This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project involves the development of the Design environment for Aerospace Vehicles in Classroom Interaction (DAVinCI). DAVinCI is a collaborative, guided inquiry environment and game targeted for grades 9-12. This concept will integrate aerospace vehicle design and simulation tools with a design challenge-based game inspired by real world engineering problems. The environment is intended to be a hybrid of self-directed informal learning and software that can support in-class projects and topics and/or be utilized by students outside of class. Students will be guided through the required background in science, mathematics and engineering principles and encouraged to explore and utilize these principles in vehicle design. Engaging pre-college students with engineering design methodology is one way to advance Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and increase the number of STEM college graduates. Aerospace vehicle design in particular is a powerful, versatile exciting platform to expose students to many facets of science and engineering, as it is truly a multidisciplinary endeavor. The anticipated Phase I results are beta tests of a proof-of-concept engineering design game containing a full chapter of content and design challenges.
The broader impact and commercial potential of this project is a game that fills a niche for Grade 9-12 for engineering education. There are a number of planned avenues for initial commercialization, including sales to schools, parents, and of auxiliary features such as expansion packs and hobby kits. Future commercial opportunities will include stand-alone design-based games, design environments for hobbyists, and model generation tools for flight simulators. Engineering design promotes added interconnectivity and enrichment in STEM education. Improved connection to practical applications could also improve student performance in the sciences, technology, and mathematics. If successful, DAVinCI would be an excellent way to inspire students to consider careers in the sciences and engineering at formative points in their education. While there are numerous commercial software products to assist with the learning and teaching of science, technology, and mathematics, there are few products that attempt to address engineering education, and even fewer that attempt to do so in a largely informal manner that integrates game mechanics and design methodology. The tight integration of the design and game environments maintains the engagement of students to support classroom activities and continue reinforcement of concepts outside of class.
Project Outcomes: This Phase I SBIR effort focused on the technical feasibility, utility, market need, commercial viability, and application of the foundational features of DAVINCI Flight. DAVinCI Flight is a video game environment built around an engineering education platform for grades 9-12. It emphasizes traditional STEM curricula concepts in the context of vehicle design problems. DAVinCI serves a critical need for innovative technological tools that can enable delivery of abstract, hard-to-understand pre-engineering concepts. The next generation science standards (www.nextgenscience.org) propose the integration of engineering design into science education and giving the design method equivalent treatment to scientific inquiry. Early exposure to engineering concepts is a natural way to link the more traditional math and science disciplines. Such exposure can improve student performance in the physical sciences, technology, and mathematics. Many states will be adopting these NextGen standards, but there is limited software, curricula, educational materials, and teacher training programs to help STEM educators integrate engineering in a more universal way. Engineering concepts are usually difficult to integrate and explain without connecting them to a real-life design project. Such projects can often require specialized equipment, costly materials, and significant instructor knowledge. Furthermore, there are significant time constraints that make the integration of engineering into the traditional core challenging. This presents a need for software and educational materials that can quickly add an engineering component in support of traditional STEM concepts, and provide tools that support informal use outside of structured class time (projects, homework, flipped class, etc.). DAVinCI Flight is intended to address this very need. In the aerospace themed game, DAVinCI Flight, the player (student) is asked to help design an aircraft. Learning tools are provided during the design process to help the player understand how STEM concepts can be used to build engineering models, to analyze the models, and to improve the designs. Commercial grade modeling, analysis, and flight simulation tools are fully integrated into the game. As the player learns, designs, and overcomes challenges they can advance from a novice glider designer to a master engineer who can design jets and space-planes. The ultimate goal is to expose players to important engineering concepts and link together the many STEM disciplines through this engineering design game. The broader impact and commercial potential of this project is an engineering education game that fills a niche for grades 9-12. There are a number of planned avenues for initial commercialization, including sales to schools, parents, and auxiliary features such as expansion packs and hobby kits. Future commercial opportunities will include stand-alone design-based games, design environments for hobbyists, and model generation tools for flight simulators. Engineering design promotes added interconnectivity and enrichment in STEM education. Improved connection to practical applications could also improve student performance in the sciences, technology, and mathematics. If successful, DAVinCI would be an excellent way to inspire students to consider careers in the sciences and engineering at formative years in their education. DAVinCI will also provide means to foster and exercise development of analytical, problem solving, and computational skills among young generations, which will be instrumental in their overall mental maturity. The following are key Phase I outcomes: 1) The creation and implementation in the game of sophisticated engineering tools for geometry, structure, aerodynamics, optimization, and flight simulation. 2) The creation of the instructor management and editing tools for use in the game environment. 3) The continuous engagement (throughout the project) with end users and customers for the purposes of game refinement and feature prioritization. Exhibition of DAVinCI at the Virtual Reality Education Pathfinders (VREP) and International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conferences for acquiring feedback, networking, developing partnerships, and customer base. (See attached Images) 4) The development of relationships with large players in the educational industry for distribution, collaborative development, and the initiation of agreements. 5) The generation of the artwork, gameplay modes, scoring, user interfaces, engineering design challenges, and critical educational modules for the first glider design level. 6) The integration of all planned Phase I prototype features into a beta version of DAVinCI Flight and the testing with end users. 7) The preparation for a paid beta release featuring a refined limited version of the Phase I demonstration prototype (in late 2013). Phase II efforts would build upon this Phase I progress to advance DAVinCI Flight toward a more general engineering education platform technology. This will be accomplished by increasing the game’s sophistication, expanding features (namely multiplayer, customization, and 3-D printing), and broadening the number of the specific STEM lesson modules to include not just physics but also chemistry, earth science, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus. Significant effort will also be expended in commercialization activity with identified partners. Research Products: Our product is the prototype of the DAVinCI Flight game. Additional Information: Attached images related to the DAVinCI Flight product. More info at www.davinciflight.com.
