2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

From Single-User to Multi-User Mixed Reality: How Collaborative MR Enhances Teamwork and Problem-Solving in STEM Education?

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session II

Collaboration and teamwork are critical in STEM fields, especially during complex tasks, as they enable the integration of diverse skills and lead to more innovative solutions. Collaborative environments allow students to leverage each other’s strengths, address challenges from multiple perspectives, and enhance decision-making processes. This study, funded by the NSF RIEF program under award #2204919, aims to advance collaboration during assembly tasks by utilizing Mixed Reality (MR) technology as a training tool for promoting teamwork and problem-solving among STEM students. In prior research, our team developed an immersive single-user MR training module for hydraulic grippers, which significantly enhanced STEM students’ spatial visualization, technical abilities, diagnostic skills, and comprehensive perception. Building on these promising results, we upgraded the MR module to a multi-user experience to enable a collaborative environment for advancing teamwork and problem-solving capabilities. Thus, this study introduces the new design for the collaborative MR module and investigates the impact of collaboration within MR-shared settings on learning dynamics. The study involved 103 participants enrolled in a Fluid Power course, utilizing the new collaborative MR module to expose students to the design and assembly of a hydraulic bike. The collaborative MR environment synchronizes up to four MR headsets (HoloLens 2), allowing multiple users to collaborate within the same MR scene on shared assembly tasks. This synchronized environment was developed using Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing platform, and Photon Cloud, a software service (SaaS) solution for developing multiplayer experiences. Team dynamics and collaboration survey is utilized to assess participants’ collaborative problem-solving skills considering performance and teamwork.

Authors

Ms. Israa Azzam Purdue University at West Lafayette [biography]

Israa joined the School of Engineering Technology at Purdue University as a visiting scholar in September 2021. She conducts research on the design, modeling, simulation, and control of complex fluid power and mechanical systems. Prior to her appointment as a visiting scholar at Purdue, Israa was a graduate research and teaching assistant at the American University of Beirut (AUB) Lebanon from 2019 to 2021. She conducted research on dynamic system control theory, where she designed and validated robust algorithmic controllers to tackle one of the most concerning problems: energy-performance optimization.

Israa received her B.S degree in Mechanical Engineering from Beirut Arab University (BAU) Lebanon in 2019. In 2021, she received her M.S degree in Mechanical Engineering "Robust Control" from the American University of Beirut (AUB) Lebanon. She is in the process of pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Purdue University. Her primary Ph.D. research will focus on designing Interactive Mixed Reality Modules for addressing spatial visualization and understanding complex fluid power systems in Engineering Technology.
Dr. Farid Breidi http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4959-3292 Purdue University at West Lafayette (PPI) [biography]

Dr. Farid Breidi joined the School of Engineering Technology at Purdue University as an Assistant Professor in Aug 2020. Farid received his B.E. in Mechanical Engineering degree from the American University of Beirut in 2010, his M.S. in Mechanical Engine
Dr. Faisal Aqlan http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0695-5364 University of Louisville [biography]

Dr. Faisal Aqlan is an Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering at The University of Louisville. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering form The State University of New York at Binghamton.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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