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We describe the design, development and initial evaluation of an interactive virtual environment whose objective is to help undergraduate students learn and review the concepts and practices of differential leveling. The virtual environment, which includes realistic terrains and leveling instruments that look, operate, and produce results comparable to the physical ones, is not meant to replace field practice completely. It will be integrated in surveying courses as a preparation, revision and assessment tool. Initial findings from a formative study with sixty (60) undergraduate students and three (3) faculty show that the virtual environment is usable, engaging and useful for teaching/learning differential leveling. Results of a summative study with forty-eight (48) undergraduate students show that using the virtual environment led to an increase in subjects' declarative knowledge by 28% and procedural knowledge by 30%. Compared to traditional practice in the field, interacting with the virtual environment led to significantly higher declarative knowledge gains; differences in procedural knowledge gains (e.g. the ability to perform the leveling exercise in the field) between students who used the virtual environment versus students who had practiced in the field were not significant.

We describe the development and evaluation of a virtual steel sculpture for engineering education. A good connection design requires the engineer to have a solid understanding of the mechanics and steel behavior. To help students better understand various connection types, many schools have acquired steel sculptures. A steel sculpture is a physical system that shows 48 types of connection found in standard construction practices. Unfortunately, because of its size and location, students do not always have easy access to it. The virtual sculpture described in the article can provide an effective learning alternative. It allows the students to see the sculpture from multiple points of view anywhere, anytime and shows the close-up view of each connection with description of how it may be used, potential failure modes, sample calculations, and field examples. Findings from a formative study with engineering students support the pedagogical efficacy of the interactive sculpture.

The paper reports a research study aimed at investigating the appeal and pedagogical efficacy of animated teaching avatars. Specifically, the goal of the study was to determine whether animated characters could be effective and engaging teachers in the context of undergraduate surveying mathematics. The study included two forms of evaluation: formative and summative. Findings from the formative evaluation with forty-four undergraduate students show that three animated lectures delivered by a teaching avatar that speaks, gestures and points to a virtual board were perceived as engaging and useful for learning surveying mathematics concepts and procedures. Results of the summative evaluation with fifty-two undergraduate students show that watching the animated avatar lectures led to an increase in subjects' mathematical competence by 31%. The study also compared the animated avatar lectures to interactive 2D visualizations illustrating equivalent surveying math concepts. Findings show that watching the teaching avatar lectures led to significantly higher learning gains.

Many benefits have been claimed for visualizations, a general assumption being that learning is facilitated. However, several researchers argue that little is known about the cognitive value of graphical representations, be they schematic visualizations, such as diagrams or more realistic, such as virtual reality. The study reported in the paper investigated whether the type of visualization (schematic versus realistic) has an effect on undergraduate students' learning of surveying practices (specifically, "chaining"). The study compared two interactive virtual learning environments, one containing realistic visualizations of terrains and instruments, and one containing schematic graphical representations. Results of an experiment with 62 students show that there were not significant differences in learning between students who were exposed and interacted with the realistic visualizations versus those who interacted with the schematic ones.

The article discusses current evaluation methodologies used to assess the usability, user enjoyment, and pedagogical efficacy of virtual learning environments (VLEs) and serious games. It also describes the evaluations of two recently developed projects: a virtual learning environment that employs a fantasy 3D world to engage deaf and hearing children in math- and science-based educational tasks, and a serious game for undergraduate students' learning of sustainable building concepts and practices. Although a growing body of evidence suggests that serious games and VLEs could be advantageous and beneficial as instructional tools, research focused on their role in educational settings still lacks a unified approach to evaluating these interventions. To address this gap, the article provides an overview of current challenges associated with assessing the effectiveness of serious games and VLEs. In addition, the results from two projects provide lessons learned, and are intended to guide future efforts in developing and evaluating similar educational technologies.

Laboratory instruction is a major component of the engineering and technology undergraduate curricula. Traditional laboratory instruction is hampered by several factors including limited access to resources by students and high laboratory maintenance cost. A photorealistic 3D computer-simulated laboratory for undergraduate instruction in microcontroller technology was developed to address these issues. The virtual laboratory includes a realistic representation of devices and components used in a traditional laboratory setting. The virtual laboratory requires the students to engage in the same processes as the traditional laboratory. An initial formative evaluation of the virtual laboratory environment (VLE) was conducted with a group of 42 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory microcontroller course at Purdue University. Findings show that students perceived the VLE experience comparable to the physical laboratory experience; in addition, they thought the VLE was easy-to use, engaging and useful. In the paper we describe the development of the VLE and report and discuss the results of the evaluation. (Contains 16 figures.)

Lily pads (Nymphaea odorata) exhibit heterophylly where a single plant may have leaves that are submerged, floating, or above (aerial) the surface of the water. Lily pads are placed in a unique situation because each leaf form is exposed to a distinctly different set of mechanical demands. While surface petioles may be loaded in tension under conditions of wind or waves, aerial petioles are loaded in compression because they must support the weight of the lamina. Using standard techniques, we compared the mechanical and morphological properties of both surface and aerial leaf petioles. Structural stiffness (El) and the second moment of area (I) were higher in aerial petioles, although we detected no differences in other mechanical values (elastic modulus [E], extension ratio, and breaking strength). Morphologically, aerial petioles had a thicker rind, with increased collenchyma tissue and sclereid cell frequency. Aerial petioles also had a larger cross-sectional area and were more elliptical. Thus, subtle changes in the distribution of materials, rather than differences in their makeup, differentiate petiole forms. We suggest that the growth of aerial petioles may be an adaptive response to shading, allowing aerial leaves to rise above a crowded water surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]