IMPLEMENTING AUGMENTED REALITY IN A FIRST-YEAR MECHANICAL ENGINEERING COURSE

The objective of this paper is to present the experiences and lessons learned of implementing AR technology in a first-year mechanical engineering course. First, the needs of our students and the parameters and specifications of the AR technology implemented to support them are provided. Applications used in this study, which allow students to interact with virtual objects using simple hand gestures, are discussed. The two types of learning modules developed are presented - one where the students must determine what a 3D shape looks like from different perspectives (generating 2D orthographic views) and another where the students must construct a 3D shape given a set of orthographic views (3D model construction). Samples of student work generated with the AR technology are presented and student experiences are discussed. Recommendations for scaling to large classes are also provided. Finally, data collected over two semesters (16 students from Fall 2021 semester, and 15 students from Fall 2022) demonstrate that spatial skills are improved when students engage in AR activities. Spatial Visualization Skills (SVS) are related to a person's ability to mentally generate and transform visual images and are associated with their problem-solving abilities. Engineering students need to solve problems requiring them to visualize and mentally manipulate complex geometric shapes. Augmented Reality (AR) is a powerful visualization tool because it provides a middle ground between virtual and physical manipulation allowing for a closer connection between a virtual object and the manipulations typical in engineering.