Site Visit Application in Construction Education: A Descriptive Study of Faculty Members

Abstract

ABSTRACTConstruction site visits are interactive experiences that enhance students’ understanding of real construction practices. Site visits create an interactive learning environment for students and provide exposure to a real-world spatiotemporal experience of a construction project. This article explores construction site visit application as an educational component in construction curriculum. An online survey was conducted to assess the current status of site visit application in construction education, benefits and barriers of their implementation, and the role of virtual site visits as alternative experiences to real site visits. This study focused on university faculty members in construction programs across the United States. The results of the study show that faculty members predominantly reported to have had zero or one to two site visits for each construction core subject areas taught throughout their careers. Furthermore, respondents indicated that the benefits of observing and interacting with the environment and the professionals present in a construction site are exceptionally important for the students. The respondents also remarked that the spatiotemporal challenges of construction projects are the most significant barriers for site visits. Finally, the study also revealed that a low percentage of the faculty have had educational experiences with virtual site visits.