Virtual Modeling for Architecture: teaching today digital representation techniques to tomorrow’s professional designers

There is a growing global interest in extending the field of study from stand-alone learning environment to collaborative or cooperative learning environment. In the light of the recent explosive growth of information communication technology, the platform for collaborative or cooperative activities should be revisited. This paper investigates the technological challenges in using distributed multimedia in a collaborative learning environment and proposes an architecture for multimedia processing in the collaborative learning environment. V-Class, a Java application suite with intensive distributed multimedia support, has been developed and deployed, allowing collaborative learning between students and tutors at remote locations. Students can engage in group activities and also collaborate with tutors. Each student sees a common shared window on which text or graphical objects may be added and which can then be shared online. A built-in chat room supports collaborative dialogue. Students can work either in collaborative groups or in teams as directed by the tutor. This paper summarizes the technical architecture of the V-Class system as well as the pedagogical implications of the suite.

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the value students place on the sustainable strategies game (SSG) which seeks to improve student engagement in business sustainability through enhanced game-based learning. This game provides an alternative collaborative learning environment to the traditional instructivist approach to enrich Education for Sustainability (EfS) learning experiences and enhance student engagement.Design/methodology/approachStudents’ reflections on their game-based learning experiences and suggestions for game development were collected through a short qualitative survey. Results are explored through three frameworks, namely, the multifaceted student value model, the dimensions of engagement framework and the UK higher education authority (HEA) framework for engagement through partnership.FindingsResearch findings suggest the SSG provides game-based learning within EfS that delivers “edutainment” within an active, collaborative and experiential learning environment that the students value. It is also able to challenge thinking and emotionally engage students with the fundamentals of business sustainability. Reflection-on-action and the students’ role as co-researchers in game development allow students to become active participants in their learning as well as knowledge producers and evaluators. These outcomes deliver the UK HEA’s core facets of student engagement through partnership.Research limitations/implicationsThis practice-focused study presents the self-reported results of a one-time, small study which does not offer generalised, independently validated responses. However, the findings may be of interest to educators considering the adoption of game-based learning and those seeking new learning cultures for EfS.Practical implicationsGame-based learning and teaching approaches can achieve a learner-centred active, collaborative learning environment that enhances student engagement with business sustainability.Originality/valueExperiences gained from this study should assist others in the implementation of game-based learning to engage students in business sustainability.

This study investigated the relationships between computer science (CS) course effectiveness and academic performance in a Guangdong Province private school through an integrated environmental and social psychology framework, examining collaborative learning environment and technology environment perception as mediating mechanisms. A quantitative cross-sectional design surveyed several hundred Grade 4 international high school students enrolled in computer science courses at Guangdong Country Garden School during the 2024-2025 academic year. Results revealed that all five CS course effectiveness dimensions—hands-on experiences, real-world applications, collaborative learning, problem-solving abilities, and technology landscape readiness—demonstrated strong positive correlations with academic performance (r=.790-.879, p<.01), with problem-solving abilities emerging as the strongest predictor (β=.342). Mediation analysis using Hayes' PROCESS macro with bootstrapping procedures confirmed that collaborative learning environment (14.7%-23.7% mediation) and technology environment perception (14.7%-23.9% mediation) functioned as significant partial mediators, with real-world applications showing strongest social-psychological mediation and hands-on experiences exhibiting strongest environmental mediation. Hierarchical regression demonstrated that environmental and social-psychological factors contributed unique variance beyond course effectiveness dimensions (ΔR²=.043, p<.001). Findings provide empirical support for person-environment fit theories and social cognitive frameworks, highlighting the importance of optimizing both technological infrastructure and interpersonal climate for CS education effectiveness in private school contexts.

