2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Exploring Human-Human Teaming and Human-Machine Interaction in a Collaborative Virtual Learning Factory

Presented at Manufacturing Division (MFG) Technical Session 3

The rapid advancements in manufacturing technologies and the growing need for a skilled workforce have emphasized the importance of innovative approaches to manufacturing training. Traditional methods often lack the flexibility to conduct virtual training and collaborative skills in the event of disruptions (e.g., pandemics), as well as sensor tracking measures to study problem-solving. To address these challenges, this study focuses on the development of a collaborative virtual learning factory designed to enhance learning of manufacturing systems and the analysis of human-human teaming and human-machine interaction. The development of the virtual factory involved creating a virtual reality environment that simulates the physical assembly of car toys, replicating key manufacturing paradigms such as craft production, mass production, mass customization, and personalized production. The virtual factory offers an immersive and interactive virtual environment where learners can engage with manufacturing systems, gain hands-on experiences, collaborate with peers, and develop problem-solving skills. The virtual factory also incorporates collaborative features such as a voice system for facilitating communication among participants, teamwise performance requirements for proceeding towards subsequent manufacturing paradigms, and interdependency among participants in the production line. This allows participants to work together on manufacturing tasks which enhances teamwork and communication skills. A study was conducted with 30 participants who completed a series of assembly tasks to produce car toys in the virtual factory. Their collaboration and interactions with the system were recorded, and both quantitative data including physiological data (e.g., heart rate, and electrodermal activity) and performance measures and qualitative data like perception of the task load and system usability were collected. Analyzing the data revealed that the more physiological synchrony among the members of a group, the better their performance in assembling correct pieces is, emphasizing the importance of physiological alignment for team performance. A significant negative correlation (r = -.60, p < .05) was found between the workload and system usability, indicating the less the system was perceived as less usable, the more the perceived task load. Thus, along with the comprehensive review of a virtual learning factory, this study has the potential to improve user experience by enhancing system usability and reducing user task load.

Authors

Rumena Begum University of Louisville
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.
Dr. Marci S. Decaro http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6753-0725 University of Louisville [biography]

Marci DeCaro is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Louisville. DeCaro's research applies principles of cognitive psychology to study learning and performance in educational contexts.
Dr. Hui Yang Pennsylvania State University [biography]

Dr. Hui Yang is a Fellow of IISE, a Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Biomedical Engineering at Penn State, and is affiliated with Penn State Cancer Institute (PSCI), Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS), CIMP-3D. He is a recipient of the prestigious NSF CAREER award and Fulbright Award. Currently, he serves as the director of NSF Center for Health Organization Transformation (CHOT).
Dr. Richard Zhao http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8257-4291 University of Calgary [biography]

Dr. Richard Zhao is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Calgary. He leads the Serious Games Research Group, focusing on games for training and education, including artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and eye-tracking technologies. Dr. Zhao has served as a program committee member on academic conferences such as the International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG), the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (AIIDE), the IEEE Conference on Games, and the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) Technical Symposium, and as a reviewer for the ASEE Annual Conference.
Jason J Saleem University of Louisville [biography]

Jason J. Saleem is an Associate Professor with the Department of Industrial Engineering at the J.B. Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville. He is also a Co-Director of the Center for Human Systems Engineering (CHSE). Dr. Saleem received his Ph.D. from the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech in 2003, specializing in human factors engineering and ergonomics. Dr. Saleem's research interests focus on the integration of human factors engineering with the development of health information technology (HIT). His research also focuses on provider-patient interaction with respect to exam room computing, as well as virtual care tools and applications. Dr. Saleem also maintains an engineering education research portfolio and in 2024 was awarded a grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) entitled, 'Introducing a Mixed-Methods Approach to Engineering Students through Human-Centered Design'.
P. Karen Murphy The Pennsylvania State University [biography]

Dr. P. Karen Murphy is a Distinguished Professor of Education at The Pennsylvania State University, where she serves as Associate Dean of Research and Outreach in the College of Education. Dr. Murphy is an elected member of the National Academy of Education and a Fellow of both the American Educational Research Association and the American Psychological Association. Her research focuses on the role of critical-analytic thinking in the processing of disciplinary content, including the development and implementation of interventions such as Quality Talk that maximize the effects of reasoning and classroom discussion on students’ problem solving and content-area learning.

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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