Bauhaus-University Weimar (BUW), Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), University Aveiro (UA), University Osijek (UNIOS), and Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology (IZIIS) constitute a strategic partnership (SP) with the PARFORCE project within the framework of Erasmus+. The SP aims at developing a joint platform for digital/virtual laboratory experiments to support European civil engineering higher education, and thus, making an essential contribution to understanding of teaching materials by the students. The main objective of the project is achieving the availability of various laboratory experiments, which are not a part of standard education at each university, but are carried out at specialized institutes. The experiments planned in this project are: boundary layer wind tunnel experiments at RUB, non-destructive and destructive experiments on shaking table at IZIIS, and fire resistance tests at UA. Participation in experiments allows students to apply their theoretical knowledge and competences for solving complex practical tasks, and thus, supports an overall understanding of the teaching material by building a "mental model". In this context, virtual reality provides a possibility for students to participate virtually in experiments, carried out at another institute, without compromising realistic setting and content-correctness of the experiment. Competences are described as cognitive abilities and skills available to individuals or learnable by them to solve certain problems, as well as the associated motivational, volitional, and social willingness and ability to use problem-solving in variable situations successfully and responsibly [1]. The formation of competence requires not only pure knowledge, but also understanding of what has been learned [2]. The path to the formation of a mental model can be taken with the help of text and image information. For the human brain, pictorial information is easier to process than textual information, and in cognitive image processing the path to the mental model can be shortened [3]. Based on these findings, virtual reality scenarios offer the possibility of contributing to a more efficient formation of a mental model due to their pictorial nature. The SP builds upon recent results in digital research and teaching (e.g. projects DigiLab4U, AuCity2 and 3reCapSL). The project partners bring these results together, apply them to concrete partner-specific experiments, and then transfer the results of experiments into a digital environment, which is then made available for the general public. The project also aims at developing a concept for a successful integration of project results into teaching at European universities. For this aim, an Instructional Design Guide describing current didactic methods for digital teaching and focusing on interactive virtual environments will be developed by the project partners. Especially, different teaching formats (synchronous, asynchronous, and collaborative learning) will be addressed, and two learning/training activities for teachers or students/employees will be organized within the project. Moreover, partners will work to understand the pedagogic value of international digital exchange by considering lessons from comparable HEIs existing digital curricula, goals and program designs, as well as by observing benefits among learners, educators, and HEI’s culture. The result of the strategic partnership will be provided by three intellectual outputs, which will be practically applied in an elective pilot module for M.Sc. students "Experiments in a Virtual Environment". This course aims at communicating to students different modeling ideas for laboratory experiments in civil engineering. To achieve this aim, the course will be done in an internationalized and digitalized way, and will be combined with a blended mobility supporting collaborative learning of students and providing a platform for discussions on learned teaching material. The pilot course, which will be taught jointly by the project partners, expands the curriculum of all partners and, after a successful evaluation, will be continued, as well as opened to external students in compliance with the formalities. The learning/teaching activities planned for students serve to provide the mathematical basics of signal and data analysis, machine learning and deep learning, and thus, supporting the work of students on evaluation of experimental data available from virtual labs. The results and experiences of the proposed project will be presented, at the end of the project, in special sessions at various national and international conferences in the form of presentations and publications (e.g. 19th International Symposia of Macedonian Association of Structural Engineers and SDSS 2022 in Aveiro). The proposed project opens the opportunity to develop new collaborative forms of location-independent networking of laboratory infrastructures.
The objectives of the project were multifaceted, aiming to address various needs within the field of civil engineering education, especially considering the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the transition to online learning. The primary goals included the development of a VR-based experiment concept, the elaboration of an open platform to host these experiments, and the integration of state-of-the-art VR experiments from each project partner's laboratories into this platform. Additionally, the project aimed to provide approved e-learning scenarios to facilitate digital and collaborative learning environments. This objective capitalized on the expertise and specialized facilities of our partners, particularly for the newly introduced jointly taught M.Sc. and Ph.D. courses in civil engineering. Another important objective was to implement collaborative online international learning opportunities for M.Sc. students across partner universities. Ultimately, we aimed to enhance the quality and appeal of study programs at the project partners, achieved through inclusive, sustainable, and integrated internationalization and digitalization of curricula, thus improving their international competitiveness.
The project and the project partners aimed to revolutionize civil engineering education through the use of Virtual Reality (VR) experiments. The project sought to develop a VR concept for conducting experiments, to elaborate of an openly accessible platform for VR experiments, to collaborate with partners to create VR experiments for special laboratory facilities, and to generate an added value for all partners and Europe. It aimed to provide approved e-learning scenarios for a digital and collaborative learning environment, implement collaborative online learning opportunities for M.Sc. students, to enhance the quality and attractiveness of study programs by incorporating inclusive, sustainable, and integrated internationalization and digitalization of curricula with VR labs. The project addressed several needs, including the need to enhance competence by facilitating a better understanding of the learned material, especially in light of the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic's impact on physical lab experiments, address the need for individual e-learning materials and didactics in the context of online learning, as well as prepare the next generation of the workforce for multi-disciplinary blended learning expertise.