The importance of this study is linked to the topic of increasing the quality of future teacher professional training by creating a collaborative learning environment. The purpose of this research is to conduct a theoretical analysis of the effectiveness of creating a collaborative learning environment in university and demonstrate its impact on the successful professional activity of future teachers. The paper presents the data of the experimental research in the form of Action Research, conducted among 1st and 2nd year students of pedagogical specialties in the natural sciences (chemistry, biology, physics, computer science). The core requirements of the personality-oriented, activity-based, systemic, environmental, axiological and competence-based approaches form the methodological foundation for building a collaborative learning environment. Students who are immersed in a collaborative learning environment have the opportunity to reflect on the level of formation of their own professional skills, the success of achieving educational goals, and the processes of self-realization, self-development, and self-actualization on a regular basis. This study examines the impact of collaborative learning on students’ communication skills, knowledge quality, assessment of educational achievements, and study time savings. The research findings are linked to the use of Action Research in the educational process, involving students in the process of professional self-improvement. The novelty of the research is characterized by the identification of developmental effect of a collaborative learning environment based on the concept of a zone of actual student professional growth. The practical significance of the research is the development of positive experience in structuring the educational process, with the prospect of applying this experience in future professional activities, such as working with students.

Peer mentorship has gained prominence in adult education to boost learner engagement and motivation. However, gaps exist regarding its cross-cultural adaptability, implementation barriers, and the mediating role of collaborative learning environments on engagement and motivation. Data was collected from 150 international students in Chin and analyzed via SPSS for descriptive statistics, and Smart PLS for structural equation modeling. The study found mentorship strongly predicts collaborative learning environments that mediates learner engagement and motivation. While, implementation challenges directly affect learner engagement and motivation. The study advances theoretical discourse, positioning collaborative learning environments as a significant mediator. It calls for policies creating culturally-responsive collaborative environments, training and resources to address the gaps. These results underscores' role of peer mentorship in adult education helping educators and policymakers to support lifelong learning in multicultural societies.

IntroductionEngaging students in co-planning their learning paths, peer cooperation, tutoring, and network building in an inclusive and project-based environment has been associated with higher academic and professional success. However, university teachers face challenges in offering guidance and academic supervision to optimize student learning, particularly in the context of online learning. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of adapting collaborative learning environments, peer tutoring, and academic supervision in the online learning space.MethodsAn experimental design methodology was employed to investigate the impact of collaborative learning environments, peer tutoring, and academic supervision on student engagement, interest, and dedication to learning.ResultsThe findings showed direct positive effects on the level of engagement (VI; M = 23.18, SD = 5), higher interest and dedication to the learning process (DE: M = 26.93, SD = 3.21), and better concentration and enthusiasm while studying (AB, M = 24.83, SD = 8.52).DiscussionThe results suggest that adapting to online learning by providing collaborative learning environments, peer tutoring, and academic supervision can enhance student engagement and motivation. Further research is needed to explore the long-term effects and scalability of these interventions in diverse educational contexts.

In this paper it will be argued that the incorporation of WIKIS within a collaborative learning environment has the ability to overcome the restraints created by larger classes. The paper will define what a collaborative learning environment should look like and how wiki technology has been used to create effective learning programs for large classes. The paper will also set out some ideas for teaching applications incorporating wikis along with some correlation evidence showing a relationship between student academic achievement and participation in wiki activities.

Three-dimensional (3D) digital models can enable designers to tailor garments to specific measurements and preferences, ensuring a perfect fit and personalized aesthetics. This precision would allow to achieve seamless integration between the digital representation, the customer’s body shape, and the physical woven garment outcome. If the weaving machine can be automated, fast, cost-effective, custom, exact fit garments could be produced in a matter of days due to the elimination of the 2D patternmaking steps in the garment process. Weaving a 3D shape, which was designed in a 3D software program, using a circular weaving machine requires certain grid rules applied to the 3D shape to optimize the weaving process, minimize material wastage, and ensure a successful outcome. In the present study, we proposed rules for weaving 3D surfaces from body scan files to enable future algorithm development. These rules aim to address factors such as weaving efficiency, structural integrity, and the limitations of circular weaving machines.

