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.

Incorporating Building Information Modeling in Existing Courses: A Systematic Framework for Undergraduate Construction Management Programs

“…Traditional estimating courses use CAD drawings for quantity takeoff, either with hard copy plans or computer programs such as Onscreen Takeoff. A main problem of using CAD drawing for takeoff is that since each individual sheet (plans, elevations, and sections) was produced independently, the possibility of information inconsistency between each other is high 22 . With BIM integration, model-based estimating is able to eliminate these errors because a building component is the same object in any view or sheet.…”

“…For example, students are able to see through concrete and find out how reinforcement is placed, or cut a wall and see the inside materials and structures. One shortcoming of using Revit to demonstrate the structural systems is that for some components, it does not depict the actual construction process, such as walls, floors, roofs, and concrete members 19,22 . Walls are modeled in Revit by structuring all the elements first including stud framing, sheathing, insulation, gypsum board, and siding or brick veneer, and then placing the single entity to the building model.…”

“…Students have to mentally visualize the components of a structure from the lines and symbols in different drawings and combine them into a virtual structure. CM students with little or no previous experience often face challenges and have to spend more time interpreting the drawings 22 .…”

“…Construction Planning and Scheduling is a core course that requires CM students to develop a logical sequence of construction. CAD drawings have been traditionally used to develop network models to present activity relationships and create bar charts to depict the construction sequence 22 . The challenge is that it requires a lot of experience and practice to obtain a full understanding of the structure from a complete set of CAD drawings, and students with weak background will have difficulties interpreting the drawings and visualizing the structure 22,31 .…”

“…CAD drawings have been traditionally used to develop network models to present activity relationships and create bar charts to depict the construction sequence 22 . The challenge is that it requires a lot of experience and practice to obtain a full understanding of the structure from a complete set of CAD drawings, and students with weak background will have difficulties interpreting the drawings and visualizing the structure 22,31 . With the help of BIM, students can see the virtual building and are even able to take it apart to see all the components inside, which significantly assists them to understand the physical constraints and how all the elements are connected to each other, and eventually develop a logical construction sequence.…”