Opportunities for Enhancing Construction Education and Student Internships with Multimedia Tools

Abstract

Construction education has long been challenged with integrating meaningful classroom education activities with field internships. This paper describes a case study in which educational material was developed with use of time-lapse photography collected by student-deployed cameras on a large, fast-moving construction project. Several distinct construction activities were identified for time-lapse documentation, and corresponding engineering material quantities were computed to show the progression of work. These quantitative estimates were combined with the time-lapse footage in a series of educational video modules, which will be disseminated and archived online for long-term access by students and the public. The video modules were designed to educate students on the various steps involved in a major roadway rehabilitation project and provide them with a more relatable context for the various bid item quantities that they would encounter in their work as student interns and professional engineers. These methods can also be scaled across a variety of educational settings for different types of horizontal and vertical construction projects and thus, result in a more targeted and effective student learning experience.