An active learning approach to teach distributed forces using augmented reality with guided inquiry

Reality check

Extended-Reality Technologies: An Overview of Emerging Applications in Medical Education and Clinical Care.

Learning through augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences has become a valuable approach in modern robotics education. This study evaluated this approach and investigated how 99 first-year industrial engineering students explored robot systems through such online experiences while staying at home. The objective was to examine learning in the AR/VR environment and evaluate its contribution to understanding the robot systems and to fostering integrative thinking. During the AR experiences that we developed using Vuforia Studio, the students learned about TurtleBot2 and RACECAR MN robots while disassembling and modifying their models and by obtaining information about their components. In the VR experience with the RacecarSim simulator, the students explored sensor-based robot navigation. Quizzes were used to assess understanding of robot systems, and a post-workshop questionnaire evaluated the workshop’s contribution to learning about the robots and to training integrative thinking skills. The data indicate that the students gained understanding of the robot systems, appreciated the contribution of the augmented and virtual reality apps, and widely used integrative thinking throughout the practice. Our study shows that AR apps and virtual simulators can be effectively used for experiential learning about robot systems in online courses. However, these experiences cannot replace practice with real robots.

Students often struggle to understand the vector dot product, which is a foundational operation used in mathematics and engineering. To improve undergraduate engineering students’ understanding of the dot product, we developed and tested the effects of an augmented reality (AR) app. The app utilized scaffolding and storyline narration to cover: (1) computation of the angle between vectors, and (2) the projection of a force vector onto a line. Students were randomly assigned to either a treatment group to utilize the AR, or a control group for traditional peer collaboration. Pre/post testing was conducted using a 14-item, 100-point test. 61 pairs of pre/posttest data (AR n = 25, control n = 36) were analyzed using ANCOVA. The 20.9-point improvement in the AR group's mean test scores was significantly larger than the 9.33-point increase in the control group. The effect size (partial η 2 = 0.135) was considered medium to large. The Instructional Materials Motivation Survey assessed motivation from 12 students in each group. Motivation of the AR group was 19.3% larger than that of the control. The difference was significant with a large effect size. The results suggest that the 3D visualization and immersive qualities of AR may improve learning of vector operations in STEM disciplines.

The lack of diversity and the under-performance of underrepresented students in STEM courses have been the focus of researchers in the last decade. In particular, many hypotheses have been put forth for the reasons for the under-representation and under-performance of women in physics. Here, we present a framework for helping all students learn in science courses that takes into account four factors: (1) the characteristics of instruction and learning tools, (2) student characteristics, (3) implementation of instruction and learning tools, and (4) the students’ environments. While there has been much research on factor 1 (characteristics of instruction and learning tools), there has been less focus on factor 2 (students’ characteristics, and in particular, motivational factors). Here, we focus on the baseline characteristics of introductory physics students obtained from survey data to inform factor 2 of the framework. A longitudinal analysis of students’ motivational characteristics in two-semester introductory physics courses was performed by administering pre- and post-surveys that evaluated students’ self-efficacy, grit, fascination with physics, value associated with physics, intelligence mindset, and physics epistemology. We found that female students reported lower levels of self-efficacy, fascination, and value associated with physics, and held a more “fixed” view of intelligence in the context of physics compared to male students. Female students’ fascination and value associated with physics decreased significantly more than males’ after an introductory physics course sequence. In addition, females’ view of physics intelligence became more “fixed” compared to males’ by the end of an introductory physics course sequence. Grit was the only factor on which females reported averages that were equal to or higher than males throughout introductory physics courses. The findings inform the framework and have implications for the development and implementation of effective pedagogies and learning tools to help all students learn.

Augmented reality (AR) still struggles to be widely used in real processes in the construction industry despite its great potential. This is partly due to the difficulties that exist in aligning holograms and maintaining their stability, especially for outdoor applications. In addition, being indoor-outdoor interactions crucial for built environment management, it would be important that AR apps can work seamlessly. Alignment in indoor environments cannot make use of methods such as GNSS, nor can all environments be assumed to have been previously initialized with AR tools. Thus, marker-less AR registration is crucial for indoor applications. This paper presents an approach for marker-less AR registration seamlessly in both outdoor and indoor environments. Real-time kinematic positioning (RTK) and Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) technologies have been chosen for outdoor registration, while image comparison based on convolutional neural networks (CNN) for indoor registration. In this research, the application of these two technologies and their integration have been studied and tested on site on a real Facility Management use case related to a university campus. The proposed approach has shown very promising results in displaying BIM elements of the electrical system seamlessly superimposed through AR to their physical counterparts in mixed indoor-outdoor environments

