College of Health Professor Shan Li Receives NSF Award to Advance Fire Investigation Training

College of Health professor Shan Li has received a collaborative research grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to advance a groundbreaking approach to fire investigation training. He joins researchers from the University of Maryland and the University of Tennessee to develop the first technology-based platform used to train fire investigation students. Developing innovative technologies to make an immediate, real-world impact in the health of our communities is central to the mission of the College of Health (COH).

The project, “Collaborative Research: Multimodal Immersive Training to Develop Expertise in Spatial-Temporal Reasoning for Fire Investigators,” will combine advanced simulation technologies to create immersive fire scenes with innovative teaching strategies. Li holds a joint appointment as assistant professor in the Department of Community and Global Health in the COH and the Department of Education and Human Services in the College of Education.

The need for this work is urgent. According to the National Fire Protection Association, 2023 alone saw approximately 1.4 million fire incidents in the U.S., resulting in 3,670 deaths, 13,250 injuries and $23.2 billion in losses. Fire investigators play a critical role in determining the origin and cause of fires, helping to prevent future incidents and identify responsible parties. 

Li will lead the development of a new pedological model focused on spatial-temporal reasoning, a cognitive skill needed to accurately analyze how fires develop across time and space and to determine the origin of the fire. Current training programs in fire investigation rely on traditional teaching methods like lectures, videos, and two-dimensional images, he said, lacking the immersive experience to develop these spatial-temporal reasoning skills necessary for investigating complex and chaotic post-fire scenes. 

“There are limited technology-based solutions for training fire investigators,” said Li. “Traditional training methods require fire departments to conduct expensive controlled burns of actual buildings to demonstrate burn patterns to students. Our projects will fill this gap by developing an immersive simulation environment that would allow students to interact with fire scenes. This approach will help learners develop investigative skills more cost-effectively and efficiently. ”

For this work, he will collaborate with expert fire investigators to conduct a detailed skill inventory to identify and break down the necessary skills needed in this line of work. From there, he will design a learning sequence.

“We will organize these skills into a progressive pathway that moves from basic spatial-temporal concepts to a complex reasoning task,” Li explained, ensuring mastery of foundational skills before tackling more sophisticated analysis. He will also develop practice activities to target specific skills, as well as evaluation rubrics for each skill level and activity.

Li will also develop “multimodal learning analytics to evaluate the performance because it’s very hard to see whether they are learning the skill or not,” he explained. “We can design a comprehensive evaluation approach to evaluate their performance.”

He plans to utilize eye-tracking devices, mouse tracking, and think-aloud protocols—a measurement that asks the participants to verbalize their thinking in real-time—as well as surveys and questionnaires to measure learning. Importantly, this platform will provide adaptive training based on a user’s learning profile and performance, personalizing the experience of the immersive experience to best meet their specific needs. 

For Li, this work builds on his broader expertise in the learning sciences and health education. His research focuses on designing technology-rich learning environments to promote learner performance and health literacy, while investigating the fundamental differences in learning patterns and behavioral change processes. 

The project officially began on September 1 and will span three years. Testing will take place with students from the University of Maryland’s Department of Fire Protection Engineering and with professional fire investigators and firefighters. Li intends to recruit and mentor a Lehigh doctoral student to support the project, which has the potential to reshape the way that fire investigators are trained across the country.