Collaborative Research: Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence for Personalized Learning in Sustainable Construction Education

About This Grant

The construction industry is not only one of the industries with the highest fatality rates, but also significantly consumes natural resources, with nearly $2.1 trillion worth of buildings constructed annually, resulting in a substantial ecological footprint. To address this, the construction industry is leveraging sensing technologies to achieve sustainable construction practices, making it necessary to upskill the future workforce in this area. However, the dynamic nature of construction sites and the ubiquitous safety challenges often impede hands-on experiences in practicing the use of sensing technologies to solve real-world problems and achieve sustainable construction practices. This project will investigate an embodied virtual reality and artificially intelligent environment (VRAPS) to facilitate the development of problem-solving skills of heterogeneous learners for sustainable construction. VRAPS will also be designed as an intelligent platform that can adapt to the diverse needs of different learners, making it a transferable learning environment with distinct features. This project will demonstrate how a personalized learning environment can close the competency gap between industry and construction education by developing a workforce capable of advancing sustainable practices in the construction industry. This planned research investigates a virtual reality and artificially intelligent environment for personalized learning in sustainable construction education (VRAPS). Through a mixed-methods approach, the project aims to answer the following questions: What competencies are required to advance sustainable construction using sensing technologies? What characteristics of an embodied virtual reality environment facilitate personalized learning of sustainable construction? And to what extent does a personalized and embodied virtual reality environment enhance problem-solving skills that are needed for advancing sustainable construction education? The first research question will be addressed through a Delphi study and a focus group discussion with industry practitioners to understand the competencies required to advance sustainable construction. The results will inform a formalized construction-domain learning content, which will drive the development of VRAPS. The proposed research will then combine interactive tools, technologies, and techniques, such as sensing technologies, virtual learning assistant, tangible objects, and artificial intelligence, to develop VRAPS. The development of VRAPS will provide engaging learning tools to complement traditional instruction, allowing teachers to tailor instruction to students’ needs. The second research question will be answered by leveraging behavioral data to investigate the characteristics of VRAPS that facilitate personalized learning. To answer the third research question, the research team will implement and assess VRAPS in two institutions to understand its effectiveness in enhancing the problem-solving skills required for advancing sustainable construction. VRAPS will contribute to the active learning theory through the use of multimodalities (such as virtual learning assistant and tangible interfaces) to support continuity during the acquisition of problem-solving skills for sustainable construction education. To reach a broader audience, VRAPS will be implemented for professional development, summer camps and outreach opportunities at Georgia Tech and CSU Fresno. This project is funded by the Research on Innovative Technologies for Enhanced Learning (RITEL) program that supports early-stage exploratory research in emerging technologies for teaching and learning. 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.