Research Initiation: Developing Technical Identity of Construction Engineering Students with Mixed Reality

研究启动：利用混合现实培养建筑工程专业学生的技术认同

• 批准号: 2306226
• 负责人: Omobolanle Ogunseiju
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: Georgia Tech Research Corporation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2025-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2306226&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Research; Initiation; Developing; Technical; Identity

The construction industry continues to be one of the most dangerous industries in the nation, with a staggering rate of fatalities and non-fatalities. Although current advances in sensing technologies can mitigate this problem, the construction industry is experiencing a lack of skilled workforce to implement sensing technologies. This is partly because, typically, only the workforce who are technically inclined and identify with the implementation sensing technologies are engaged in advancing sensing technologies in the construction industry. It becomes important to seek ways of developing the professional technical identities of the future workforce, because the way students identify and see themselves is an indicator of their professional and educational persistence that often culminates in career success and increased retention of the skilled workforce. As a first step to address this, this research will investigate how interactions with sensing technologies in a mixed reality environment strengthen construction engineering students' professional technical identity development. The mixed reality environment will allow for hands-on implementation of sensing technologies on a virtual construction site, facilitate students’ engagement and interest, and provide a safe environment for exercising professional agency that promotes professional identity. This research will be led by a PI, who is a new engineering education researcher but experienced with sensing technologies and in designing and implementing pedagogical tools for construction education and will be mentored by an experienced engineering education researcher who is an expert in STEM learning, construction education, and professional identity development. By integrating the PI into the engineering education community, this project will advance the goal to expand the community of researchers studying the professional formation of engineers.This project will seek answers to two research questions RQ1: What are the professional technical identity practices related to implementing sensing technologies in the industry? And RQ2: In what ways does a mixed reality environment driven by technical professional identities influence technical professional identity development in construction engineering students? The first research question will involve an understanding of (1) the knowledge and experiences adopted by these professionals during with implementation of sensing technologies in the industry; (2) the processes (steps), and (3) the thought processes (decision-making process) taken by construction professionals to implement sensing technologies on construction applications. This will be facilitated through interactions with the mixed reality environment developed for the implementation of sensing technologies. The results from this phase will inform professional technical identity practices that will drive the improvement of the mixed reality environment. The research will implement the mixed reality environment in two institutions (minority and non-minority serving) with students from diverse backgrounds such as ethnicity, gender, and race. The second research question will adopt critical-incident interviews and surveys to identify how and why the mixed reality environment strengthened students’ professional technical identity development through the tenets of interest, recognition, and performance. This research will be conducted from a demographic point of view. The expected research outcomes are in (1) establishing a theoretical framework that defines the decision-making process and technical steps adopted by professionals who identify with the technical workforce for deploying sensing technologies in the construction industry; (2) developing theories that describe the psychological risks of a multimodal mixed reality environment designed for professional technical identity development; and (3) developing substantive theories that explain how and why a mixed reality environment strengthens professional technical identity development in construction engineering students. The defined experiences, decision-making process, and technical steps embodying the professional technical identity practices will facilitate the recruitment and retention of minoritized students and, in the long term, increase their retention in the workforce and broaden participation in engineering.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.

建筑行业仍然是美国最危险的行业之一，死亡人数和非死亡人数惊人，尽管当前传感技术的进步可以缓解这一问题，但建筑行业正面临缺乏熟练劳动力的问题。部分原因是，通常只有具有技术倾向并认同传感技术实施的劳动力才会参与推进建筑行业的传感技术，寻求发展未来专业技术身份的方法变得非常重要。劳动力，因为学生识别和看待自己的方式是一个指标他们对专业和教育的坚持往往最终会带来职业成功并增加熟练劳动力的保留率作为解决这一问题的第一步，本研究将调查如何在混合现实环境中与传感技术的交互加强建筑工程学生的专业技术身份发展。混合现实环境将允许在虚拟建筑工地上亲自实施传感技术，促进学生的参与和兴趣，并为行使专业机构提供一个安全的环境，以促进专业身份。这项研究将由 PI 领导。他是一名新的工程教育研究员，但在传感技术方面经验丰富设计和实施建筑教育教学工具，并将由一位经验丰富的工程教育研究人员指导，他是 STEM 学习、建筑教育和专业身份发展方面的专家。通过将 PI 融入工程教育社区，该项目将取得进展。目标是扩大研究工程师专业形成的研究人员群体。该项目将寻求两个研究问题的答案 RQ1：与在行业中实施传感技术相关的专业技术身份实践是什么？由技术专业人员驱动的混合现实环境身份影响建筑工程学生的技术专业身份发展？第一个研究问题将涉及了解（1）这些专业人员在行业中实施传感技术时所采用的知识和经验；（2）过程（步骤）， (3) 建筑专业人员在建筑应用中实施传感技术的思维过程（决策过程），这将通过与为实施传感技术而开发的混合现实环境的交互来促进。为专业技术身份实践提供信息，推动混合现实的改进该研究将在两个机构（少数族裔和非少数族裔服务）中实施混合现实环境，学生来自不同的背景，如种族、性别和种族。第二个研究问题将采用关键事件访谈和调查来确定如何实施。以及为什么混合现实环境通过兴趣、认可和表现的原则加强学生的专业技术认同发展。这项研究将从人口学的角度进行，预期的研究成果在于（1）建立一个理论框架：定义决策过程和采用的技术步骤由认同在建筑行业部署传感技术的技术人员的专业人员；(2) 开发描述为专业技术身份开发而设计的多模式混合现实环境的心理风险的理论；以及 (3) 开发解释如何进行的实质性理论；以及为什么混合现实环境可以加强建筑工程学生的专业技术身份发展。体现专业技术身份实践的明确经验、决策过程和技术步骤将有助于招收和留住少数族裔学生，从长远来看，提高他们在劳动力中的保留率，这反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得广泛支持。