Collaborative Research: Seeing Science: Using Computer Vision to Explore the Scientific Principles Behind Everyday Objects

协作研究：看到科学：利用计算机视觉探索日常物体背后的科学原理

• 批准号: 2202579
• 负责人: Paulo Blikstein
• 金额: $ 42.44万
• 依托单位: Teachers College, Columbia University
• 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=2202579&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Seeing; Science; Using

Understanding science is critical for preparing students to make sense of the world around them, make informed decisions, and participate in civic society and in the workforce. However, for many youth, science is a mysterious body of knowledge that feels disconnected from their lives. This project aims to bring science into middle school students’ homes, allowing them to see the science behind everyday objects and transforming lived environments into engaging learning spaces. Students will work on inquiry-based learning units on mobile phones that explore STEM phenomena topics like diffusion, electricity, and simple machines that are present in their kitchens, bedrooms, and local parks. They will be able to take photos and videos of their home and neighborhood, and computer vision algorithms will augment these images with diagrams, models, and simulations that illustrate the principles and mechanisms that explain the STEM phenomena. These overlays will allow students to observe, experiment with, and make predictions for phenomena such as tea diffusing in hot water or heat traveling through walls. The project will capitalize on existing technological devices, such as camera phones, to create “lenses” which enable students to see the science that is all around them. By committing to such low-cost solutions, the project aims to make science education accessible to more students, and enable at-home learning while avoiding undue pressures on family resources. Operating in diverse, low-resource environments motivates fundamental advances in computer vision: First, algorithms must automatically build up a 3D and temporal representation of a scene of a given physical phenomenon. Second, the system must expose hooks for educators to decide which graphics should be overlaid at which time and in which place atop this scene. Further, the project will engage in human-centered design to bring cutting-edge technologies to youth in ways that are accessible, easy to use, and achieve educational goals. Investigators will conduct extensive interviews with parents, students, and teachers about the aspects of students’ out-of-school lives that they would be willing to share with researchers, peers, and teachers. These data will enable the team to realize the benefits of equitable science education that builds on students’ lives and cultures. This research will help foster the development of a more agentic, inclusive way of engaging in science inquiry at home, encouraging students to have a personal connection with science from a young age. This is particularly important for students most at risk to perceive science as disconnected from their lives, and whom can benefit most from seeing science at work in their lives and 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.

理解科学对于使学生理解周围的世界，做出明智的决定并参与公民社会和劳动力至关重要。但是，对于许多青年来说，科学是一种神秘的知识体系，感觉与他们的生活脱节。该项目旨在将科学带入中学生的家中，使他们能够看到每天背后的科学，并将实时环境转变为吸引人的学习空间。他们将在手机上开展基于查询的学习单元，以探讨STEM现象主题，例如扩散，电力和厨房，卧室和当地公园中存在的简单机器。他们将能够拍摄自己的家庭和邻里的照片和视频，计算机视觉算法将使用图表，模型和模拟来增强这些图像，以说明解释STEM现象的原理和机制。这些叠加层将使学生能够观察，实验并对现象进行预测，例如在热水中扩散茶或在墙壁中传播的热量。该项目将利用现有的技术设备（例如相机电话）来创建“镜头”，使学生能够看到周围的科学。通过致力于这样的低成本解决方案，该项目旨在使更多学生可以接受科学教育，并在避免撤消家庭资源压力的同时，进行家庭学习。在潜水员的低资源环境中运行，可以激发计算机视觉的基本进步：首先，算法必须自动建立给定物理现象场景的3D和临时表示。其次，该系统必须将钩子暴露给教育工作者，以决定应覆盖哪些图形在哪个时间和位于该场景的位置。此外，该项目将以人为中心的设计为中心的设计，以易于使用，易于使用和成就教育目标的方式将尖端的技术带给年轻人。调查人员将向父母，学生和老师进行广泛的访谈，以了解他们愿意与研究人员，同龄人和老师分享的学生生活的各个方面。这些数据将使团队能够实现基于学生生活和文化的公平科学教育的好处。这项研究将有助于促进在家中进行科学探究的更老化，包容性的方式，鼓励学生从小就与科学建立个人联系。这对于最有风险的学生将科学视为与他们的生活脱节的风险尤其重要，并且他们可以从生活中的科学和社区中的科学中受益最大。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并且被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点评估来支持的。