Global Multidisciplinary Learning in Construction Education: Lessons from Virtual Collaboration of Building Design Teams

Abstract

Construction is a multidisciplinary activity in which effective communication between parties is essential for successful construction projects. However, the construction industry has been characterised by fragmentation, which prevents seamless communication. This problem has been further exacerbated by the need to communicate over distance within a time constraint in an increasingly interconnected and globalised construction sector. This has brought a particular challenge to the education sector in preparing the future graduates to work in this context. The paper reports on an on-going Hewlett Packard-sponsored project to implement an innovative learning approach which consists of distanced collaboration between students from different disciplines from two Universities in the UK and Canada. The empirical work involved interviews and questionnaire survey at different stages of the project. The preliminary findings reveal the impact of disciplinary training on the development of effective virtual collaboration, although this has been moderated, to some extent, by their earlier (not so positive) experience during the course of the project. The research provides a material for further reflection and may serve as a useful consideration for future development of a guiding framework for effective training of built environment professionals.

Appraisal of Mobile Apps for Communication and Collaboration among Construction Project Teams

“…Mobile and wireless technologies can provide construction site personnel access to accurate and up-to-date information and improve project collaboration and communication among all participants (Sherratt, Sher, Williams, & Gameson, 2010). Implementing mobile visualisation technologies can support mobile visualisation applications and collaboration between distributed construction sites and design teams, improving the distribution and clarification of drawings, management of design changes, and resolution of buildability problems (Soetanto, Childs, Poh, Austin, & Hao, 2012). Additionally, mobile phones and networked software can accelerate voice and data communication between construction teams, especially in small-and medium-sized companies, where technology and control systems may be uncommon (Yiu, & Hu, 2006).…”