First Assessment Results of Surveying Engineering Labs in Immersive and Interactive Virtual Reality
Publication: Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 1
Abstract
Technological advancements in virtual reality have opened the door for widespread dissemination and application in engineering education. In surveying engineering, outdoor labs are essential, because they offer great means for experiential learning and preparation for real applications. However, challenges related to weather, inaccessibility to sites, transportation costs, and liability reduce time spent with instruments, and limit comprehension of surveying procedures and preparedness for the job market. Through virtual reality, we can create realistic surveying scenarios that are difficult to implement in practice, such as surveying in cities, at construction sites, and in different terrain scenarios. In addition, virtual reality can be used to support remote and online learning. This paper presents the thorough implementation of virtual reality labs in a surveying engineering first-year class. Technical feedback showed that surveying labs were recreated with a high level of fidelity, which is important to transfer skills learned in virtual reality to the real environment. Students stated that virtual reality gave them more incentives to learn, added to the fun of learning, and improved their overall learning experience. Furthermore, students indicated that virtual reality labs helped them understand surveying procedures and the operation of instruments, and they considered virtual labs to be a useful tool for preparation for physical labs. Pedagogical assessments using grades from previous years showed that the virtual reality labs enhanced student learning. Barriers of virtual reality, such as nausea and motion sickness, limit their extensive use. Despite a few negatives, virtual reality offers viable solutions to challenges in surveying engineering education, with the potential for further development and integration in other surveying courses.
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Data Availability Statement
Anonymized student grade data and questionnaire responses are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. The SurReal software is also available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request; however, the source code is restricted.
Acknowledgments
This project has been supported via grants from the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence of the Pennsylvania State University, the Engineering Technology and Commonwealth Engineering of the Pennsylvania State University, and Chancellor Endowments from Penn State Wilkes-Barre.
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Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 148 • Issue 1 • February 2022
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Jan 12, 2021
Accepted: Sep 24, 2021
Published online: Nov 9, 2021
Published in print: Feb 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Apr 9, 2022
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