Simulation practice of construction engineering projects in science and technology universities: a case study of renovation of old buildings

Cultivating high-quality applied talents who meet the requirements of the times’ development is the development direction of China's higher education strategy. To address the imbalance between higher education and employment needs, this paper explores new paths and methods for the integration of industry and education in colleges and universities, as well as the enhancement of students’ employment abilities. This study adopts a project-oriented approach, emphasizing the completion of design outputs and incorporating a systematic review and evaluation mechanism to generate quantitative assessment results. The findings demonstrate that introducing real-world project cases into simulation-based practice enables team members to assume authentic professional roles and participate in the full project design cycle. This approach leads to improved project acceptance quality, enhanced software proficiency, and higher completion rates of project deliverables. These results provide a practical foundation for applied universities to establish engineering practice guidance platforms and address existing gaps in practice-oriented education. Based on these conclusions, it is recommended that future engineering practice instruction be strengthened through measures such as recruiting industry-experienced faculty, expanding real-project collaborations, and integrating theoretical instruction with on-site practical training. Such strategies can comprehensively enhance students’ cognitive understanding and applied competence in practical engineering projects.