Supporting Student Learning of Introductory Thermodynamics using a Virtual Laboratory with Stealth Assessment

使用具有隐形评估功能的虚拟实验室支持学生学习热力学入门课程

• 批准号: 2142103
• 负责人: David Gagnon
• 金额: $ 59.97万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-07-01 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2142103&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Supporting; Student; Learning; Introductory; Thermodynamics

This project aims to serve the national interest by developing a new virtual laboratory software application to help students learn thermodynamics concepts. Introductory undergraduate thermodynamics is a foundational course in many engineering majors. However, students often have difficulty understanding and visualizing the complex concepts taught in this course, creating a barrier to students’ academic success. Active learning experiences for students have been shown to be effective in improving student learning outcomes. Virtual laboratories are digital learning environments that can provide active learning lab exercises for students using a simulation of a system. This project will recruit thermodynamics instructors from diverse institutions to provide input on the design of the virtual laboratory application and to implement the application in their courses. The study will examine how real time analysis of student actions while using the application can be used to assess student learning. The software application will be available to the public along with a collection of curated instructional support materials such as laboratory assignment handouts, quizzes, and presentations. Project results will be disseminated to engineering educators at professional conferences and in publications focused on engineering education.The goal of this project is to improve student learning outcomes in introductory thermodynamics courses. The project plans to conduct a workshop of thermodynamics instructors that represent a diversity of educational contexts, practices, and needs. Participants will use an existing prototype application, determine design constraints, define use cases, identify best practices for teaching, and brainstorm potential virtual laboratory challenges. The workshop results will guide the design and development of the virtual reality application so that it will be aligned with the different educational contexts. Participants will be asked to integrate the application in their thermodynamics courses and to provide feedback to the project team. The project includes three research questions: (1) How do different engineering instructors integrate VR-based virtual laboratories into their introductory thermodynamics coursework? (2) How does a VR-based virtual laboratory support student learning of introductory thermodynamics concepts? (3) How can student learning be assessed using stealth assessments embedded within the virtual laboratory itself? A cross-case analysis method will be used to synthesize findings across all of the instructors’ implementations and contexts. Qualitative methods will be used to derive key themes of player interaction and self-perception of learning as well as traditional statistical methods to analyze differences in student assessments. 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.

该项目旨在通过开发新的虚拟实验室软件应用程序来帮助学生学习热力学概念，以实现国家利益。入门本科热力学是许多工程专业的基础课程。但是，学生通常很难理解和可视化本课程中教授的复杂概念，从而为学生的学术成功造成了障碍。已经证明，为学生提供积极的学习经验可以有效地改善学生的学习成果。虚拟实验室是数字学习环境，可以使用系统模拟为学生提供积极的学习实验室练习。该项目将招募来自潜水员机构的热力学讲师，以提供有关虚拟实验室应用程序设计的意见，并在其课程中实施该应用程序。该研究将研究如何使用该应用程序对学生行为进行实时分析来评估学生学习。该软件应用程序将向公众提供，以及一系列精心策划的教学支持材料，例如实验室分配讲义，测验和演示文稿。项目结果将在专业会议和专注于工程教育的出版物中传播到工程教育。该项目的目的是改善学生的学习成果，在简介热力学课程中。该项目计划举办一个热力学讲师的研讨会，代表各种教育环境，实践和需求。参与者将使用现有的原型应用程序，确定设计限制，定义用例，确定教学的最佳实践以及集思广益潜在的虚拟实验室挑战。研讨会的结果将指导虚拟现实应用程序的设计和开发，以使其与不同的教育环境保持一致。将要求参与者将应用程序集成到其热力学课程中，并向项目团队提供反馈。该项目包括三个研究问题：（1）不同的工程讲师如何将基于VR的虚拟实验室整合到引言热力学课程中？ （2）基于VR的虚拟实验室如何支持学生对简介热力学概念的学习？ （3）如何使用嵌入虚拟实验室本身中的隐身评估来评估学生学习？跨案例分析方法将用于综合所有讲师的实现和上下文中的发现。定性方法将用于得出玩家互动和学习自我感知以及传统统计方法的关键主题，以分析学生评估的差异。 NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习轨道，该计划支持了承诺实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估审查标准，被认为是珍贵的支持。