Objective Augmented reality (AR) is a rapidly developing technology that has substantial potential as a novel approach for addiction treatment, including tobacco use. AR can facilitate the delivery of cue exposure therapy (CET) such that individuals can experience the treatment in their natural environments as viewed via a smartphone screen, addressing the limited generalizbility of extinction learning. Previously, our team developed a basic AR app for smoking cessation and demonstrated the necessary mechanisms for CET. Specifically, we showed that the AR smoking cues, compared to neutral cues, elicited substantial cue reactivity (i.e. increased urge) and that repeated exposure to the AR smoking cues reduced urge (i.e. extinction) in a laboratory setting. Here we report the next step in the systematic development of the AR app, in which we assessed the usability and acceptability of the app among daily smokers in their natural environments. Method Daily smokers (N = 23, 78.3% female, Mean Age = 43.4, Mean Cigarettes/Day = 14.9), not actively quitting, were instructed to use the AR app in locations and situations where they smoke (e.g. home, bar) at least 5 times per day over one week. The study is registered in clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04101422). Results Results indicated high usability and acceptability. Most of the participants (73.9%) used the AR app on at least 5 days. Participants found the AR cues realistic and well-integrated in their natural environments. The AR app was perceived as easy to use (Mean = 4.1/5) and learn (mean of 2 days to learn). Overall satisfaction with the app was also high. Secondary analyses found that 56.5% reported reduced smoking, with an average 26% reduction in cigarettes per day at follow-up. Conclusions These findings set the stage for a randomized controlled trial testing the AR app as an adjuvant therapy for treating tobacco dependence, with potential applicability to other substances. KEY MESSAGE This study found that the augmented reality (AR) smartphone application that utlized cue exposure treatment for smoking cessation was perceived as easy to use and learn in the natural, day-to-day environment of daily smokers. Findings set the stage for a larger clinical trial testing the AR app as an adjuvant therapy for treating tobacco dependence, with potential applicability to other addictive behaviors.

This study was conducted to determine if the use of the technology known as Classroom Performance System (CPS), specifically referred to as “Clickers”, improves the learning gains of students enrolled in a biology course for science majors. CPS is one of a group of developing technologies adapted for providing feedback in the classroom using a learner-centered approach. It supports and facilitates discussion among students and between them and teachers, and provides for participation by passive students. Advocates, influenced by constructivist theories, claim increased academic achievement. In science teaching, the results have been mixed, but there is some evidence of improvements in conceptual understanding. The study employed a pretest-posttest, non-equivalent groups experimental design. The sample consisted of 226 participants in six sections of a college biology course at a large community college in South Florida with two instructors trained in the use of clickers. Each instructor randomly selected their sections into CPS (treatment) and non-CPS (control) groups. All participants filled out a survey that included demographic data at the beginning of the semester. The treatment group used clicker questions throughout, with discussions as necessary, whereas the control groups answered the same questions as quizzes, similarly engaging in discussion where necessary. The learning gains were assessed on a pre/post-test basis. The average learning gains, defined as the actual gain divided by the possible gain, were slightly better in the treatment group than in the control group, but the difference was statistically non-significant. An Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) statistic with pretest scores as the covariate was conducted to test for significant differences between the treatment and control groups on the posttest. A second ANCOVA was used to determine the significance of differences between the treatment and control groups on the posttest scores, after controlling for sex, GPA, academic status, experience with clickers, and instructional style. The results indicated a small increase in learning gains but these were not statistically significant. The data did not support an increase in learning based on the use of the CPS technology. This study adds to the body of research that questions whether CPS technology merits classroom adaptation.

Written quiz responses of 653 students in three separate courses are analyzed in detail. There has been relatively little research on student learning of thermodynamics in physics courses at the university level. A recent study by Loverude et al. has made it evident that students at the introductory level (and beyond) face many significant difficulties in learning fundamental thermodynamic concepts such as the first law of thermodynamics. I have been engaged in an ongoing project with T. J. Greenbowe to investigate student learning of thermodynamics in both physics and chemistry courses. As part of that investigation, a short diagnostic quiz has been administered over the past two years in the calculus-based introductory physics course at Iowa State University (ISU). This quiz focuses on heat, work, and the first law of thermodynamics. At ISU, thermodynamics is studied at the end of the second semester of the twosemester sequence in calculus-based introductory general physics. This course is taught in a traditional manner, with large lecture classes (up to 250 students), weekly recitation sections (about 25 students), and weekly labs taught by graduate students. Homework is assigned and graded every week. Thermal physics comprises 18-20% of the course coverage, and includes a wide variety of topics such as calorimetry, heat conduction, kinetic theory, laws of thermodynamics, heat engines, entropy, etc. The diagnostic quiz used in this study is shown below; it has been administered in three separate classes. The version shown here was administered in May 2001; the other two versions (December 1999 and December 2000) had very minor variations from the one shown here. (There were one or two additional questions on these quizzes which are not discussed here.) The 1999 and 2000 classes were taught by the same instructor, using a different textbook in each course. The 2001 course was taught by a different instructor, using the same text that was employed in the 1999 course. Both instructors are very experienced and have taught introductory physics at ISU for many years. The quiz was administered in two different ways: in 1999 and 2001, it was given as a practice quiz in the final recitation session (last week of class). In almost all cases it was ungraded; one instructor used it as a graded quiz. In 2000 the quiz was administered as an ungraded practice quiz in the very last lecture class of the year. This p-V diagram represents a system consisting of a fixed amount of ideal gas that undergoes two different processes in going from state A to state B:

