Soetanto, R; Childs, M; Poh, P; Austin, S and Hao, J (2014) Virtual collaborative learning for building design. Proceedings of Institution of Civil Engineers: Management, Procurement and Law, 167(1), pp. 25-34. ISSN 17514304
Abstract
A building design project that requires civil engineering students in the UK and architectural students in Canada to collaborate virtually has been implemented at universities in the two countries. The aims were to obtain a greater understanding of the process, strategies and expected outcomes for a more effective implementation of problembased learning to hone communication and teamwork skills. Data were obtained from a series of interviews with 23 students from seven groups, assessment results of 249 participating and non-participating students, and student evaluation. The findings suggest that the professional ethos of the groups and the consequent building of trust is the greatest factor in supporting successful collaborations. This has been found to be able to overcome many barriers related to technology and differences of culture, language, time zone and tasks. However, the activity did not seem to have any impact on student performance, but has improved the project management skills of participating students. The activity has also contributed positively to increasing student satisfaction. Several lessons for future implementation are presented, before limitations and further research are described. ICE Publishing: All rights reserved.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | buildings, structures & design; education & training; project management |
| Index terms: | Canada, strategy, building design, project management, implementation, teamwork, collaborative learning, collaboration, student performance, interview, student satisfaction |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, contractual arrangements, learning methods, professions and roles, management, architectural design, Geography, project management theory and practice, student development |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Project Management, Business Strategy, Organizational Design, Procurement, Design Practice, Geographical Context, Education |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here