Development and Integration of Immersive 360-Videos in Surveying Engineering Education

Abstract This paper discusses the development and integration of immersive 360-videos in surveying engineering education. Surveying engineering is a major taught in few accredited universities in the United States. Education of surveying students requires an extensive number of laboratories (indoor and outdoor). Outdoor laboratories are used to develop skills with surveying instruments, teach field techniques, and reinforce concepts taught in lectures. Time allotted for field work is usually three hours. Instructors use a considerable portion of the allotted time on providing an overview of the lab, which reduces the time students can spend on the field conducting the lab. In addition, it is often difficult for students to imagine the tasks that will have to conduct outside, which reduces their preparedness for the lab. This is because in outdoor labs students from one location to another to collect data related to each task. During the lab students have questions, but it is difficult for the instructor to assist all groups in a timely manner as groups work on differential locations of the campus. In some situations, students hesitate to ask questions, which leads to mistakes and frustration. These create unique instructional challenges making outdoor laboratories an unpleasant experience for students. This is especially important for first-year students as they are first introduced into surveying instruments and field techniques and practices. To address these challenges, we created a multi-disciplinary team consisting of telecommunication, computer science, and engineering students and faculty to create instructional 360-videos. The videos replicate the outdoor lab and they are used to prepare students for the physical implementation. The videos are also available during the lab (through the course management system) to answer any student questions that might arise. The 360 version allow for student immersion and giving the impression that students are outside conducting the lab, allowing them to better comprehend lab procedures. Therefore, the developed 360-videos follow an experiential learning pedagogical approach, where students learn through experiencing the labs. Assessment of 360-video effectiveness is measured through anonymous student surveys and results are provided. Student surveys show the effectiveness of 360-videos to (i) help them understand surveying methods and techniques, (ii) how to operate surveying equipment, and (iii) help them prepare for the physical lab. The paper also discusses the implementation and assessment of 360-videos in surveying students, discusses the technical aspects of creating the 360-videos, and the collaboration challenges and successes of the multi-disciplinary team.