Simulation as Supplementary Tool in Construction Management Education

Saeed Rokooei; James D. Goedert; Asregedew Kassa Woldesenbet

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Conference: 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Publication Date: June 24, 2017
Start Date: June 24, 2017
End Date: June 28, 2017
Conference Session: Construction 1: Special Topics in Construction Education: BIM, Simulation, Sustainability, and Safety
Tagged Division: Construction
Page Count: 16
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--28825
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/28825
Download Count: 491

Paper Authors

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Saeed Rokooei University of Nebraska, Lincoln at Omaha orcid.org/0000-0001-8543-653X

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Saeed Rokooei is an adjunct faculty and a post-doctoral researcher in the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Saeed obtained his bachelor's degree in Architecture and then continued his studies in Project & Construction Management. Saeed's research interests include Education, Project Management, Data Analytics, BIM, and Sustainability.

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James D. Goedert Ph.D., P.E. University of Nebraska, Durham

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James D. Goedert is a Professor in the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction at the University of Nebraska’s College of Engineering. His Ph.D. is in the Interdisciplinary Area of Business Administration from the University of Nebraska. His MBA is from Indiana University and his undergraduate degree in Construction Engineering Technology is from the University of Nebraska. Dr. Goedert is a Licensed Professional Engineer in Indiana and Nebraska. His entire career has been dedicated to the construction industry beginning in a family owned construction company. He spent eight years in the residential and commercial construction industry before joined academia. He taught construction engineering and management courses at the University of Nebraska for twenty three years and was Department Head for eight of those years. His current research interests include project-based education, educational gaming, building energy modeling, sustainable construction practices, and energy conservation. He is particularly interested in the impact of his research on humanitarian initiatives particularly socially and economically disadvantaged populations both here and abroad. He was the founding President of Engineers without Borders Nebraska Professional Chapter. He regularly travels to Haiti designing and constructing composting latrines, schools and health clinics. He has traveled abroad to Egypt, Uganda, Mali, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Togo looking for opportunities to leverage his research and service interest in developing countries.

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Asregedew Kassa Woldesenbet University of Nebraska, Lincoln at Omaha orcid.org/0000-0001-5274-1052

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Asregedew Woldesenbet is an assistant professor at the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His research interests revolve around engineering/STEM education, project-based and virtual learning, civil infrastructure and asset management, development of key performance indicators, data and information integration and decision support systems.

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Abstract

Many academic programs utilize simulation applications to supplement higher education, but there are only a few applications responding to the need in construction curricula, particularly with a focus on project management. Project management is an interdisciplinary area of study, crosscutting multiple fields including construction, information technology, and business sectors. This paper presents the design, development, and test of a research project, entitled Project-oriented Educational Research Fostering Excellence in Cyber-infrastructure Teaching (PERFECT) and investigates the effect of a construction project management simulation on construction management students’ engagement and perceptions at the XXX. The goal of PERFECT was to develop and study the efficacy of a simulation for construction project time management. This is a common knowledge area in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) standard published by the Project Management Institute (PMI). PERFECT was a pilot module created in a simulated environment and allowed students to be interactively engaged in time management-related processes. Participants played the role of a project manager and were required to make management decisions throughout the simulation. Processes like input, tools and methods, and outputs in PERFECT were designed in accordance with the PMBOK standard. The fully developed application was tested with two groups of 30 construction students: the first group included students with prior project time management knowledge (Group A) whereas the second group consisted of students without any prior knowledge (Group B). The students’ data were captured and retrieved automatically without any human interaction. A quantitative research method was used for analyzing the data and a retrospective post- survey was conducted to obtain participants’ perceptions of the application. The results indicated the effectiveness of PERFECT and supported the expansion and further development of similar simulation applications. This type of evidence-based learning system not only enhances the validity and reliability of the application, but has a potential for incorporation into the academic arena particularly in construction.

Citation
Format

Rokooei, S., & Goedert, J. D., & Woldesenbet, A. K. (2017, June), Simulation as Supplementary Tool in Construction Management Education Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--28825

TY - CPAPER
AB - Many academic programs utilize simulation applications to supplement higher education, but there are only a few applications responding to the need in construction curricula, particularly with a focus on project management. Project management is an interdisciplinary area of study, crosscutting multiple fields including construction, information technology, and business sectors. This paper presents the design, development, and test of a research project, entitled Project-oriented Educational Research Fostering Excellence in Cyber-infrastructure Teaching (PERFECT) and investigates the effect of a construction project management simulation on construction management students’ engagement and perceptions at the XXX. The goal of PERFECT was to develop and study the efficacy of a simulation for construction project time management. This is a common knowledge area in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) standard published by the Project Management Institute (PMI). PERFECT was a pilot module created in a simulated environment and allowed students to be interactively engaged in time management-related processes. Participants played the role of a project manager and were required to make management decisions throughout the simulation. Processes like input, tools and methods, and outputs in PERFECT were designed in accordance with the PMBOK standard. The fully developed application was tested with two groups of 30 construction students: the first group included students with prior project time management knowledge (Group A) whereas the second group consisted of students without any prior knowledge (Group B). The students’ data were captured and retrieved automatically without any human interaction. A quantitative research method was used for analyzing the data and a retrospective post- survey was conducted to obtain participants’ perceptions of the application. The results indicated the effectiveness of PERFECT and supported the expansion and further development of similar simulation applications. This type of evidence-based learning system not only enhances the validity and reliability of the application, but has a potential for incorporation into the academic arena particularly in construction.
AU - Saeed Rokooei
AU - James D. Goedert Ph.D., P.E.
AU - Asregedew Kassa Woldesenbet
CY - Columbus, Ohio
DA - 2017/06/24
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Simulation as Supplementary Tool in Construction Management Education
UR - https://peer.asee.org/28825
DO - 10.18260/1-2--28825
ER -