Research Initiation: Embodied and Student-Centered Robotics in the Professional Formation of Engineers

从2021年到2030年，全球机器人技术市场规模预计将增长三倍。然而，维持行业需求快速增长的劳动力渠道有限，导致工作量增加和产出质量下降。为了解决这些挑战，该项目将研究有效的工程教育方法，以培养未来的机器人工程师。这项研究将利用行业合作伙伴的需求来制定对机器人工程师的行业要求。这项研究将使学习者沉浸在参与式学习环境中，强调人与机器人的互动，以有效学习机器人技术。通过学习过程，将使用各种真实世界的机器人工程任务。将开发一个虚拟现实应用程序来创建沉浸式学习环境，以探索机器人软件、硬件、运动控制和对象操纵的发展。课堂上将使用动手活动和项目来提高机器人技术的学习效率。迭代和严格的评估将确保学习结果，以最大限度地影响机器人工程劳动力的形成。该项目将使用体现学习和以用户为中心的设计，将机器人技术实际整合到工程教育中，以形成工程师。为了实现这一目标，将通过用户研究和课堂学习环境来开发和评估体现学习和以用户为中心的设计，以改进机器人工程教育。该项目将回答两个研究问题：(1)以学生为中心的设计在多大程度上影响工程师的形成？(2)具身学习在多大程度上影响工程师的形成？为了回答第一个研究问题，将使用以学生为中心的设计技术，包括人物角色和用户旅程地图，以确定行业合作伙伴的要求和学生知识之间在机器人技能方面的差距。为了回答第二个研究问题，将评估体现学习在机器人教育中的有效性。建议的具身学习将解决传统的以计算为中心的机器人劳动力培训方法的困难。具体化学习将减少传统的以计算为中心的学习方法对学生抽象思维和概念性思维能力的需求。具体化学习有望减少挫折，增加快乐，增长知识保持能力，提高解决问题的能力。在学习过程中，将使用运动参与体现的活动，包括手势、姿势、移动和机器人任务的操作。感知沉浸式体验活动，如使用虚拟现实应用程序执行机器人任务，也将评估其学习效果。为期一学期的电子学和仪器仪表以及控制和优化课程将用于探索在多个难度级别的机器人软件、硬件和运动控制中应用具体化学习的有效性。两个工作坊将使用机器人平台、以学生为中心的教学设计和具身学习协议来展示具身学习的有效性。以用户为中心的机器人教学内容将托管在一个门户网站上供公众使用。传播活动将为机器人工程教育界贡献新的知识。这一奖项反映了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 global robotics technology market size is expected to grow three times from 2021 to 2030. There is, however, a limited workforce pipeline to sustain the rapid growth of the industry demands, leading to increased workload and decreased quality of output. To resolve these challenges, this project will investigate effective engineering educational methods to prepare future robotics engineers. The research will leverage industry partners’ needs to formulate the industry requirements for robotics engineers. The research will immerse learners in engaging learning environments emphasizing human-robot interactions for effective learning of robotics technologies. Various real-world robotics engineering tasks will be used through the learning process. A virtual reality application will be developed to create immersive learning environments to explore the development of robotics software, hardware, motion control, and object manipulation. Hands on activities and projects will be used in the classes to boost the learning efficacy of the robotics technology. Iterative and rigorous evaluation will ensure the learning outcomes to maximize the impacts on the formation of engineering workforce of robotics. The project will use embodied learning and user-centered design for the practical integration of robotics into engineering education for the formation of engineers. For this goal, embodied learning and user-centered design will be developed and assessed through user studies and class learning settings for their performance, to improve robotics engineering education. The project will answer two research questions; (1) To what extent the student-centered design influences the formation of engineers? and (2) To what extent the embodied learning influences the formation of engineers? To answer the first research question, student-centered design techniques including persona and user journey maps will be used to identify the gaps in robotics skills between industry partners’ requirements and students’ knowledge. To answer the second research question, the effectiveness of embodied learning in robotics education will be assessed. The proposed embodied learning will address the difficulties of conventional computation-centered robotics workforce training methods. Embodied learning will reduce the need for abstract and conceptual thinking capabilities of students required by the conventional computation-centered learning approach. Embodied learning is expected to reduce frustrations and increase joyfulness, growth of knowledge retention, and improved problem-solving skills. Motoric engagement embodied activities including gesture, posture, locomotion, and manipulation of robotics tasks will be used during the learning. Perceived immersion embodied activities such as using a virtual reality app to perform robotics tasks will be also evaluated for their effectiveness in learning. The semester-long electronics and instrumentation as well as control and optimization courses will be used to explore the effectiveness of applying embodied learning in robotics software, hardware, and motion control with multiple difficulty levels. Two workshops will use robotics platforms, student-centered instructional design, and embodied learning protocols to showcase the effectiveness of embodied learning. The user-centered robotics instructional content will be hosted on a Web portal for public use. Dissemination activities will contribute new knowledge to the robotics engineering education community.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.