ITcon Vol. 21, pg. 250-271, http://www.itcon.org/2016/17

BIM curriculum design in architecture, engineering, and construction education: a systematic review

submitted:May 2016
revised:August 2016
published:September 2016
editor(s):Amor R
authors:Hamid Abdirad, Ph.D. Student,
College of Built Environments, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
habdirad@uw.edu

Carrie S. Dossick, Ph.D., P.E., Professor,
Department of Construction Management, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
cdossick@uw.edu
summary:In the past several years, Building Information Modeling (BIM) adoption has grown significantly in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. In response to this trend, the industry and academia realized that BIM education in university curricula is an important requirement for satisfying educational demands of the industry, and a notable body of research has reported strategies AEC programs implemented to incorporate BIM in their curricula. However, no study has comprehensively reviewed and synthesized the research on strategies adopted by educators. To bridge this gap in the literature, this paper presents a systematic review of research on BIM curriculum design in AEC education. The authors report on the trends of research on BIM curriculum design (e.g. methods, timelines, and contexts) as well as a synthesis of implemented pedagogical strategies with detailed discussions on their implications and effectiveness across different studies and contexts. These strategies address a variety of important pedagogical issues such as enrolment of students, optional or required BIM use, important competencies and skills, tutoring methods, industry engagement, designing assignments, and assessment methods and criteria. This synthesis shows that designing pedagogical strategies for BIM education is complex and challenging, and AEC programs need to make trade-offs between advantages and disadvantages associated with these strategies. The results also highlight the need for more diverse research designs and settings to bridge the gaps identified in BIM curriculum research to date. Finally, the authors present a literature-based framework of BIM curriculum design strategies as well as a set of recommendations that can be used BIM educators and researchers as a guide for designing or assessing their BIM curricula in future research.
keywords:BIM, Building Information Modeling, Education, Training, Curriculum, Review
full text: (PDF file, 0.855 MB)
citation:Abdirad H, Dossick C S (2016). BIM curriculum design in architecture, engineering, and construction education: a systematic review, ITcon Vol. 21, pg. 250-271, https://www.itcon.org/2016/17