Wang, J; Xu, Y; Fang, D and Liao, P C (2025) How project-based learning improves construction contract management training: Evidence from eye-tracking searching strategies for contract risk recognition performance. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 151(9): 04025125, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Construction contract management is crucial for the smooth implementation of projects, and contract risk recognition is key to construction contract management. However, complex legal terminology often makes project managers find contract management training quite challenging. Recently, learner-centered project-based learning (PBL) has flourished, but few related studies concentrate on construction contract management training. This study aims to explore the impact of PBL on improving construction contract management training and the specific mechanisms through eye-tracking technology and then conclude the visual search strategies for recognizing contract risks. We designed a project-based learning training program based on the ADDIE (analyze, design, develop, implement, evaluate) theory and recruited managers to participate in the training. Forty participants finished the contract risk recognition experiment, and related algorithms were used to extract eye fixation points and analyze the visual trajectories. The results show: (1) project-based learning can significantly improve risk recognition rates (by 6%, p=0.004, d=0.588) and reduce the fixation time on keywords in contracts, indicating that participants can more deeply experience their roles in engineering and risk management and increase attention to keywords; (2) participants recognizing risks successfully followed similar visual search patterns, with visual trajectories focused on specific risk areas rather than distracting words; and (3) participants recognizing risks successfully tended to fully observe a subarea and systematically move to another, forming subject-driven and predicate-driven visual search patterns, revealing that participants can better understand the connections between knowledge and form a logical and sequential visual search pattern. In terms of the body of knowledge, this study deconstructs the specific mechanisms by which PBL improves contract management training, proposes a contract risk search pattern based on visual scanning paths and expands the ADDIE model to the ADDIEO (analyze, design, develop, implement, evaluate, optimize) model. Practically, this paper has significance for improving construction contract management training and developing intelligent contract risk recognition platforms.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | area of interest; construction contract management; eye-tracking; project managers; project-based learning; risk recognition; training; visual search strategy |
| Index terms: | evidence, program, body of knowledge, contract management, manager, experiment, strategy, construction contract, risk management, project-based learning, implementation, platform, project manager |
| Subjects: | contract management, digital design, contract type, evaluation and assessment methods, practitioner, contractual arrangements, knowledge management, software systems, management, data collection methods, risk assessment, profession, learning methods |
| Topics: | Education, Procurement, Risk Management, Contract Administration, Digital Applications, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Information Management, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
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