Digital Technologies For Integrated Education In Construction Engineering

Enhancing the preparation of engineering students to deal with real construction projects requires the development of their abilities to handle several engineering concepts in an integrated fashion. This paper presents an integrated approach to delivering construction engineering education using new technologies capable of providing an environment to handle real construction situations with manageable pieces of knowledge available in flexible representations media. In this approach, a computer-based system will be developed to allow the housing of the knowledge of different concepts in formats that can be integrated and used for several purposes and construction engineering aspects. The formats contain representations including sections of digital videos related to construction methods and materials, schedules as well as design alternatives. These representations are organized in association with construction projects components to provide effective compilation and manipulation to support integrated analytical and decision-making processes. The proposed approach will provide the educator with an effective mechanism to deliver the construction knowledge by integrating several concepts in the course, which will help prepare engineers to solve real construction situations. Introduction Enhancing the preparation of engineering students to deal with real construction projects requires the development of their abilities to handle several engineering concepts in an integrated fashion. Integrated management processes are complex and crucial for solving most real construction situations1. Whether a construction project involves developing a schedule, a plan, or an estimate, selecting a construction method and material, or improving its productivity and quality, engineers must possess the skills to carry out integrated analytical and decision-making processes taking into consideration the effect that each of these functions has on the other2, 3. Teaching engineering students how to carry out these processes can be improved with ample exposure and effective delivery methods to enable them to grasp the inherent and intricate concepts, and perform relevant hands-on applications for an adequate preparation for their career. A common and evident obstacle encountered in teaching construction engineering is the difficulty to bring the construction site to the classroom and to have access to real construction sites during the lecture schedules. A video about a complete project or part of it may clarify some aspects of