Mixed Reality for Engineering Design Interpretation in Construction Engineering Management

This project aims to serve the national interest by better preparing construction engineering students to be project engineers. To do so, the project aims to help students develop critical problem-solving skills relevant to real construction projects. Among these skills is design interpretation.

Job site learning is vital to develop design interpretation abilities but providing such learning opportunities remains a challenge in construction engineering education. To increase access to job site learning, this project will explore the used of mixed reality technologies and immersive experiences. Specifically, the project will use mixed reality to enable construction engineering learners to: (1) spatially locate and manipulate design components in a virtual job-site environment; (2) view and operate a navigation system that enables indoor-positioning and location awareness; and (3) observe job-site images and spatially map an object’s surroundings from the 3D visualizations of designs.

The project will study how the immersive mixed reality environment affects construction engineering students’ learning. Results of the study may help to improve teaching and learning of engineering design thinking, specifically in construction engineering management.

Guided by conceptual research and empirical findings on spatial cognition and situated learning, this project will address key aspects of mixed reality-assisted instructional design and its application to construction engineering management problems, including the users’ experiences. Three major needs in current construction engineering management pedagogy will be targeted: (i) application, analysis, and synthesis of design representation to situational and physical contexts; (ii) incorporation of in-situ contexts in structured and generalized construction engineering concepts; and (iii) integration and internalization of complex spatial and temporal information when using traditional materials (e.g., 2D drawings, videos, images).

The design of a technology-based learning approach will contribute to the development of flexible and adaptable knowledge related to spatial and temporal information processing and may enhance students’ visual perception, spatial ability, and internalization. This project expects to advance research in learning for the future engineering workforce and to contribute new knowledge about the effects of the human-technology frontier on problem-solving practices.

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.