Internet Based Interactive Construction Management Learning System

根据最近的就业趋势预测（ASCE, 1996），到2005年，劳动力市场的增长和人口的更替将为土木工程师增加68,000多个新职位。吸引有才华的高中毕业生，并尽可能地传授最好的土木工程教育，对美国建筑业的未来至关重要。研究人员的研究表明，土木与建筑工程教育应包括建筑的实用性和感受性、创造性思维和解决问题的能力、工程判断能力和实践者参与能力。在现实中，土木与建筑工程本科课程在为学生提供必要的施工管理技能和经验方面是不够的。这个项目的目标是将实用的内容融入土木和建筑工程，从而弥合课堂和建筑工地之间的差距。该项目旨在通过为土木和建筑工程课程制定一个综合教育框架来实现这一重要目标，该框架将作为国家模式。该项目的两项主要活动是：1)开发一个基于互联网的交互式建筑管理学习系统；2)制定一个建议和指导计划，以提高从业者的参与度。互动学习系统将侧重于使用互动和适应性学习环境来培养学生在建筑过程规划领域的能力。将用于系统开发的工具将包括多媒体、基于互联网的计算、关系数据库、模拟和游戏。它将提供一个需要使用多种工具的真实世界环境。互动学习系统将被纳入西密歇根大学的建筑工程和管理课程。该项目的电脑资料、课程材料和结果也将分发给在国家一级开设土木和建筑工程课程的大学。将利用评价工具来评价拟议的教育框架的学习和成本效益。该项目提供了一种创新的方法，利用行业专家的知识和指导、最先进的主动学习范例、先进的计算工具和大学教师的技能来丰富本科工程教育。

Growth and the replacement of people leaving the labor force will add more than 68,000 new positions for civil engineers by the year 2005, according to a recent forecast of employment trends (ASCE, 1996). Attracting talented high school graduates and imparting the best possible civil engineering education is critical to the future of the U.S. construction industry. Studies conducted by researchers reveal that civil and construction engineering education should include practicality and feel for construction, creative thinking and problem solving, engineering judgment, and practitioner involvement. In reality, civil and construction engineering undergraduate curriculums are inadequate in providing students with the necessary construction management skills and experience. The goal of this project is to incorporate practical content in the civil and construction engineering thus bridging the gap between the classroom and the construction site. The project seeks to accomplish this important goal through the development of an integrated educational framework for the civil and construction engineering curricula that will serve as a national model. The two main activities of the project are: 1) to develop an Internet-based Interactive Construction Management Learning System; and 2) to develop an advising and mentorship program that will enhance practitioner involvement. The Interactive Learning System will focus on using interactive and adaptive learning environment to train students in the area of planning of construction processes. Tools that will be used in the development of the system will include multimedia, internet based computing, relational databases, simulation, and gaming. It will provide a real world environment requiring the use of multiple tools. The Interactive Learning System will be incorporated into the construction engineering and management curricula at Western Michigan University. The computer package, course material, and findings of the project will also be disseminated to unive rsities offering civil and construction engineering curricula at the national level. Evaluation instruments will be utilized to evaluate the learning and cost effectiveness of the proposed educational framework. This project provides an innovative methodology that utilizes the knowledge and guidance of industry experts, state-of-the art active learning paradigms, advanced computing tools, and skills of the university faculty to enrich the undergraduate engineering education.