BIM-Enabled Virtual and Collaborative Construction Engineering and Management
Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 138, Issue 3
Abstract
Today’s construction engineering and management (CEM) graduates must have strong communication and teamwork skills; they must have the ability to work efficiently within colocated teams; and finally, they must know how to apply fundamental engineering, management, and computer skills in practice. However, the traditional CEM education does not equip future engineers and managers to deal successfully with such issues. The authors describe experiences from a course that focuses on modes of learning involving virtual collaboration, problem-oriented project-based learning, and role-based learning. The aim of this course is to combine experimental and experiential learning into a research driven experience. The course was codesigned and cotaught by two instructors from two universities. The learning outcomes and lessons learned during the introduction of this building information modeling (BIM)-enabled virtual and collaborative construction engineering and management course are discussed. Specifically, it is shown that the introduction of BIM in a virtual collaborative setting allows instructors to design a course that incorporates the use of more realistic scenarios that better simulate real-world challenges. Such experiences teach students how construction projects are executed in practice, how different disciplines rely on one other for information, what type of information is needed from relevant disciplines, and when and how this information could be exchanged/shared between tools and processes.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the USC Facilities Management Services, Virginia Tech Facilities Services, SCA-Building D, and ICTAS II project teams for their expertise and contribution to the course. The authors appreciate the software tools and support provided by the vendors Autodesk, Graphisoft, Horizontal Glue, Solibri, Digital Vision, and AEC Infosystems. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations presented in this paper are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the project teams, facilities' management groups, or software vendors. In addition, the authors would like to thank the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Distance Education Network, and Information Technology Services teams for the technical assistance they provided. The authors are also thankful to the students that took the courses and provided the feedback on their experiences.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 138 • Issue 3 • July 2012
Pages: 234 - 245
Copyright
© 2012. American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 17, 2010
Accepted: Sep 14, 2011
Published online: Feb 15, 2012
Published in print: Jul 1, 2012
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