Using Immersive Storytelling to Attract Students to the Construction Field

Wen, Jing; Gheisari, Masoud

doi:10.1061/9780784483893.170

“…The content can be either designed to be viewed by the traditional computer display or by the headmounted display devices. Wen et al (2022b) create a storytelling platform by using 360-degree immersive content to give students the narrative of a success story in the electrical industry with the goal of motivating and attracting young students to the field. Additionally, in 2019, geoscience students in both high school and undergraduate programs began using virtual field trips as a learning method (Mead et al 2019).…”

Section: Construction Virtual Site Visits and Related Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual site visits in Construction Management education: A practical alternative to physical site visits (REDIRECT)

Shojaei,

Ly,

Rokooei

et al. 2023

ITcon

0

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Construction site visits and hands-on experiences are among the important instruments for educators in construction engineering and management to provide students with valuable knowledge and more engaging learning experiences. However, in addition to its existing logistical challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic has made site visits even more inaccessible as in-person classes and site visits moved to distant learning or got canceled. In a distance education system, conducting a physical site visit is not an easy task. This study focuses on the use of virtual site visits in construction and experiencing virtual hands-on training using immersive videos. Three types of video formats were used as the main content delivery methods in this pilot study namely, 2D flat, 360-degree, and 180-degree 3D videos. This method was adopted and tested in two courses that were previously face-to-face, which were then shifted to an online format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of immersive videos gave students who would not have the ability to experience a physical site visit, the opportunity to experience the construction site environment and receive educational direction during a pre-recorded, hands-on, immersive video project. The goal of this study is to understand students’ experience with the provided technology, necessary improvement, implications for future research, and the potential implementations of this technology. A costume set of questionnaires was designed to retrieve students’ feedback on their experience which includes a comparison of different content delivery methods and four other study measures: knowledge retention, sense of presence, user experience, and overall satisfaction. Multiple statistical analyses were conducted on the collected data to provide both descriptive details and further insight into the study parameters and their relationship with each other and between different parameters.

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“…Most of these practices enable a connection between students and practitioners in the field and present role models for students. These practices have received positive feedback and detected the effectiveness in increasing students' interest (Wen & Gheisari, 2022). While these conventional approaches have helped and should be continued, there are several problems with them.…”

Section: Current Practices To Promote Female Participation In Stem Pr...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Firstly, while female role models can be especially beneficial for females (Lockwood, 2006), current limited female involvement in the construction field results in limited availability of female mentors/role models, therefore the supportive relationship with role models can only impact a small number of female students (Adogbo et al, 2015). Furthermore, there is one major limitation of conventional approaches that cannot be overlooked: because people need to physically attend these events, the number of young students that can directly benefit from such events is relatively small and geographically limited to the local areas where those events happen (Wen & Gheisari, 2022). Furthermore, participating such events, such as role modeling programs, requires a significant amount of time for students and role models, and it is significantly time-consuming and costly for organizers (usually the researchers) to appropriately plan, implement, and promote such activities (Herrmann et al, 2016;Lee et al, 2015;Lee & Walker, 2014).…”

Section: Current Practices To Promote Female Participation In Stem Pr...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Improve Female Participation in Construction Using Storytelling

Wen,

Gheisari

EPiC Series in Built Environment

0

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Recognizing a severe workforce shortage, the construction industry is now keen on diversifying its talent pool, particularly by attracting female students to construction science, engineering, or management (CM) programs. Despite previous efforts to engage female students in construction, they have not yielded the desired results. To address this issue, this study created a series of stories about women in construction, drawing from interviews with over 30 women currently active in the field. These narratives aim to inspire more female students to consider careers in construction and boost female participation. The stories, integrated with interview content, were disseminated online and subsequently assessed by 53 female undergraduate students. The findings indicated a positive impact, revealing that the stories played a pivotal role in boosting the confidence of these students in pursuing careers in construction. By offering a nuanced perspective into the diverse paths within CM professions, the stories empowered these potential female professionals, enabling them to envision and strive for success in an industry traditionally dominated by males. Offering a tangible and relatable portrayal of women's experiences in the industry, this study provided an easily accessible resource for individuals, organizations, and educational institutions interested in promoting gender diversity in construction.

show abstract

Virtual site visits in Construction Management education: A practical alternative to physical site visits

Shojaei,

Ly,

Rokooei

et al. 2023

ITcon

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Construction site visits and hands-on experiences are among the important instruments for educators in construction engineering and management to provide students with valuable knowledge and more engaging learning experiences. However, in addition to its existing logistical challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic has made site visits even more inaccessible as in-person classes and site visits moved to distant learning or got canceled. In a distance education system, conducting a physical site visit is not an easy task. This study focuses on the use of virtual site visits in construction and experiencing virtual hands-on training using immersive videos. Three types of video formats were used as the main content delivery methods in this pilot study namely, 2D flat, 360-degree, and 180-degree 3D videos. This method was adopted and tested in two courses that were previously face-to-face, which were then shifted to an online format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of immersive videos gave students who would not have the ability to experience a physical site visit, the opportunity to experience the construction site environment and receive educational direction during a pre-recorded, hands-on, immersive video project. The goal of this study is to understand students’ experience with the provided technology, necessary improvement, implications for future research, and the potential implementations of this technology. A costume set of questionnaires was designed to retrieve students’ feedback on their experience which includes a comparison of different content delivery methods and four other study measures: knowledge retention, sense of presence, user experience, and overall satisfaction. Multiple statistical analyses were conducted on the collected data to provide both descriptive details and further insight into the study parameters and their relationship with each other and between different parameters.

show abstract

Using Immersive Storytelling to Attract Students to the Construction Field

Cited by 3 publications

References 8 publications

Virtual site visits in Construction Management education: A practical alternative to physical site visits (REDIRECT)

Virtual site visits in Construction Management education: A practical alternative to physical site visits (REDIRECT)

Improve Female Participation in Construction Using Storytelling

Virtual site visits in Construction Management education: A practical alternative to physical site visits

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