2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Observation is an essential tool in human-centered engineering design. Observations allow engineering designers to collect rich data on design problem environments and stakeholder behaviors in ways that are not always possible with other methods, as well as allow for the identification of discrepancies in other data (e.g., verbal reports from stakeholders) (Blomberg & Burrel, 2009). Developing design observation skills presents challenges, however, as observation often involves uncontrolled environments and the management of significant levels of uncertainty, which engineering students have been shown to struggle with (Jordan, 2015). Practical observation experience may also require extra effort for students to reach observation locations outside the classroom. In addition, students may be confronted with high-pressure or sensitive observation environments like medical facilities in co-curricular and extracurricular design projects and internships, which are likely to be especially difficult to prepare for in a classroom. Virtual reality (VR) has been promoted as a promising design training tool for its ability to provide controlled, yet immersive access to scenarios that are otherwise difficult to replicate in a classroom (Özgen et al., 2021). There is mixed empirical evidence on the benefits and drawbacks of VR-based training simulations in higher education (Merchant et al., 2013), however, and no studies have characterized the use of VR for engineering design observation training.

To explore the effectiveness of VR for supporting engineering design observation training, this study explored students’ perceptions of a prototype VR-based design observation training tool. Four undergraduate engineering students were each interviewed twice: once after the VR training experience and again after in-person design observation practice within a clinical setting during a co-curricular design program. Approximately six hours of data were collected and analyzed inductively to characterize student perceptions of advantages, disadvantages, and effectiveness of VR as a training tool compared to conventional classroom training (i.e., lecture and in-classroom practice). We found that student participants reported VR-based design observation training to be a more engaging format than other classroom-based training formats, such as lectures or two-dimensional videos. Participants also reported that VR-based training did not fully prepare them for responding to the social queues and interactions present in in-person design observation experiences, however. Preliminary recommendations for VR-based observation training experiences and related future research are also discussed.