SBIR Phase I: Instructor-friendly intelligent VR platform for secondary and post-secondary distance learning and STEAM education

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是使用虚拟现实(VR)为协作远程学习创建身临其境、极具吸引力的环境。随着越来越多的学生至少在网上学习部分课程，需要开发虚拟学习环境，以支持具有不同优势、兴趣和学习偏好的不同学习者。该项目将通过利用VR提供的丰富数据来检测和分类沉浸式协作学习体验中的学习者参与度，从而支持多样化的学习环境。作为一项重大的科学贡献，新系统将提供关于学习者参与度的反馈，并最终为个性化学习活动提出建议。该小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目旨在创建一种新颖的实时推荐系统，用于在协作、身临其境的VR学习环境中保持学习者的参与度。这项研究将收集行为数据，以识别合作学习中不同的投入类型，以支持具有不同优势、不同兴趣和学习偏好的学习者。随后，元数据将允许开发算法，以自动为个性化课程选择提供实时、系统生成的建议。所获得的知识将有助于多样性，并增加远程VR学习以及其他协作数字环境的参与度。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to use virtual reality (VR) to create immersive, highly engaging environments for collaborative remote learning. As more students take at least some of their classes online, there is a need to develop virtual learning environments that support diverse learners with different strengths, interests, and learning preferences. The project will support diverse learning environments by leveraging the rich data available from VR to detect and classify learner engagement in an immersive, collaborative learning experience. As a major scientific contribution, the new system will provide feedback on levels of learner engagement and ultimately make recommendations for personalized learning activities. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to create a novel real-time recommendation system for maintaining learner engagement in a collaborative, immersive, VR learning environment. The research will collect behavioral data that can identify different engagement types during collaborative learning to support learners with different strengths, various interests, and learning preferences. Subsequently, the metadata will allow for the development of algorithms for automating real-time, system-generated recommendations for personalizing curriculum options. The knowledge gained will aid diversity and increase engagement in remote VR learning as well as other collaborative, digital environments.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.