2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Board 296: Immersive Engineering Learning and Workforce Development: Pushing the Boundaries of Knowledge Acquisition in a CAVE

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session

This study provided insight into the use of virtual reality (VR) to enhance engineering curriculums and develop engineering students’ computational thinking (CT) levels at Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs). The sample population for this research included students enrolled in a first-year engineering course at an HBCU. To support the students’ education in cybersecurity-additive manufacturing, virtual reality was used to simulate classroom teaching and assignments. Participants in this study were first taught using the traditional method that allowed them passive viewing of images and videos of objects and spaces. The participants were later taught the same lessons in a Computer Automated Virtual Environment (CAVE) where they could further explore the images and space they were taught in the traditional class setting. Within the immersive virtual environment, students were observed as they virtually manipulated objects and learned in the CAVE .
Both quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized in this study. Factor Analysis (FA) was used to assess the validity of using CT scales in an HBCU environment, and to help investigate the impact of immersive technology on participants CT skill levels. The results of the FA aligned with previous research findings and provided the research team with a more refined set of CT scales for use in an HBCU environment. Semi-structured student interviews were used to gain insight into students’ perceptions and attitudes toward the incorporation of VR into an engineering curriculum, and to further explore the relationship between VR fidelity and scalability of a model that could be used across engineering curriculums. The results of the interviews provided an additional significant degree of validation that the CT scales are suitable to assess engineering students CT skill levels at HBCUs, and that immersive technology such as the CAVE could improve engineering students’ ability to train and compete. Furthermore, students exhibited excitement and an eagerness to do more in the CAVE environment.

Authors

Dr. Opeyemi Peter Ojajuni http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-4294-2528 Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical College [biography]

Dr. Opeyemi Ojajuni is a post-doctoral research manager at Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, LA, with expertise in computer network infrastructure, artificial intelligence, virtual reality (VR), and data science. His research focuses on applying these technologies to STEM education, particularly improving enrollment, retention, and computational thinking development. He also explores the use of virtual reality for engineering process visualization and simulation, as well as spatial presence in engineering education and professional development for additive manufacturing and cybersecurity. Dr. Ojajuni's academic background includes a PhD in Science and Mathematics Education from Southern University and A&M College, an MSc in Mobile and Satellite Communication from the University of Surrey, and a BEng in Computer Engineering from Covenant University. Throughout his professional journey, he has been actively involved in various large-scale projects, such as the Southern University Reaching Across the Digital Divide (SURADD) project, an NTIA-funded initiative to develop VR/AR laboratories to promote workforce development. Furthermore, he has collaborated on an NSF grant project that explores integrating cybersecurity principles and virtual reality technology in additive manufacturing education. Dr. Ojajuni's research has been recognized with numerous awards, and his findings have been disseminated through publications in respected peer-reviewed journals and presentations at academic conferences.
brian Warren Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
Fareed Dawan Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical College [biography]

Dr. Fareed Dawan received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana State University (LSU) in 2014. In 2006, he earned his Masters of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering from Southern University (SUBR), and his Bachelors in Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 2002 from LSU. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at SUBR where he teaches Freshman Engineering and Mechanical Engineering courses, namely Materials Science and Engineering, Statics and Dynamics, and Materials Characterization. Dr. Dawan’s expertise is in micro and nanofabrication of materials and his research involves advanced manufacturing of multi-functional composites for application in energy, aerospace, and personal healthcare. Patent-pending proprietary technology derived from his research includes a nanotube enhanced 3D solar cell, and a 3D-printable carbonated polymer. He is currently the Director of the US Department of Energy-funded Energizing Minds through Advanced Clean Energy Education (EMACE) Inspires and Partnership programs and an Air Force Office of Scientific Research-funded project investigating rapid 3D antenna manufacturing. Additionally, he serves as a Co-PI on several grants including two multimillion-dollar NSF-funded projects. Within 5 years he has secured over $1.2 million in STEM grants. Prior to his professorship appointment, Dr. Dawan served as the Assistant Director of the NSF-funded NextGenC3 CREST Phase I project and further beyond this, he was a research associate in the Microfabrication Group at LSU’s J. Bennett Johnston’s Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices (CAMD). There he served as a manager of a class 100 clean room facility and as a process engineer for standard photolithography processing and for high-aspect ratio microstructures technology (HARMST) using UV, X-ray, and e-beam lithography, and LIGA. Dr. Dawan, an Honored Listee in the 2023 Marquis Who’s Who in America, has received several awards for his research, is published in leading journals, is a TEDx Speaker, and has presented his work nationally and internationally.
Dr. Yasser Ismail Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical College [biography]

Dr. Yasser Ismail is an Associate Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department at Southern University and A&M College (SU). Dr. Ismail has over twenty (20) years of professional experience in teaching and research. With a focus on Electronics and Electrical Communication, he holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Mansoura University in Egypt. He also got a master’s and a doctorate degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Dr. Ismail has a broad background in machine learning-based applications, hardware accelerators for machine learning, modeling and design techniques for reliable, low-power, and high-performance VLSI and FPGA systems, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, Internet of Video Things (IoVT), digital video processing algorithms/architectures levels, and wireless and digital communication systems. Dr. Ismail has served as an NSF panel reviewer from 2019 – present. He served as a PI and Co-PI of over twelve (17) funded grants from NSF, State, and international fund agencies. Dr. Ismail participated in organizing several STEM programs and activities for undergraduate and K-12 students at the College of Sciences and Engineering and high schools.
Dr. Albertha Hilton Lawson http://orcid.org/https://0000-0001-8881-6933 Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical College [biography]

Albertha H. Lawson currently serves as Professor and Interim Chair of the Graduate School at Southern University and A&M College (SU). Previously, she served as the Professor and Chair of the Science and Mathematics Education Doctoral (SMED) Program at the University. Dr. Lawson has over 30 years of professional experience at the Louisiana State University System, Louisiana Community and Technical College System, SU and Corporate America combined in the areas of actuarial science, higher education administration, teaching, institutional research, mathematical and statistical analysis. She has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina, Masters of Applied Statistics from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio and a PhD in Education Administration and Research from the University of New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Download paper (3.04 MB)

Are you a researcher? Would you like to cite this paper? Visit the ASEE document repository at peer.asee.org for more tools and easy citations.

» Download paper

« View session

For those interested in:

Academia-Industry Connections
Broadening Participation in Engineering and Engineering Technology