Enhancing Design and Construction Technology Education Through the Context of Mass Timber

该项目旨在通过为大众木材创建国家标准的设计和施工课程来服务于国家利益。大量木材是各种工程木质建筑材料的广义术语，在美国是一种新兴的建筑技术，预计到2023年，美国将有多达2500座大型木材建筑，预计到2029年，建筑、工程和建筑(AEC)劳动力将超过9万名技术人员。人们对大量使用木材的兴趣很大程度上来自于这种材料通过碳储存和避免传统建筑材料的排放而增强的可持续性性能，以及用大量木材取代其他常见建筑材料所带来的潜在施工时间和成本节约。但一些行业、政府和学术界的消息人士表示，由于缺乏对劳动力教育的关注，美国对大众木材的更多采用受到了限制。该项目将为大中专AEC教育项目的技术员水平的学生创造新的机会，获得大量木材设计和施工方面的知识和技能。这一内容将被开发为一系列模块，可以很容易地整合到学术项目中，促进全国观众的理解。该项目将为学生进入技术员级别的设计和建筑职业生涯做准备，包括追求和执行大规模木材项目。将通过该项目开发的具体组件和活动将通过与AEC行业的互动和合作来确定。之前的数据收集工作表明，模块化课程框架以及虚拟和增强现实(VR/AR)环境在AEC教职员工中的需求很高，因为他们无法进入附近的大型木结构建筑。该项目将为美国的大众木材设计和建造提供训练有素的劳动力，从而使AEC行业和更广泛的社会受益。教师最大限度地利用课程产品的努力包括创建教师实践社区，并将来自全国各地的各种机构类型(两年制学校、四年制学校和少数族裔服务机构)的不同代表纳入项目领导团队。通过与拥有强大的高中外展计划和多样化学生群体的学校合作，该团队预计将比传统的AEC计划的一部分服务更多的学生和教职员工。该项目由高级技术教育计划资助，该计划专注于为推动国家经济的先进技术领域培养技术人员。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by creating a national standard design and construction curriculum for mass timber. Mass timber, a broad term for a variety of engineered wood building materials, is an emerging construction technology in the US with up to 2,500 mass timber buildings expected to exist in the US by 2023, supported by an expected architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) workforce of over 90,000 technicians by 2029. Much of the interest in increasing use of mass timber stems from the materials’ enhanced sustainability performance via carbon storage and avoided emissions from conventional building materials, as well as from potential construction time and cost savings associated with substituting mass timber for other common building materials. But several industry, government, and academic sources have suggested that greater adoption of mass timber in the United States is limited by a lack of focus on workforce education. This project will create new opportunities for technician-level students in postsecondary AEC educational programs acquire knowledge and skills in mass timber design and construction. This content will be developed as a series of modules that can be readily integrated into academic programs, facilitating uptake by a national audience.The project will prepare students to move into technician-level design and construction careers that include the pursuit and execution of mass timber projects. The specific components and activities to be developed through this project will be determined through interaction and collaboration with AEC industry. Previous data collection efforts have indicated that modular curriculum frameworks and virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) environments are in high demand among AEC faculty members for both students and faculty lacking access to nearby mass timber buildings. This project will benefit the AEC industry and broader society by providing a trained workforce for mass timber design and construction in the United States. Efforts to maximize uptake of curricular products by faculty include the creation of a faculty community of practice and inclusion into the project leadership team diverse representatives from a variety of institution types (2-year schools, 4-year schools, and minority serving institutions) from across the country into the project leadership team. By partnering with schools that have strong high school outreach programs and diverse student bodies, the team expects to serve a greater cross section of students and faculty than are traditionally part of AEC programs. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the Nation's economy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.