An official website of the United States government
Providing students with hands-on construction experiences enables them to apply conceptual knowledge to practical applications, but the high costs associated with this form of learning limit access to it. Therefore, this paper explores the use of augmented reality (AR) to enable students in a conventional classroom or lab setting to interact with virtual objects similar to how they would if they were physically constructing building components. More specifically, the authors tasked student participants with virtually constructing a wood-framed wall through AR with a Microsoft HoloLens. Participants were video-recorded and their behaviors were analyzed. Subsequently, observed behaviors in AR were analyzed and compared to expected behaviors in the physical environment. It was observed that students performing the tasks tended to mimic behaviors found in the physical environment in how they managed the virtual materials, leveraged physical tools in conjunction with virtual materials, and in their ability to recognize and fix mistakes. Some of the finer interactions observed with the virtual materials were found to be unique to the virtual environment, such as moving objects from a distance. Overall, these findings contribute to the understanding of how AR may be leveraged in classrooms to provide learning experiences that yield similar outcomes to those provided in more resource-intensive physical construction site environments.
more »
« less
Student Approaches and Performance in Element Sequencing Tasks Using 2D and Augmented Reality Formats
In civil and construction engineering education research, a focus has been on using 3D models to support students’ design comprehension. Despite this trend, the predominant mode of design communication in the industry relies on 2D plans and specifications, which typically supersede other modes of communication. Rather than focusing on the presentation of less common 3D content as an input to support students’ understanding of a design, this paper explores more common 2D inputs, but compares different visualization formats of student output in two educational interventions. In the first intervention, students document a construction sequence for wood-framed elements in a 2D worksheet format. In the second, students work with the same wood-framed design, but document their sequence through an augmented reality (AR) format where their physical interactions move full-scale virtual elements as if they were physically constructing the wood frame. Student approaches and performance were analyzed using qualitative attribute coding of video, audio, and written documentation of the student experience. Overall, results showed that the 2D worksheet format was simple to implement and was not mentally demanding to complete, but often corresponded with a lack of critical checks and a lack of mistake recognition from the students. The AR approach challenged students more in terms of cognitive load and completion rates but showed the potential for facilitating mistake recognition and self-remediation through visualization. These results suggest that when students are tasked with conceptualizing construction sequences from 2D documentation, the cognitive challenges associated with documenting a sequence in AR may support their recognition of their own mistakes in ways that may not be effectively supported through 2D documentation as an output for documenting and planning a construction sequence. The results presented in this paper provide insights on student tendencies, behaviors, and perceptions related to defining construction sequences from 2D documentation in order for educators to make informed decisions regarding the use of similar learning activities to prepare their students for understanding the 2D design documents used in industry.
more »
« less
- PAR ID:
- 10359362
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Education Sciences
- Volume:
- 12
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 2227-7102
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 247
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
This research work-in-progress paper investigated the application of emerging mixed reality (MR) technology in construction and engineering education. The construction industry is facing a severe shortage of skilled workforce. As the baby boomers are retiring, the younger generation, especially college students, are often criticized for their lack of professional experience and career-specific competency. To close the skills gap and accelerate the transition of college students to competent workforce, this paper proposed a new genre of learning and professional training using MR. The main promise of the MR technology resides in its ability to augment virtual contents on top of the physical reality to facilitate tacit knowledge learning, and simulate learning activities that traditionally can only be obtained from actual professional experience. An undergraduate wood framing lab was designed as a case study to explore how students might perform in this new learning and training environment. Specifically, the case study investigated if MR would facilitate student design comprehension and transfer such understanding into the knowledge and skills needed to build the wood structure. A randomly selected student control group was given traditional paper-based construction drawings to perform the same tasks with other student groups with various visualization technology assistance. Project performance and behavior of student groups were compared to determine if there was a significant difference between the control group and the experiment groups. A pair of pre- and post-survey on MR-intervened learning experience was also conducted to explore student perceptions towards this new genre of learning and training. The research design proposed in this work-in-progress study and its preliminary results could be a good reference and foundation to future research in this arena.more » « less
-
Augmented Reality (AR) tools have shown significant potential in providing on-site visualization of Building Information Modeling (BIM) data and models for supporting construction evaluation, inspection, and guidance. Retrofitting existing buildings, however, remains a challenging task requiring more innovative solutions to successfully integrate AR and BIM. This study aims to investigate the impact of AR+BIM technology on the retrofitting training process and assess the potential for future on-site usage. We conducted a study with 64 non expert participants, who were asked to perform a common retrofitting procedure of an electrical outlet installation using either an AR+BIM system or a standard printed blueprint documentation set. Our findings indicate that AR+BIM reduced task time significantly and improved performance consistency across participants, while also decreasing the physical and cognitive demands of the training. This study provides a foundation for augmenting future retrofitting construction research that can extend the use of AR+BIM technology, thus facilitating more efficient retrofitting of existing buildings. A video presentation of this article and all supplemental materials are available at https://github.com/DesignLabUCF/SENSEable_RetrofittingTraining.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)Whether to engage student preconceptions to facilitate conceptual change is an area of debate among conceptual change theorists. Here, we evaluate the efficacy of a preconceptions-based instructional sequence about groundwater previously described by (Arthurs, 2019). To assess the impact this instructional sequence had on facilitating the development of more expert-like mental models about groundwater among college students, this research is rooted in the design study methodology and framed within the knowledge integration perspective of conceptual change. The relation of the instructional sequence to conceptual change is investigated in terms of cognitive, temporal, and social considerations. Students’ responses to items in in-class activities, homework, exams, and pre- and post-course surveys; the instructor’s lesson plans and notes; and classroom observations provide evidence of the preconceptions-based instructional sequence’s impact. We conclude the sequence has a significant positive impact on facilitating conceptual change for a range of student demographics, including gender and race.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)Purpose: We gathered examples from our extended collaboration to move educators move online while avoiding synchronous meetings. “gPortfolios” are public (to the class) pages where students write responses to carefully constructed engagement routines. Students then discuss their work with instructors and peers in threaded comments. gPortfolios usually include engagement reflections, formative self-assessments, and automated quizzes. These assessments support and document learning while avoiding instructor “burnout” from grading. gPortfolios can be implemented using Google Docs and Forms or any learning management system. Methodology. We report practical insights gained from design-based implementation research. This research explored the late Randi Engle’s principles for productive disciplinary engagement and expansive framing. Engle used current theories of learning to foster student discussions that were both authentic to the academic discipline at hand and productive for learning. This research also used new approaches to assessment to support Engle’s principles. This resulted in a comprehensive approach to online instruction and assessment that is effective and efficient for both students and teachers. Findings. Our approach “frames” (i.e., contextualizes) online engagement using each learners’ own experiences, perspectives, and goals. Writing this revealed how this was different in different courses. Secondary biology students framed each assignment independently. Secondary English and history students framed assignments as elements of a personalized capstone presentation; the history students further used a self-selected “historical theme.” Graduate students framed each assignment in an educational assessment course using a real or imagined curricular aim and context. Originality. Engle’s ideas have yet to be widely taken up in online education.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12040247
