Enabling discovery‐based learning in construction using telepresent augmented reality

Abstract

Construction engineering students often complain about the lack of engagement and interaction with the learning environment. Notwithstanding, many instructors still rely on traditional teaching methods which include the use of chalkboard, handouts, and computer presentations that are often filled with many words and few visual elements. Research shows that these teaching techniques are considered almost obsolete by a many students specially those who are visual learners or team workers. Also, the influence of visual and social media has changed student perceptions and how they expect the instructional materials to be presented in a classroom setting. This paper presents an innovative pedagogical tool that uses remote videotaping, augmented reality (AR), and ultra-wide band (UWB) locationing to bring live videos of remote construction jobsites to the classroom, create an intuitive interface for students to interact with the objects in the video scenes, and visually deliver location-aware instructional materials to them.

Introduction

In a recent report published by the Association for American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), the National Leadership Council for Liberal Education and America's Promise identified “connecting knowledge with choices and action” as one of the seven principles of excellence [1]. Within engineering colleges and departments, this emphasis on creating a contextual link between knowledge and practice is even more prevalent. Although a large body of research has shown that specific teaching practices can improve student learning, engagement, and interest in engineering [2], [3], and despite the fact that creativity and practicality are highly encouraged in academia, many engineering faculty have not been motivated to change their classroom practice and still rely on traditional methods to convey the theoretical knowledge to their students [4].

The curricula of these programs are heavily shaped around the concept of exposing students to basic science and engineering courses, and are often inadequate in preparing them for real life problem solving and critical thinking [5]. While engineering students need to pick up the social and technical skills (e.g. critical thinking, decision-making, collaboration, and leadership) they also need to be competent in the digital age [6]. Mills and Treagust [7] discussed that although most students are graduating with good knowledge of abstract engineering science and computer literacy, they do not know how to apply this knowledge in practice.

In the area of construction education, students have historically lacked a comprehensive knowledge of onsite construction tasks and the dynamics and complexities involved in a typical construction project [8]. This can be directly attributed to the fact that, to the most extent, existing instructional methods fall short in including guidance from and interaction with construction experts, and thus provide students with very limited access to hands-on experience. The classroom experience is often passive and deductive in nature as teachers communicate the fundamentals and students have to deduct derivations, examples, and applications in assignments [9]. Even site visits that ideally form an important component of teaching and learning in many aspects may not be always possible due to issues such as schedule conflicts, access difficulties, weather situations, and the overriding need for safety and liability [10].

Recent figures show that today's digital native students (who are highly engaged with the technology around them) are more likely to choose scientific and engineering fields that are more flexible and have already embraced the use of latest technologies [11], [12]. Tobias [13] discussed that introductory science courses are often responsible for driving off many students who have an initial intention and the ability to earn science degrees but instead switch to nonscientific fields.

These and similar challenges highlight the role of new and innovative teaching techniques that use advanced computing and information technologies, simulation, and virtual learning environments to complement engineering education [14]. Due to recent advances in the development of pedagogical concepts, applications and technology, and a simultaneous decline in hardware costs, the use of small-scale and mobile systems in education has received even more attention. Several researchers reviewed the effectiveness of technology in the classroom. Their findings indicated that when properly implemented, computer technology has a significant effect on student achievement, stimulated increased instructor–student interaction, encouraged cooperative learning, collaboration, problem-solving, and student inquiry skills [15], [16].

Studies on particular types of technology use are still being conducted. For example, a recent study on the impact of electronic field trips conducted by Maryland Public Television and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Technology in Education, found that participating students exhibited significantly higher levels of knowledge on three social studies units than students who had not participated. Participating students also demonstrated greater improvement in reading comprehension skills [17].

More recently, the introduction of computer technologies such as computer-aided design (CAD) and building information modeling (BIM) has aimed to improve the quality of learning in construction education. In a recent study, more than 60% of the students agreed that they had a better understanding on building structure after learning BIM [18]. Messner et al. [19] presented the results of a project aimed to improve construction education through the use of virtual reality (VR) and 4D CAD modeling. In particular, they integrated a 4D CAD visualization application into their undergraduate architectural engineering program, and experienced the use of a VR tool that allowed construction engineering students to interactively generate a construction sequence for a project in an immersive environment. The results of these experiments suggested that students can (1) understand construction projects and plans much better when advanced visualization tools are used, and (2) very quickly gain experience by developing and critiquing construction schedules in a full-scale virtual environment. These and similar studies indicate that the integration of advanced interactive 3D visualization into the curriculum can significantly assist students to relate their abstract (and mostly theoretical) knowledge to real practical problems in the field. At the same time, it is imperative that accumulating adequate skills and training to operate equipment and conduct engineering tasks through traditional training methods takes significant time and has proven to be costly and inefficient [20]. Thus, the overarching goal of this project is to provide a timely and effective education to the students through integrating technology into core curricula and implementing it in a classroom setting, rather than only providing devices and software [21].

At the same time, professional development and collaboration between students and instructors need to be encouraged and new forms of pedagogy and assessment must be accordingly created. What is essential is to make technology a ubiquitous resource in the learning process, personalize it based on students' individual needs and learning styles, and then ask instructors to mentor and facilitate the use of technology while students learn, direct, and collaborate in a technology-rich environment. Integrating technology into the curriculum in today's schools should not mean finding ways that computers can help instructors teach the same old topics in the same old ways. Instead, instructors must have the opportunity to combine technology with emerging models of teaching and learning to transform education. In an attempt to implement this philosophy, this paper presents the latest findings of an ongoing work which aims to explore the extent to which collaborative augmented reality (AR) can be effectively used as a transformative learning tool to improve the quality of education in engineering and science. The authors use construction education as a test bed by enabling students to learn the basics of equipment, processes, and operational safety in a learning environment that supports real time interaction with a remote jobsite.