Virtual Construction + Collaboration Lab: Setting a New Paradigm for BIM Education

Arundhati Ghosh

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Conference: 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: June 10, 2012
Start Date: June 10, 2012
End Date: June 13, 2012
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Methods of Teaching and Learning in Construction
Tagged Division: Construction
Page Count: 12
Page Numbers: 25.1459.1 - 25.1459.12
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--22216
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/22216
Download Count: 703

Paper Authors

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Arundhati Ghosh Arizona State University

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Arundhati Ghosh has a master's in architecture and construction management and is a Teaching Assistant for the Project Management/BIM lab at ASU. Ghosh's research interests include understanding the management aspect of BIM and how it can be integrated with the workflow of a company. Ghosh like to run and bike.

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Abstract

Virtual Construction + Collaboration Lab: Setting a new paradigm for BIM educationBuilding Information Modeling has been embraced and determined to be a core component in theundergraduate construction management program at several major universities across the United States.Currently, in some programs, BIM is being taught in a lecture - lab setting in Project Managementcourses. Industry involvement has continued to improve the course offering by including relevant areasof information and skills required to enter the workforce. However, it is critical to capitalize on both theintra and inter-disciplinary collaborative aspect of BIM to set higher standards for research anddevelopment, education and practice. It is essential to grow and build upon these aspects to remaincurrent with the changing trends in the AEC industry. This paper summarizes the research to develop acurriculum progression involving the use of BIM tools at every relevant stage of a student’s academiccareer, culminating in a capstone project in the form of a Virtual Construction and Collaboration Lab.The Virtual Construction and Collaboration Lab (VC2L) is a pod based collaborative learningenvironment wherein inter-disciplinary groups of students investigate real-world projects from theviewpoint of industry representatives in their own particular field of study. The collaboration is a teamassignment, modeling the project life cycle, concentrating on the pre-construction phases as this iswhen major decisions regarding contract schedule and cost are confirmed. At this stage, students areengaged in not just learning the tools that constitute BIM, but in applying these tools to add and extractinformation to better aid the construction process. The lab time is preceded and supported by a ProjectManagement lecture; then VC2L provides the environment to test and execute BIM on real life projects.In order to provide this level of expertise in students as they progress through the undergraduate level,it is essential that they are well versed with the software applications ahead in their academiccoursework. As a result, students are introduced to digital modeling through Autodesk® Revit® , at the200 (sophomore) level, in addition to reading blueprints through a Construction Working Drawingcourse. To further increase the knowledge for future applications, at the 300 (junior) levels an electivecourse is introduced offering training in a wide array of software applications such as Navisworks®,Synchro©, D-Profiler™, Prolog®, Primavera® etc. The students taking this class are then able to usethis knowledge in other courses such as Scheduling and Estimating.As the industry grows and adapts to the new and latest trends, it is essential that students follow suitand get one step further. Academia must mirror the permeability of BIM in all the levels of coursesoffered in the Construction Management program at the undergraduate level.

Citation
Format

Ghosh, A. (2012, June), Virtual Construction + Collaboration Lab: Setting a New Paradigm for BIM Education Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--22216

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -                           Virtual Construction + Collaboration Lab:                          Setting a new paradigm for BIM educationBuilding Information Modeling has been embraced and determined to be a core component in theundergraduate construction management program at several major universities across the United States.Currently, in some programs, BIM is being taught in a lecture - lab setting in Project Managementcourses. Industry involvement has continued to improve the course offering by including relevant areasof information and skills required to enter the workforce. However, it is critical to capitalize on both theintra and inter-disciplinary collaborative aspect of BIM to set higher standards for research anddevelopment, education and practice. It is essential to grow and build upon these aspects to remaincurrent with the changing trends in the AEC industry. This paper summarizes the research to develop acurriculum progression involving the use of BIM tools at every relevant stage of a student’s academiccareer, culminating in a capstone project in the form of a Virtual Construction and Collaboration Lab.The Virtual Construction and Collaboration Lab (VC2L) is a pod based collaborative learningenvironment wherein inter-disciplinary groups of students investigate real-world projects from theviewpoint of industry representatives in their own particular field of study. The collaboration is a teamassignment, modeling the project life cycle, concentrating on the pre-construction phases as this iswhen major decisions regarding contract schedule and cost are confirmed. At this stage, students areengaged in not just learning the tools that constitute BIM, but in applying these tools to add and extractinformation to better aid the construction process. The lab time is preceded and supported by a ProjectManagement lecture; then VC2L provides the environment to test and execute BIM on real life projects.In order to provide this level of expertise in students as they progress through the undergraduate level,it is essential that they are well versed with the software applications ahead in their academiccoursework. As a result, students are introduced to digital modeling through Autodesk® Revit® , at the200 (sophomore) level, in addition to reading blueprints through a Construction Working Drawingcourse. To further increase the knowledge for future applications, at the 300 (junior) levels an electivecourse is introduced offering training in a wide array of software applications such as Navisworks®,Synchro©, D-Profiler™, Prolog®, Primavera® etc. The students taking this class are then able to usethis knowledge in other courses such as Scheduling and Estimating.As the industry grows and adapts to the new and latest trends, it is essential that students follow suitand get one step further. Academia must mirror the permeability of BIM in all the levels of coursesoffered in the Construction Management program at the undergraduate level.
AU  - Arundhati Ghosh
CY  - San Antonio, Texas
DA  - 2012/06/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Virtual Construction + Collaboration Lab: Setting a New Paradigm for BIM Education
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/22216
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--22216
ER  -