Building Collaborative Construction Skills through BIM-integrated Learning Environment

The integration of technology and team collaboration is increasingly becoming a critical juncture in construction education of the work environment. Through literature review and interviews, the authors find that students equipped with knowledge of BIM technology is not the ultimate goal, while the collaborative process of using BIM to solve practical construction problems emerges as key to individuals entering the industry. However, a majority of BIM-relevant courses have been taught as technology training without the context of a collaborative learning environment, while the industry values training in collaboration as a paramount skill in possible employees. To fill this gap, the authors assume that the collaborative construction skills can be obtained through training in higher education of construction. This work applies a case study analysis of one of Virginia Tech’s Department of Building Construction courses, the Integrated Construction Studio (ICS), to demonstrate how the BIM process help students to build their collaboration skills in 4Cs: Common goals, Communication, Coordination, and Cooperation. This work then uses a survey analysis to validate the assumptions, and results from statistical analysis reinforce findings from the case study and also suggest some noteworthy observations for the educational integration of technology and collaboration in the industry.