Architectural learning is intensely multifaceted and faces many challenges. Educational theories such as Problem Based Learning, Flipped Learning, Learning Styles theory, and Experiential Learning theory are researchers’ responses to those challenges. In fact, many of these theories need proper means in order to be effectively applied in architectural education. Moreover, the possibilities provided by Virtual Reality (VR) Technology, combined with the complex intrinsic properties of architectural pedagogy, place this technology under architecture researchers’ constant watch. With its experiential nature, VR technology can improve architectural students’ learning. Although the study of VR applications for educational purposes is not new, this is rarely studied in the light of emerging learning theories in architectural education. In response, an educational application called LADUVR (“Learning Architectural Details Using Virtual Reality Technology”) has been designed by the authors to show how VR would address the current shortcomings of architecture learning systems. The present paper discusses the benefits and challenges of developing these kinds of applications, and shows how by using LADUVR users can experience being on a construction site, investigate the architectural details closely, and test what they have learned in an interactive and immersive environment. To continue, the paper examines the feedback from the implementation of LADUVR; with the results indicating that LADUVR would indeed enhance the learning of architectural detailing in most aspects. The paper concludes with a comparison between the use of this application and conventional learning methods.
Resources to interactively teach value stream mapping (VSM) to construction practitioners and students of lean are currently limited. While traditional value stream mapping methods make sense for those with a background in manufacturing or industrial engineering, they are arguably neither intuitive to construct nor easy to understand by those in the building industry. There is a need for a value stream mapping method that implements and communicates in ways that are already familiar to those in construction.The objective of this research is to develop and test a VSM simulation as a preliminary study that makes intuitive sense for those in the construction industry and so can serve as a training method for the identification and removal of waste. A virtual simulation was developed and tested using a design research methodology to facilitate scalability and to enable on-line play.
There is a need to create ways to communicate opportunities for motion and transportation waste reduction and productivity enhancement that align with the visual management characteristics of those practicing within the construction industry. In this study, researchers aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an interactive online simulation game that generates spaghetti diagrams as a tool for improving conceptual understanding of motion and transportation waste reduction, that could potentially be used by lean educators in the construction industry. The tool was developed using Unity™ and tested against a control group. To ensure the concept was relatable to participants across different roles, the commonly experienced activity of making spaghetti was chosen as the simulation scenario. Participant feedback from preliminary testing of the online simulation game indicated that the activity was enjoyable and appeared to heighten participant awareness of object placement. Metrics generated by the simulation-as well as post-play discussion-appeared to help participants perceive how elimination of motion and transportation waste can potentially improve their performance. The intent of the simulation is to spur post-simulation discussion with participants about identifying and reducing waste in their own varied processes such as job site operations and procurement.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.