Augmented Reality Platform for Feedback and Assessment in STEM Elementary Education

Delivering meaningful, project-based learning for science and engineering in elementary classrooms is increasingly recognized as essential for training the workforce required to solve our most pressing health and environmental problems. However, many educators and classrooms are not adequately supported with the funding, materials, or training necessary to conduct and assess effective learning activities in these areas. Furthermore, even with such support, many concepts are difficult to grasp. However, the use of interactive digital media (IDM), specifically augmented reality (AR) holds great promise and shows results for addressing this gap. This project’s long-term objective is to utilize AR to provide interactive, collaborative game-based activities that are feasible for delivery across educational settings and in particular for low resource communities. Furthermore, with each content area students and teachers will have the opportunity to appreciate the nature and behavior of scientific systems while also solving problems through design-thinking for real-life applications. The project aligns with the NIH mission by developing the scientific human resources at the critical elementary age with the knowledge and skill sets necessary to study, understand, and impact systems for better health outcomes. This SBIR Phase II project will expand the impact of the framework and infrastructure from the mobile application developed in Phase I for simulation-based learning; design and critical-thinking; and increasing diversity and inclusion in STEM. The first specific aim focuses on the feedback capabilities. Each interaction provides evidence to trigger formative feedback for the student and realtime support based on students' AR actions and requests. The second specific aim develops the visualization dashboard to provide actionable insights for educators. These first two aims propose to research, develop, and refine the machine learning or artificial intelligence algorithms and user interfaces for critical student feedback and educator dashboards for content specific knowledge and design and problem-solving processes, targeting troubleshooting and prototyping. The third specific aim is to develop the software and hardware systems necessary to increase the impact of the technology through both curricular expansion and hardware compatibility. The curricular areas of focus would include magnetism, sound (auditory) and light waves (optical) as well as bioengineering. The expanded technology and activities will be tested throughout design and development for feasibility. Each aim is anchored through student and educator classroom testing essential to provide a commercially viable and educationally effective product.