Doctoral student awarded NSF GRFP Non-Academic Research Internship
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The National Science Foundation awarded doctoral student Joseph Wong an NSF GRFP Non-Academic Research Internship for Graduate Students (INTERN) Supplemental Funding Opportunity.
Wong will intern at Immerse Inc., a virtual reality (VR) software company that specializes in language education. The company has developed a VR language teaching and learning platform, allowing language lessons to be delivered using immersive simulations. Wong anticipates the internship will support him in developing key virtual, augmented, and mixed-reality design and pedagogical learning design implementation skills. The internship will also enable Wong to research the Immerse VR learning experience platform, which provides both teacher and student interfacing systems; facilitate communication with industry educational developers, designers, and stakeholders; design assessments in VR to support transferable skills; and take pedagogical learning design, student, and teacher needs into account when designing interventions for teaching and learning in the Metaverse. |
Doctoral Student Joseph Wong
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“This award will provide me the training and professional practice opportunities to acquire real-world, on-the-ground competencies and transferable knowledge that will not only broaden my skill set as a doctoral research scholar in academia, but also deepen my technical expertise in virtual reality design, research, and entrepreneurship in the STEM teaching and learning Metaverse,” Wong said.
Wong previously received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in support of his research, “Virtual and Augmented Reality in NGSS STEM Education: Exploring Inquiry-based Learning Frameworks through Immersive Field Trips in Elementary Science Instruction,” which tested the effectiveness of teaching students with the use of low-cost VR/AR field trips.
For the internship, Wong will be working with Immerse Inc.’s Head of Efficacy and Learning Sara Davila, along with his UCI advisors Lindsey Richland and Brad Hughes.
"Joseph has taken the initiative to leverage his impressive funding award with the NSF GRFP to further engage with the world of emerging technology and educational design,” Richland said. “This internship will provide him an invaluable experience in understanding the synergies between market-driven and academic research, as well as gaining insight into cutting-edge technology resources that can strengthen his dissertation project."
“As one of Joseph’s NSF GRFP advisors, I particularly value how this internship will catalyze integration of Joseph’s technical expertise, utilizing an array of innovative technologies, including VR, AR, XR, with the research approaches we’re conducting at UCI to transform undergraduate teaching and learning experience within the metaverse,” Hughes said.
The Metaverse is a real-time virtual reality or mixed reality world, comprising several interoperable, immersive, and interactive 3D environments where learners can interact in a socially curated computer-generated environment. Wong said there is currently a lack of oversight in ensuring that these technologies are being used in connection with high-quality teaching and learning pedagogy. This presents a gap in the Metaverse, he explained, especially when comparing other modes of educational technologies.
The NSF INTERN is a supplemental funding opportunity that provides graduate students supported by NSF grants with internship and training opportunities at non-academic institutions to help students gain knowledge, skills, and experience in preparation for successful long-term careers. The six-month internship, with the possibility of a six-month extension, awards up to $55,000 per student, per six-month period.
Immerse Inc., founded in 2017, is a Southern CA-based, award-winning language learning Metaverse company on a mission to revolutionize learning to cultivate social connection. Immerse is the virtual world where serious language learners come to have fun, build community, and activate fluency for life.
Wong previously received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in support of his research, “Virtual and Augmented Reality in NGSS STEM Education: Exploring Inquiry-based Learning Frameworks through Immersive Field Trips in Elementary Science Instruction,” which tested the effectiveness of teaching students with the use of low-cost VR/AR field trips.
For the internship, Wong will be working with Immerse Inc.’s Head of Efficacy and Learning Sara Davila, along with his UCI advisors Lindsey Richland and Brad Hughes.
"Joseph has taken the initiative to leverage his impressive funding award with the NSF GRFP to further engage with the world of emerging technology and educational design,” Richland said. “This internship will provide him an invaluable experience in understanding the synergies between market-driven and academic research, as well as gaining insight into cutting-edge technology resources that can strengthen his dissertation project."
“As one of Joseph’s NSF GRFP advisors, I particularly value how this internship will catalyze integration of Joseph’s technical expertise, utilizing an array of innovative technologies, including VR, AR, XR, with the research approaches we’re conducting at UCI to transform undergraduate teaching and learning experience within the metaverse,” Hughes said.
The Metaverse is a real-time virtual reality or mixed reality world, comprising several interoperable, immersive, and interactive 3D environments where learners can interact in a socially curated computer-generated environment. Wong said there is currently a lack of oversight in ensuring that these technologies are being used in connection with high-quality teaching and learning pedagogy. This presents a gap in the Metaverse, he explained, especially when comparing other modes of educational technologies.
The NSF INTERN is a supplemental funding opportunity that provides graduate students supported by NSF grants with internship and training opportunities at non-academic institutions to help students gain knowledge, skills, and experience in preparation for successful long-term careers. The six-month internship, with the possibility of a six-month extension, awards up to $55,000 per student, per six-month period.
Immerse Inc., founded in 2017, is a Southern CA-based, award-winning language learning Metaverse company on a mission to revolutionize learning to cultivate social connection. Immerse is the virtual world where serious language learners come to have fun, build community, and activate fluency for life.
