SBIR Phase I: Spatial Visualization Training with Touchscreens

This SBIR Phase I project will provide an interactive learning environment for educational sketching which is critical in many Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. Sketching is an integral part of education from elementary school arithmetic to high school physics, and is used in professions ranging from medicine to engineering. Sketching is part of spatial visualization training, which has been shown to increase graduation rates, especially among women and other underrepresented minorities. Until now, sketching assignments have been done with pencil and paper. This project will bring sketching assignments to touchscreens on tablets and computers. The algorithm developed will provide students with real-time feedback based upon their preliminary attempts, and teachers will be able to see exactly where students are having difficulty. A unique advantage of this approach is that it tracks student persistence and rewards students who stick with a sketching assignment until completed correctly. This is an advantage over most online education that relies on multiple-choice questions, which can only be attempted once. The project will initially focus on spatial visualization training for college engineering students, but ultimately will extend throughout STEM and be adapted for K-12. The increase in retention of students in STEM will aid in meeting the national targets to support economic growth. The software developed will automatically grade student sketches and provide feedback similar to an expert teacher. When a student makes an error, personalized hints are generated. By providing incremental help and rewarding students when they try on their own, student persistence is encouraged. The sketching will be performed on touchscreens, and the software will be compatible with iOS, Android, Windows, Chrome, and Linux operating systems. There are significant challenges with grading sketches, especially when compared to multiple-choice questions. If the grading algorithm is too lenient or too strict, students will lose confidence in the software. The grading algorithm will consider the sketched image, the difficulty of the assignment, and will utilize sketching data from early trials for fine-tuning purposes. Personalized assignments that gradually increase in difficulty as needed, as well as interactive 3D graphics and animations will be provided. A teacher interface will be developed that shows each student's progress down to the detail of each sketch attempt. Additionally, a metric will be developed to quantify student persistence based upon reliance on hints in order to identify which students need more individual mentoring. The scope of this project is the development of the grading algorithm, user interface, assignment and tutorial content, and teacher interface.