A Study on Computer-aided Instruction for Engineering Surveying Practice
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Lu, Cho-Chien
Abstract
The surveying course is an important core course for most vocational schools and universities in the field of civil engineering and architecture in Taiwan. A typical surveying course includes both indoor instruction, which covers surveying related theories, and outdoor fieldwork, which provides students with opportunities to familiarize themselves with the proper use of surveying instruments. In the state-of-practice for survey training, survey instruments are expensive, difficult to maintain, and sensitive to weather conditions. Surveying course instructors often find it challenging to make high-quality instruments available to the class. Also, instruction tools are still needed for better simulation of surveying tasks to help explaining the complicated 3D geometric relationships among objects and operation details involved in surveying practice. To address the above challenges of teaching and learning in surveying practice, we present a solution that includes: (1) I&I-UCD approach for developing a computer-aided instruction tool; (2) development of a computer-based surveyor-training system called SimuSurvey for surveying practice; and (3) an accompanying series of surveying practice teaching materials for use with SimuSurvey.n this research, we integrated the principles of both iterative and incremental development (IID) and user-centered design (UCD), resulting in a software development approach called here I&I-UCD. The proposed I&I-UCD approach features a sequence of iterations, each of which is composed of five incremental stages: (1) planning; (2) analysis; (3) design; (4) implementation; and (5) release. Sub-iterations exist in both of the design and implementation phases. In each, user tests are performed to evaluate the result of design on implementation until all identified usability problems are addressed. The experiences of applying the approach to development of SimuSurvey have been reported and shared. During the development of SimuSurvey, we found that the proposed I&I-UCD approach is effective for developing or improving software systems. I&I-UCD involves many user tests (i.e., interview, questionnaire, observation, usability tests, and field tests) to gather integrated requirements for users of different backgrounds at different stages in the development.his study applied I&I-UCD approach to develop SimuSurvey. The functions provided by the latest version of SimuSurvey include: (1) the visualization of a survey instrument and measurement poles involved in an assigned survey task; (2) the simulation of the control interface of a real surveying instrument; (3) the logging of each student’s performed operations; and (4) the design of learning activities for students to practice surveying tasks in a simulated environment. In addition, SimuSurvey was designed for use in a low-cost computer-generated virtual environment to facilitate its application.he effectiveness of using SimuSurvey for instruction was evaluated by a feasibility study. Five experienced instructors and 323 novice students from four schools were involved. The results from the student questionnaires and quiz can be summarized as follows: (1) 91% of students have a positive attitude toward using SimuSurvey for self-learning the concepts of surveying instrument operations, and (2) 66% of students passed the quiz after using SimuSurvey to learn a basic surveying task. From interviews with experienced instructors, the results indicate that both the students’ motivation to learn and their technical results are significantly better than those using the traditional teaching approach.t the same time, we provided example teaching materials to demonstrate how SimuSurvey can be adopted for use in class. We used a revised Bloom''s taxonomy of learning objectives to design the teaching materials for helping students to obtain the surveying skills required for a Class-C surveying skill certificate, which is one of the official certificates that supervised by the Council of Labor Affairs, Taiwan.eywords: Surveying Practice, Computer-aided Instruction, User-centered Design, Software Engineering, Revised Bloom''s Taxonomy, Skill Test, Certified Technician
Subjects
Surveying Practice
Computer-aided Instruction
User-centered Design
Software Engineering
Revised Bloom''s Taxonomy
Skill Test
Certified Technician
Type
thesis
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