Learning in global teams: BIM planning and coordination

Abstract

Globally distributed student team projects allow for complex and multifaceted learning outcomes through experiential educational settings. While the students involved may be studying built environment disciplines such as architecture, engineering and construction, distributed teams are mediated by technology, separated by time zones, and differentiated by culture. In this paper, we explore such multifaceted learning in a globally distributed team project where students from seven universities on three continents participated in a 2-week global team workshop to study rapid construction for disaster response. The participating schools included the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT), National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), National Taiwan University (NTU), the University of Twente (UT), the University of Washington (UW), Washington State University (WSU), and Yonsei University (YU). For the term project students collaborated and coordinated their work in a virtual world. Upon project completion, we conducted a survey with students from two of the participating universities and analyzed their reflections as reported in their final presentations. We found that the distributed nature of the teams emphasized the importance of Building Information Modeling (BIM) execution planning and its joint development as well as the importance of shared project goals and early involvement of team members in the planning process.