PILLAR: Place-based Immersive Learning for Landscapes

Description

Hoffman, an assistant professor of landscape contracting in the Department of Plant Sciences within the College of Agriculture, will use her project to work towards increasing students’ sense of investment in their education through immersive technology.

“Current health concerns and limited resources make study abroad and study away programs challenging, if not impossible,” said Hoffman. “Studies of immersive technology and virtual field trips have uncovered some advantages. So, it’s important to continue working to understand how these tools can help provide out-of-the-classroom experiences essential to student growth and development.”

Hoffman and her team intend to identify ways in which immersive learning objects like 360º photos and videos, augmented reality apps, and virtual reality experiences can help landscape contracting students more readily understand and apply first principles of the profession. In “seeing with a designer’s eye” through immersive experiences like viewing annotated sample gardens and creating client-facing mock-ups in AR, burgeoning professionals develop fluency in core industry skills that help to set them apart from their peers.

Cohort

2020-2022

Focus Area

Immersive Experiences
Theme: Interactive Tours