Transformation of Undergraduate Education in Construction Science Through Serious Simulation Games

This IUSE Level 2 Engaged Student Learning project aims to serve the national interest by improving curricula in construction science, thereby advancing the construction industry's competitiveness in the global market. Construction science curriculum reform can provide students with opportunities to build adaptive expertise on abstract and soft construction science principles and methods which involve critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration skills. Adaptive expertise, which is defined as an ability to transfer existing knowledge and skills to new contexts is a highly desired ability that construction science students must possess upon graduation. This project aims to design and develop serious simulation game-driven educational modules for the construction science curriculum in three different modes including face-to-face, online, and virtual reality. The proposed research involves a series of experiments to be performed at Texas A&M University and Prairie View A&M University which offer two distinctively different student demographics. The core hypothesis of this research is that serious simulation game-based education modules can significantly improve students' learning outcomes including adaptive expertise which is a highly desirable competency for construction science graduates as the future workforce as it impacts students' interest and motivation. A rigorous experimental design and evaluation plan established in this research will potentially provide reliable data to build a coherent base of evidence that could demonstrate the effectiveness of new learning modules and inform improvements, which can enable the advancement of education theories. The planned development and testing of web-based and virtual reality modules will contribute to creating new knowledge on which design and implementation features are critically important for successful learning in virtual environments. This new knowledge can provide reliable guidance for future developers and educators. The intended research results and products will provide a clear blueprint for transforming the undergraduate construction science curriculum into an active learning-based curriculum using serious simulation games as a major transforming agent. The outreach activities for K-12 students and teachers can potentially increase the level of understanding of the construction science discipline and the construction industry, which may lead to higher enrollment in construction science and more students choosing a career path in the construction industry. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.