Investigating the Effects of Virtual Site Tours in Construction Technology Education: An ePlatform for Students’ Transferable Knowledge Acquisition
Publication: Journal of Civil Engineering Education
Volume 150, Issue 1
Abstract
In construction technology education (CTE), construction site tours play an essential role for undergraduate students to obtain familiarity with construction environments, combine content knowledge with practice, and develop their competencies to embrace construction innovations before entering the industry. Implementing real construction site visits for education purposes faces challenges in getting access to proper construction sites and ensuring the safety of visiting students. This study combined the application of Project-based learning (PBL), game-based learning (GBL), and deeper learning theories to develop TheProjectLive ePlatform for students to experience virtual site tours. In this platform, 360-degree panoramas were utilized to present the approximate complexity of construction sites and provide an immersive learning environment. The study evaluated the effects of the proposed virtual site tour approach through two years of implementation in a tertiary course: Introductory Construction Technology and Materials. The students’ knowledge acquisition and learning experience when applying the ePlatform were well measured through in-class quizzes and questionnaire surveys, respectively. Based on the descriptive and statistical sources of evidence, the developed ePlatform for conducting the virtual construction site tour demonstrated its potential to effectively improve students’ transferable knowledge acquisition. The results of two in-class quizzes designed to assess students’ comprehension of content knowledge and their competency to solve practical problems showed that the average scores of students who experienced the virtual site tour were higher than students who learned via lecture notes. Specifically, the average scores of the former were 13.3% and 17.8% higher than the latter in the two quizzes, respectively. According to students’ feedback, this case study research also provided suggestions to further improve the proposed virtual site tour approach in tertiary CTE, emphasizing the importance of clear content presentation as well as indicating the benefits of perceived helpfulness and well-designed game elements.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or codes that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the Teaching Development Grant of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (No. LTG19-22/SS/BRE4 and BRE5). The authors would like to acknowledge and thank Simon, Jerry, and Xin from Hip Hing Construction Company for their kind help during the data collection on the construction site.
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Journal of Civil Engineering Education
Volume 150 • Issue 1 • January 2024
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© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Jan 4, 2023
Accepted: Jul 28, 2023
Published online: Sep 29, 2023
Published in print: Jan 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Feb 29, 2024
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