Factors Driving BIM Learning Performance: Research on China’s Sixth National BIM Graduation Design Innovation Competition of Colleges and Universities

Yibin Ao,Maoqiu Zhang,Liyao Tan,Liang Zhao,Jinglin Zhong,Yunhong Liu,Yan Wang,Qiqi Feng,Ling Tan,Igor Martek

doi:10.3390/buildings11120616

Yibin Ao, Maoqiu Zhang + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11120616

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Abstract

With the popularization and rise in BIM technology usage, BIM education for undergraduate students in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) related disciplines has emerged as a priority. This study assesses the BIM learning outcomes of students participating in the National BIM Graduation Design Innovation Competition of Colleges and Universities. In total, 2777 valid questionnaire responses were obtained for this study. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient method and principal component factor analysis method were used to verify the reliability of the data set (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.962, KMO = 0.965). The t-test (ANOVA) was used to verify that gender, school type, major, grade, study duration and use BIM related software, as well as other demographic attributes, displayed significant inter-group differences. Seven common factors affecting BIM learning performance were obtained by exploratory factor analysis: (1) ability of the instructor, (2) school (college) atmosphere, (3) teamwork, (4) individual ability, (5) understanding of BIM industry applications, (6) social environment incentives, and (7) achievement demand. Finally, the results of an ordered logistic regression revealed that the demographic attributes of participants, the comprehensive ability of the instructor, teamwork, individual ability, and achievement demand significantly affects BIM learning performance. Based on these findings, this paper puts forward suggestions for improving BIM learning performance and provides theoretical support for BIM education and learning in AEC related undergraduate majors.

Highlights

As a major digital technology used by the AEC industry [1], building information modeling (BIM) has emerged as the main focus of professional learning in AEC-related higher education [2]
The results show that among the seven common factors, four common factors significantly affected the BIM learning performance, which were the comprehensive ability of instructor (p = 0.002 < 0.1), team collaboration (p = 0 < 0.1), participants’ personal ability (p = 0.001 < 0.1), and achievement needs (p = 0.066 < 0.01); the gender, type of school, type of major and time of learning and using BIM-related software all have a significant effect on the BIM learning performance; the college/university atmosphere, participants’ understanding of BIM industry application, social environment incentive, and the correlation between this competition and their graduation design have no significant effect
With the continuous promotion and practical application of BIM technology, BIM technology has been widely known by practitioners in the construction industry, and BIM technology education has been implanted into the talent training programs of AEC-related majors [47]

Summary

Introduction

As a major digital technology used by the AEC industry [1], building information modeling (BIM) has emerged as the main focus of professional learning in AEC-related higher education [2]. There are a large number of BIM related discipline competitions being held in China, as well as in other countries. These include: the Annual Brilliance Competition for Infrastructure, the Excellence in BIM Competition for the Global Engineering and Construction Industry, the Hong Kong International BIM Competition, the Building SMART International Competition, the China National Competitions, the National College BIM Graduation Design Innovation Competition, the China Construction Engineering BIM Competition, the Transportation BIM Engineering Innovation Award, the Innovation Cup Building Information Model Application Design Competition, the You-lu Cup National BIM Technology Competition, the Municipal Cup BIM Application Skills Competition, among others. Students enhance their BIM skills as demanded by the requirements of the competition, and leverage their career development after employability [9]

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