PurposeThe relationship between medicine and video games is growing tremendously. In the field of medicine, realistic simulation and games have risen in popularity, and in turn, gamification has transformed the game elements into a non-gaming world for human engagement like motivation and performance. It is not surprising that game-based learning has branched out in the realm of the medical world. The person’s psychological state determines the effectiveness of education during training. This study aims to examine how the usage of immersive technology impacts users’ tendency to access immersive resources for learning during an emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic. Augmented reality (AR) apps have grown to be a popular tool in education nowadays. The purpose of using AR applications is to impart knowledge during the COVID-19 pandemic. An investigation was conducted to test the effectiveness of immersive technology in learning by developing a game-based experimental model and testing it on 100 non-randomly selected users of various ages. This study shows that users are open to new teaching approaches, including AR applications, in response to the challenges presented by the pandemic. AR applications provide a potential solution to the difficulties associated with education by providing an immersive and interesting experience that enhances learning-based results. This demonstrates that while using AR apps, an individual’s viewpoints and sense of control over their learning are more essential in influencing their conduct. By integrating AR apps into learning systems, immersive education may enhance users’ engagement, motivation and overall learning experiences.Design/methodology/approachConvenience sampling was chosen as the method for data analysis. One hundred users from a leading private university in the northwest part of India participated in this study. This gave a minimum sample size of 79 participants. To analyse the user experience (UX), a UX questionnaire was adopted. In this research paper, the researcher explores the importance of immersive games that emphasise awareness and experience through a series of questionnaires to assess the effective awareness of COVID through immersive technology, because the immersive element plays a major role in the quality and success of awareness through COVID-19 fighter video games as an interactive learning platform.FindingsResults showed that most people do not know how to deal with an infected person in a critical situation; either they feel scared or deal without taking precautions. COVID-19 fighters are empowered with a virtual patient, which players can interact with. Once the user finishes the FPS game, he must find out the source of viruses that will be an AR-based virtual patient. The first step of the instruction will ask the user to give the mask to the infected person; in the second step, it will ask the user to sanitise his body. In the third step, it will ask to hospitalise.Originality/valueThe research offers empirical evidence on the effectiveness of augmented reality-based game approaches to increase reality in basic education to boost the awareness of individuals. The report also gives an example of good cross-cutting education materials that provide the player with a very valuable tool for understanding knowledge of covid awareness by playing the COVID-19 fighter game.

Augmented reality (AR) technology has been widely used in various business applications in the past five years. Since the beginning of 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on various industries, AR has become one of the technologies that have significantly reduced physical interactions between buyers and sellers. This chapter reflects its finding in fours areas: 1) eCommerce mobile AR apps can allow customers to better interact with products virtually. 2) AR facilitates customer shopping journey in three stages of purchasing, namely before-purchase, purchase, and after-purchase stages. 3) Design and develop mobile AR apps with two features of virtuality and interactivity to the extent that enables customers to favor AR apps to the offline shopping experience in a sustainable trend. 4) Online retailers can utilize their AR apps to predict target customers' preferences, hence giving them effective promotions to motivate them to buy their preferred products online.

With the help of augmented reality apps objects and text can be added virtually to the physical world (e.g. physical experiments) in real time. The augmented reality (AR) app ‘PUMA: Spannungslabor’ enhances simple electric circuits experiments for students with virtual representations based on the electron gas analogy including visualisations of interior processes in various components such as lamps and resistors. This opens up new possibilities for connecting theory and experiment in secondary school physics teaching. While using the AR app students are enabled to acquire qualitative and semi-quantitative knowledge about the basic concepts of current, voltage, potential, and resistance as well as the laws of series and parallel circuits easier and more directly. This holistic approach of learning through experiments can facilitate a deeper and more interconnected understanding of the topics covered in physics lessons.

