Author(s):
Need: Geotechnical engineering plays a critical role in addressing today’s global issues covering energy demand, environmental protection, infrastructure sustainability, and hazard mitigation. The traditional way of geotechnical education raises multiple issues, such as limited field experience, disconnected learning contents, and few engineering application opportunities. The number of students who choose geotechnical as their specialization remains low, especially female or underrepresented minorities. These facts highlight the necessity to bring changes to existing geotechnical education and the need to promote the recruitment, retention, and diversity of a future geotechnical workforce. The project goal is to develop and implement a multiphysics-enriched mixed reality game system that provides an attractive and motivating environment to support essential cyberinfrastructure (CI) knowledge and metacognitive skills with students for active and enhanced learning of geotechnical engineering.Guiding Question: Specific research questions identified for this study are: (1) What is the magnitude of difference in student CI knowledge and skills for those who complete two or three games compared to those who complete the traditional group project? (2) What is the magnitude of difference in students’ strategic thinking and learning of geotechnical engineering concepts for those who complete two or three games compared to those who complete the traditional group project? (3) What is the magnitude of difference in student complex problem solving ability applied to geotechnical principles in multi-step engineering design problems for those who complete two or three games compared to those who complete the traditional group project? (4) What is the magnitude of difference in student ethical decision-making in engineering tasks for those who complete two or three games compared to those who complete the traditional group project?Outcomes: This project will result in the following major outcomes. It will (1) show evidence of understanding and application of tactical thinking strategies modeled by the learning materials and show evidence of using metacognitive strategies to comprehend geotechnical concepts; (2) show evidence of understanding games, simulations, modeling, and collaboration tools and show significantly increased familiarity with geotechnical laboratory experimental procedure and data analysis; (3) show evidence of fluent usage of problem-solving techniques through standard exam questions and show ability to articulate alternative solutions and consider their broader impacts; and (4) Students will show significantly increased interests in learning materials, and students especially those from underserved groups will show increased confidence in using CI tools. Broader Impacts: This project will have a broader impact in promoting students’ strategic, constructive, and big-picture thinking and problem solving abilities. The fun game-based learning environment will contribute to the recruitment and retention of Rowan and UDC students, especially those from underrepresented groups, to enhance their interest, persistence, and preparation to pursue a successful career or graduate school in the geotechnical engineering field.
Coauthors
Chenchen Huang, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ; Ying Tang, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ; Cheng Zhu, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ; Sarah Ferguson, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ; Sarah Bauer, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ; Lei Wang, University of District of Columbia, Washington, DC
