No abstract

Contextualization: Our Safety VEST Hackathon was inspired by a student’s senior project, which explored the fit of safety vests for construction workers, discovering women were disproportionately impacted by improperly fitting personal protective equipment (PPE). Goals and Methods: A feminist hackathon event was hosted and analyzed to understand wearers’ problems (especially women’s problems) with construction safety vests. The means and methods used to ensure collaboration and input from participants following feminist design principles are discussed. The goal of the hackathon was to improve the fit of PPE for varying body types by gaining insights from industry workers to address the needs of the construction’s increasingly diverse workforce. During a two-day event, six teams redesigned vests, cut them apart, and constructed prototypes, which were then presented to industry workers and vest manufacturers for feedback. Faculty and student researchers took fieldnotes and interviewed (n=16) hackathon participants. Quantitative and qualitative data, including surveys, design reflection journals, and semi–structured interviews, were collected and analyzed to conceive new design and safety features for different body types and wearer needs. Results: Building on feminist interaction design principles, our paper presents the development, implementation, and results of a design process where users were invited to participate in revisioning the safety vest to better serve their needs for safety, comfort, fit, and function. Improvements to the redesigned vest included the creation of synching cords, hoods, water bladders, identification holder pockets, length, reflective material, pocket changes, and ergonomic features to support posture and redistribute weight and tools. Final Considerations: This study expands the field of research surrounding feminist hackathon design principles by including women in collaborative design processes to understand and improve the fit of safety vests for women on construction sites and address workplace inclusion and retention.

No abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic created a new set of restrictions and safety protocols for the residential construction industry. Many jurisdictions began placing social distancing practices on building inspectors, limiting their ability to visit the jobsite. This adjustment required residential contractors and inspectors to adapt to virtual inspections using videotelephony, photographs, or recorded videos. As this inspection method gains traction in the residential industry, questions arise regarding its benefits, drawbacks, and industry acceptance. This case study analyzes the perceptions and experiences of five separate homebuilders in Yolo County, California. Semi- structured interviews were conducted with five residential general contractors, transcribed, and thematically analyzed to discover reoccurring patterns and ideas. Throughout the interviews, six significant themes emerged including familiarity with the technology, time and cost impacts, applicability, accuracy, homebuilders’ preference, and future considerations. Based on the interviews, homebuilders believe the new technology has potential time and cost savings. There are some concerns with the technology's accuracy as virtual inspections can inhibit the inspector's visibility, in certain scenarios. However, all general contractors interviewed agreed they would like to see a hybrid system in the future that allows for virtual and in-person inspections, and also agreed that not all items are appropriate for remote inspections.

This paper discusses students’ perspectives about the instructional delivery methods they preferred and found effective in four courses at a major university. Different teaching modalities were used, including asynchronous course delivery and a hybrid format which utilized synchronous virtual meetings for lectures and in-person face-to-face hands-on building activities. A survey was conducted, and results indicated that students both preferred and found most effective hands-on and lab activities over all other methods. The results of the student surveys are presented and discussed. The learning laboratories were designed to complement and enhance student learning in fundamentals, building information modeling, residential, and commercial construction courses, and provided opportunities for students to build and virtually design assemblies outside the classroom by applying knowledge first learned through reading and lecture. The laboratory exercises have been designed to reinforce course comprehension by combining them with additional instructional delivery methods allowing students to “learn by doing.” Each hands-on experiential exercise incorporated concepts learned in lecture (recorded or virtual); these exercises included hand drafting, virtual design, framing, exterior systems, door and window flashing and installation, and concrete. This information may assist educational programs that are interested in developing hand-on experiential laboratory exercises to enhance other course delivery methods.