{"id":21450,"date":"2023-03-15T13:46:55","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T17:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/rinker\/?p=21450"},"modified":"2023-05-01T13:49:30","modified_gmt":"2023-05-01T17:49:30","slug":"gheisari-uses-virtual-reality-to-make-site-visits-more-accessible-for-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/rinker\/gheisari-uses-virtual-reality-to-make-site-visits-more-accessible-for-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Gheisari Uses Virtual Reality to Make Site Visits More Accessible for Students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: Kyle Niblett<\/strong>
March 15, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In October 2018, M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Construction Management<\/a> Associate Professor Dr. Masoud Gheisari <\/a>received a grant from the National Science Foundation<\/a> to figure out how his students could safely learn on construction sites. After all, with more than 150,000 total cases of nonfatal injuries on construction sites annually, the top priority for Rinker students is safety. The problem further deepened in 2020 once the reality of the COVID-19 global pandemic hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe limitations for site visits were severely hampered by COVID-19 and that severely hurt our student\u2019s ability to learn on site,\u201d Gheisari said. \u201cLuckily, thanks to the NSF and the help of countless people, we were able to find a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just recently, with the help of Rinker Distinguished Professor Raymond Issa<\/a> and two other UF faculty members, Gheisari completed the $300,000 grant, where he used virtual reality to democratize access to site visits in STEM undergraduate education. Site visits or field trips have been a tool utilized by STEM educators to engage students in active learning, assist traditional lessons, and attain stronger and deeper student learning experiences. These visits were widely utilized in many STEM fields as they provide a robust method to connect classroom learning to real-world situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the ability to enable student interaction with experts and professionals on the site, STEM site visits have long presented major logistical and accessibility challenges for educational institutions and instructors, reducing the number of students that have access to the benefits of such a technique. Some of these hurdles that have been tough to clear have been safety concerns, large class sizes, tight class timetables, unavailability of appropriate sites, and time and resource limitations. Perhaps the biggest limitation to enhance the student\u2019s education on site is transportation due to the impossibility of placing students in expensive or dangerous learning situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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