Exploring Applications of Building Information Modeling for Enhancing Visualization and Information Access in Engineering and Construction Education Environments

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. © 2012 Copyright Associated Schools of Construction.