The feed value of sesame meal, a main agricultural by-product from the northern area of Gyeongsangbuk-do province, was assessed in Hanwoo steers. A total of twelve Hanwoo steers (average BW = 412.08 kg) were allocated into a Control (fed no sesame meal) or Treatment (fed sesame meal from 14.6 months of age) group, considering BW and ages, and the animals were fed for a total of 480 days. The final BW, total gain and ADG for the Control and Treatment groups were 741.17 kg and 762.67 kg, 331.84 kg and 347.84 kg, and 0.69 kg and 0.72 kg, respectively, showing better performances in sesame meal-fed animals. Feed requirements during the whole experimental period improved by feeding sesame meal (15.31 and 14.87 for Control and Treatment group, respectively). Hanwoo steers fed sesame meal also showed a 22.83 kg heavier cold carcass weight (424.17 kg and 447.00 kg in the Control and Treatment group, respectively), and 2.41% improved dressing percentages (58.60% and 57.22% for the Control and Treatment group, respectively). The area of the M. longissimus dorsi was 91.83 cm 2 and 88.33 cm 2 in the Control and Treatment group, respectively. The final yield of A and B grade meat were 50 : 50% and 33.3 : 66.7% from the Control and Treatment group, respectively. The average marbling score was 4.83 and 5.50, and the numeric values for quality grade was 2.17 and 2.67 for the Control and Treatment group, respectively, showing better beef quality in sesame meal-fed Hanwoo steers. In fact, there were two animals with beef quality 1 ++ in the sesame meal-fed group. The melting point of lipid extracted from the M. longissimus dorsi of Hanwoo steers was significantly (p<0.05) lower in the Treatment group (28.28℃) compared to the Control group (30.65℃). The composition of saturated fatty acids, C14:0 (myristic acid) and C16:0 (palmitic acid), were significantly lower in sesame meal-fed animals, 4.70% and 2.20% for myristic acid, and 30.55% and 27.12% for palmitic acid, in the Control and Treatment group, respectively. In contrast, there were no significant differences in C18:0 (stearic acid) composition between the groups. The composition of a representative unsaturated fatty acid, C18:1 (oleic acid), was significantly higher in Treatment animals (49.89%) than Control animals (44.29%) (p<0.05). The ratio of total monounsaturated fatty acids / saturated fatty acids; M/S) was 1.10 and 1.36 for the Control and Treatment groups, respectively, showing remarkably higher ratios in sesame meal-fed group. The content of glutamic acid, related to beef flavor, was significantly higher in the Treatment group (3.35 mg/100 g) compared to the Control group (1.88 mg/100g) (p<0.05). The tenderness score, evaluated by an eight-point scale in the panel test, and overall palatability (based on juiciness, flavor, oiliness, and umami) were significantly higher in the Treatment group (5.67 and 5.23, respectively) than the Control group (3.83 and 4.60, respectively) (p<0.05). In conclusion, the current results imply that sesame meal could serve as a good supplement for Hanwoo steers for producing high quality beef.

A smartphone augmented reality (AR) application (app) was explored for clinical use in presurgical planning and lesion scalp localization. We programmed an AR App on a smartphone. The accuracy of the AR app was tested on a 3D-printed head model, using the Euclidean distance of displacement of virtual objects. For clinical validation, 14 patients with brain tumors were included in the study. Preoperative MRI images were used to generate 3D models for AR contents. The 3D models were then transferred to the smartphone AR app. Tumor scalp localization was marked, and a surgical corridor was planned on the patient's head by viewing AR images on the smartphone screen. Standard neuronavigation was applied to evaluate the accuracy of the smartphone. Max-margin distance (MMD) and area overlap ratio (AOR) were measured to quantitatively validate the clinical accuracy of the smartphone AR technique. In model validation, the total mean Euclidean distance of virtual object displacement using the smartphone AR app was 4.7 ± 2.3mm. In clinical validation, the mean duration of AR app usage was 168.5 ± 73.9s. The total mean MMD was 6.7 ± 3.7mm, and total mean AOR was 79%. The smartphone AR app provides a new way of experience to observe intracranial anatomy in situ, and it makes surgical planning more intuitive and efficient. Localization accuracy is satisfactory with lesions larger than 15mm.

In this study we conduct an integrated assessment of first-year performance in introductory calculus and physics courses. We use well-accepted conceptual assessment instruments, initial state data such as the SAT, and our own recently developed instruments designed to measure aptitude in mathematics to develop a predictive model for student performance. The analyzed population was composed of undergraduate students at Clarkson University, cross-enrolled in the calculus-based introductory physics course and the introductory calculus course from 2004 to 2007. Both the mathematics and physics classes are large-enrollment, lecture-based courses. By analyzing the combined data sets, we found the expected strong correlation between performance (final grade) in the mathematics course and performance in the physics course. We analyze not only the predictive nature of the collected data, but also the impact of the various corrective measures on final grade. This analysis contributes to an integrated evaluation of the current programs which could lead to an assessment-based initiative to offer strategic guidance to incoming students, better placing them for academic and career success in their selected STEM disciplines.