This study is aimed at helping medical students deal with their problems in medical English learning through teaching assistant system and tries to find answers to the following questions: (1) Will teaching assistant system do any help to students in the Medical English Program? (2) Will teaching assistants' backgrounds influence the results of Medical English instruction? (3) Which level of students will benefit most from teaching assistant system? The subjects were students who attended Medical English. The results showed that in a collaborative learning environment, most students were willing to take the challenge to face their learning difficulties. They were encouraged to read the English original texts gradually and naturally. Student learning could be enhanced with the help of either the medical TA or the English TA. Of the three levels, the basic students benefited the most from teaching assistant system, and the advanced students the least. But it seemed that almost each member benefited from this collaborative environment, including students, the TAs and the English teacher.

Contents and subject index

We developed collaborative extensions to 'Vlab', a web-based laboratory that supports students in conducting virtual chemistry experiments. While results from a recent study indicated that VLab promotes chemistry learning, they also revealed that there is room for improvement. We embedded VLab into a collaborative environment that implements a computer-supported collaboration script for guiding students through the stages of scientific experimentation. We describe our pedagogical approach, our collaboration script, and the collaborative learning environment which implements it. We present results from two small-scale studies and a contrasting-case analysis of how adaptive prompts, in addition to the fixed script, affected student behaviour.

The role of modern engineers as problem-definer often require collaborating with cross-disciplinary teams of professionals to understand and effectively integrate the role of other disciplines and accelerate innovation. To prepare future engineers for this emerging role, undergraduate engineering students should engage in collaborative and interdisciplinary activities with faculties and students from various disciplines (e.g., engineering and social science). Such cross-disciplinary experiences of undergraduate engineering students are not common in today's university curriculum. Through a project funded by the division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC) of the National Science Foundation (NSF), a research team of the West Virginia University developed and offered a Holistic Engineering Project Experience (HEPE) to the engineering students. Holistic engineering is an approach catering to the overall engineering profession, instead of focusing on any distinctive engineering discipline such as electrical, civil, chemical, or mechanical engineering. Holistic Engineering is based upon the fact that the traditional engineering courses do not offer sufficient non-technical skills to the engineering students to work effectively in cross-disciplinary social problems (e.g., development of transportation systems and services). The Holistic Engineering approach enables engineering students to learn non-engineering skills (e.g., strategic communication skills) beyond engineering math and sciences, which play a critical role in solving complex 21st-century engineering problems. The research team offered the HEPE course in Spring 2020 semester, where engineering students collaborated with social science students (i.e., students from economics and strategic communication disciplines) to solve a contemporary, complex, open-ended transportation engineering problem with social consequences. Social science students also received the opportunity to develop a better understanding of technical aspects in science and engineering. The open-ended problem presented to the students was to "Restore and Improve Urban Infrastructure" in connection to the future deployment of connected and autonomous vehicles, which is identified as a grand challenge by the National Academy of Engineers (NAE). The findings of the HEPE offering revealed the effectiveness of implementing a cross-disciplinary course setting in enhancing the team learning experience of the engineering students. In the pre-survey, the similarity between the HEPE and traditional groups was observed in most surveyed constructs. HEPE students showed better performances in the majority of assessed constructs in mid-, and post-surveys than the traditional groups of engineering students. Increased trust while working with cross-disciplinary students and higher awareness and appreciation of their learning outcomes are expected to help engineering students learn non-technical professional skills and work effectively in a collaborative environment. Overall, the findings gathered from this initial HEPE offering can provide early evidence to the engineering and broader higher education community in promoting similar HEPE course offerings to advance the professional formation of engineers. In future, the findings of HEPE course offering in Spring 2020 semester will be compared with the findings of the HEPE course offering in Fall 2020 semester to investigate the consistency of the findings. In addition, future research will implement the HEPE concept in traditional engineering courses and evaluate engineering student's learning beyond the conventional/technical skills.

