Virtual construction project management environment

Abstract

The focus of this research project was to develop a virtual Construction Project Management (CPM) environment to enhance the educational outcomes for learners in the discipline of Construction Management. The environment utilised Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) technologies and processes and project-based learning. A virtual model of a building was used as the central course resource to investigate, analyse and simulate the construction project. Three main challenges were encountered in setting up and managing the environment. These were related to content, delivery and development of the environment. The benefits of the environment were improved student engagement and, through that, good learning outcomes in CPM topics, particularly in Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology for CPM. The overall project objectives were met. The students found the environment challenging, but very engaging, and considerable improvements in knowledge and skill development were seen in all topic areas during the course. However, fitting all learning outcomes in proved to be too much. This had been signalled during the planning stage of the course and the decision had already been made to reduce slightly the emphasis of the VDC process compared to the VDC technology, and to leave a comparison of traditional and emerging methods outside the course. The concept has proved to be transferable to other Construction courses, such as Construction Technology and Construction Economics. The findings have been disseminated nationally to other tertiary institutions delivering VDC subjects, and internationally via Australasian Universities' Building Education Association Conference