Internet Based Interactive Construction Management Learning System

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Internet based Interactive Construction Management Learning System is being developed as part of a three-year project that has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Arizona State University (ASU). The primary focus of the project is to enhance the undergraduate construction engineering and management education. These enhancements will be accomplished by developing 1) an Internet based Interactive Construction Management Learning System (ICMLS) and 2) an advising and mentorship program that will heighten practitioner- involvement. The project will lead to the incorporation of practical content in the construction engineering curricula, thus, bridging the gap between the classroom and the construction site. The proposed system provides a simple tool for students to use in order to gain knowledge of construction processes and construction equipment. The key features of the system are: 1) it will use Internet as it's launching medium and 2) it will utilize multimedia databases, hypertext, 3-D modeling, and discrete-event Java based simulation to provide students with an interesting and realistic view of the selected construction processes and construction equipment. The paper describes the implementation tools and implementation strategy adopted. The Interactive Learning System is being used as an instructional tool for key courses such as construction materials and methods, construction estimating, and construction scheduling. The authors' envision that the successful completion of this project will lead to a number of benefits including: 1) improved recruitment, retention, and program completion for the construction engineering and management program, 2) job-ready graduates that can be successfully employed in the construction industry, and 3) enhanced practitioner involvement and construction industry input.