Nowadays, remote collaborative learning tools for computer science education mostly emphasize providing learning resources and realizing virtual collaborative learning environment for students. Many people in this field tend to have their mind fixed on the process improvement of such a collaboration as a whole, while few notice that individuals may have different roles and impacts on this type of teamwork. There usually is a “supervisor” on the team, who offers support to all members in the collaborative learning environment. However, such support may not always be as accessible as students demand it to be. Therefore, this paper describes a cloud-based tool to support software engineering practice courses in collaboration with remote tutors. This system utilizes a cloud storage platform to provide sharing of multimedia study materials and a better management of project developing cycles. A remote collaborative component called the Virtual Debug Laboratory is designed to improve and share students’ debugging experience in the same team. The most innovative feature of this system is that it amplifies the role of tutoring in remote collaborative learning environments so that tutors can, in real time, assist students in debugging during actual project developing and demonstrate step by step to the students the process of debugging. The results of the analyzed data regarding the use of this system indicate that the system can potentially enhance students’ abilities in project developing and debugging in software engineering practice courses. It is our hope that these preliminary data can provide a future reference for the software education community.

Gamification is a term that refers to the use of game design elements in contexts other than video games. In these contexts, the primary goal of gamification is not playful, but rather to motivate users to perform tasks or change behaviors. It is also the goal of gamification, captivate users and influence them to persist in the use of the gamified system. In recent years, we have witnessed a growing interest in gamification and its application in learning environments, especially online. In learning contexts, motivating students to follow up on teaching tasks is an important role for teachers and intelligent educational systems. However, ill-designed gamification interventions can become a distraction capable of interfering on the teaching-learning process. Despite this, most studies in the area remain focused on the potential benefits of gamification and less on investigating systematized solutions to achieve these benefits. Our contribution to the solution of the problem is based on the use of persuasion profiles that take into account the student's player roles. We conduct systematic mappings of the literature to gather information about gamification in education, and how group formation in collaborative learning environments. As a result, we created two conceptual frameworks. One framework to help understand and classify group formation in the context of computer-supported collaborative learning, and other to support the definition of player roles in collaborative learning environments. Also, in a preliminary study (N = 481), we adapted and validated for Brazilian Portuguese speakers a scale to measure users' susceptibility to persuasion. In another study (N = 149) we developed a theoretical model to map persuasive strategies and different roles of players to support the elaboration of persuasion profiles. Finally, to verify the feasibility of our model, in another study (N = 18) we elaborated prototypes of user interfaces and analyzed the perceived persuasiveness of the interfaces for different players roles and their susceptibility to persuasion. Results show that less motivated students were more likely to accept the suggestions of the prototypes, whereas users with above-average motivation (among observed students) reacted negatively to influence attempts by showing low agreement rates for the requirements of the prototypes. We also observed in the three studies (N = 648) that the number of individuals susceptible to the principle of authority were the lowest, compared to the other influence principles. Few research initiatives have been investigating the development of tailored gamified. One of the reasons for such deficiency is the difficulty of creating computational models based on learner's psychological traits (e.g., psychological needs, susceptibility to persuasion, and learner and player roles). However, more worrisome than the ineffectiveness of gamification models based on one-size-fits-all is the risk of designing counterproductive models that could backfire, since the appropriate strategy to motivate an individual may end up discouraging others. Thus, evidence suggest that gamification design could benefit of influence principles, although tailored solutions should be designed to minimize the risks of selecting counter-tailored and ill-defined persuasive strategies.

Drawing on knowledge building and social cognitive perspectives on academic literacy, this chapter argues for a design framework of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environment featured by Knowledge Forum for Chinese tertiary business English students. An initial design study was reported to evaluate the design effect of CSCL environment on collaboration and academic literacy and to further investigate factors facilitating academic literacy development. Four intact classes with 102 Year One students participated in a 12-week project learning in two different learning environments, namely Computer-Supported Collaborative Inquiry Learning (CSCIL) and Regular Project-Based Learning environment (RPBL). Data was obtained from exam results, survey, essay writing quality, and focus group interviews. Four dimensions of academic literacy were identified and rated. MANOVA analyses showed significant main effects of environment indicating that CSCIL groups have significant higher gains in conceptual understanding and argumentative construction. Contrastive analyses of focus group interview data identify the interplay of social, cognitive, and technological dynamics that facilitate collaborative conceptual understanding and argumentative construction. Implications and further design issues are also discussed.