Irizarry, J; Meadati, P; Barham, W S and Akhnoukh, A (2012) Exploring applications of building information modeling for enhancing visualization and information access in engineering and construction education environments. International Journal of Construction Education and Research, 8(2), pp. 119-145. ISSN 1557-8771
Abstract
The motivation for this research stems from the authors' experience where they have witnessed the challenges students face in grasping certain concepts because of difficulty visualizing the concepts being taught. The research aims to understand how new digital tools can help students overcome these challenges and how to measure their effectiveness. Three applications of building information modeling in Civil Engineering (CE) and Construction Management (CM) education were explored in this research. Two were the creation of knowledge repositories for residential construction and concrete formwork applications, and the third was the use of three dimensional building information models for enhancing student visualization of concrete structure design concepts. An increase of 4.7% for the beam problem, 4.8% for the slab problem, and 4.8% for the foundation and column problem was observed in the number of correct answers from CM students. For CE students, an increase of 10.1% was observed in the number of correct answers for the beam problem when three dimensional building information models were used. This study shows that the use of building information modeling in CE and CM education applications has the potential to be more than a graphic representation tool, but a means to enhance student learning.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building information modeling; construction education; information repository; learning environment; visualization |
| Index terms: | building information modelling, concrete structure, beam, residential construction, effectiveness, face, motivation, column, visualization, concrete formwork, construction education |
| Subjects: | professional education, structural engineering, psychology, construction methods, information systems, construction integration, performance management, design practice |
| Topics: | Human Resources, Digital Applications, Design Practice, Organizational Design, Business Strategy, Quality Management, Education, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
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