centric cyber-physical systems affect students’ perceptions of civil and building engineering, particularly the low/high tech nature of the field? The developed student-centric cyber-physical systems tools will be tested and assessed at two large public research universities. The project plans to generate theory to guide the transition for next-generation student-centric cyber-physical systems tools across multiple STEM fields. Lessons learned in the context of civil and building engineering can be shared with other fields, potentially leading to a broad national impact. The student-centric cyber-physical systems tools will also be used in outreach efforts at K-12 public schools. The NSF IUSE: EHR 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.