Hamzah Shanbari

The new approach for education calls for more interactive methods to communicate with students. New technologies have found their way into classrooms and have proven to be more effective in delivering learning materials to students. Video games have been introduced as one of the possible new tools for educating the upcoming generation in many different fields. Specifically, construction management education has attempted to use simulation software to introduce students to various construction… Show more

The new approach for education calls for more interactive methods to communicate with students. New technologies have found their way into classrooms and have proven to be more effective in delivering learning materials to students. Video games have been introduced as one of the possible new tools for educating the upcoming generation in many different fields. Specifically, construction management education has attempted to use simulation software to introduce students to various construction concepts. However, these simulations have missed the mark when it comes to the fun factor which has affected the uptake and therefore the educational impact of such tools. CONVEX is an educational video game that was developed with the objective of teaching high-level construction management concepts without sacrificing enjoyment. CONVEX had a higher impact on students that had no prior construction background and was used successfully in teaching construction management concepts in an approach that can one day replace conventional classrooms lectures and tests. Show less

Laser scanning technology has emerged as a useful tool in documenting existing conditions of buildings. The main application for such documentation is to assess current as-built conditions of existing, mostly historical, buildings. The technology can also be used as an integral part of construction progress documentation in new projects. In order to equip students with knowledge on the latest technologies in the industry, laser scanning was introduced to students in a BIM course. Students were… Show more

Laser scanning technology has emerged as a useful tool in documenting existing conditions of buildings. The main application for such documentation is to assess current as-built conditions of existing, mostly historical, buildings. The technology can also be used as an integral part of construction progress documentation in new projects. In order to equip students with knowledge on the latest technologies in the industry, laser scanning was introduced to students in a BIM course. Students were given a thorough demonstration on how the equipment functions. After that, several campus buildings’ exteriors were scanned. Students had the chance to see the scanning in action. More importantly, the generated point-clouds from the scanner were given to students as part of the final project. Five teams were formed and each team was given a set of floor plans, with minimal details, of an existing campus building. The teams were then asked to take measurements from the point-clouds and model the buildings in Autodesk Revit. The lack of marked elevation drawings did not prevent the teams from modeling the buildings fairly accurately. The point-clouds gave the students a large amount of information that were lacking in the provided documents. Even though the learning curve for navigating such point-clouds was a bit steep, the extracted information helped the students better understand the buildings’ envelopes and appreciate the real value of laser scanning technology. Show less

Laser scanning makes it possible to document real world conditions with accuracy that is unmatched by manual measurements. Human interpretation of field conditions impacts the accuracy of documentation due to the means and methods of capturing as well as the conversion of field measurements to digital models. When the laser scanning process is correctly executed model accuracy shows ¼” (6mm) of variance, or less. Additionally, the time savings, compared to hand measurement and documentation… Show more

Laser scanning makes it possible to document real world conditions with accuracy that is unmatched by manual measurements. Human interpretation of field conditions impacts the accuracy of documentation due to the means and methods of capturing as well as the conversion of field measurements to digital models. When the laser scanning process is correctly executed model accuracy shows ¼” (6mm) of variance, or less. Additionally, the time savings, compared to hand measurement and documentation, lead to decreased cost and the ability to capture data more frequently providing tighter project control throughout the construction process. Show less

The latest approach in education calls for more interactive methods to communicate with students. New technologies have found their way into classrooms and have proven to be more effective in delivering educational materials to students. The first layer between the students and the content on an interactive environment is the graphical user interface (GUI). The success or failure of video games depends heavily on the GUI. This paper discusses the factors that affect the usability and… Show more

The latest approach in education calls for more interactive methods to communicate with students. New technologies have found their way into classrooms and have proven to be more effective in delivering educational materials to students. The first layer between the students and the content on an interactive environment is the graphical user interface (GUI). The success or failure of video games depends heavily on the GUI. This paper discusses the factors that affect the usability and effectiveness of such GUI interfaces. The factors discussed are user engagement, ease of use and layout. These factors are believed to play major roles in the way video games are perceived by users. In addition, this study takes a look at the theory behind these factors from an educational point of view. Lastly, the discussed theories and factors were used to design a GUI element that is applied in a serious game, named CONVEX, aimed at teaching construction management skills. Show less

Educators have been using the same traditional teaching methods for a very long time. New technologies that are being rolled out on an almost daily basis have a high potential in elevating the educational experience for both students and teachers. Using video games in education has been proposed and implemented on small scales. However, a complete transformation of the educational experience using video games has yet to be implemented. This paper discusses the theory behind such a… Show more

Educators have been using the same traditional teaching methods for a very long time. New technologies that are being rolled out on an almost daily basis have a high potential in elevating the educational experience for both students and teachers. Using video games in education has been proposed and implemented on small scales. However, a complete transformation of the educational experience using video games has yet to be implemented. This paper discusses the theory behind such a transformation. In addition, the potential for video games to elevate the level of education in different subjects is explored. Finally, a brief outline is proposed for implementing the use of video games for teaching in the field of construction management. Show less

Education has been using the same traditional teaching methods for a very long time. The new technologies being developed everyday have a high potential in elevating the educational experience for both students and teachers. Using video games in education has been proposed and implemented on small scales. However, a complete transformation of the educational experience using video games is yet to be executed. This paper discusses the theory behind such a transformation. In addition, the… Show more

Education has been using the same traditional teaching methods for a very long time. The new technologies being developed everyday have a high potential in elevating the educational experience for both students and teachers. Using video games in education has been proposed and implemented on small scales. However, a complete transformation of the educational experience using video games is yet to be executed. This paper discusses the theory behind such a transformation. In addition, the potential for video games in elevating the level of education in different subjects is introduced. The author then proposes a brief outline in implementing the approach of video game teaching in the field of construction management at a college level. Show less

Construction projects are a mix of very complex processes that seldom go according to plan. Many construction related firms used construction scheduling for many years but that process has proven to be undependable. There are many factors that can cause delays in a regular construction schedule including weather conditions and productivity decline. Several pre-construction planning methods emerged in the last century and made their way in projects. These methods include design phase… Show more

Construction projects are a mix of very complex processes that seldom go according to plan. Many construction related firms used construction scheduling for many years but that process has proven to be undependable. There are many factors that can cause delays in a regular construction schedule including weather conditions and productivity decline. Several pre-construction planning methods emerged in the last century and made their way in projects. These methods include design phase construction planning, building information modeling, project control systems and using past projects’ data to improve performance. Different planning methods cost different rates and have different effects on the overall project’s cost savings. The main objective of this research is to find the optimum percentage that can be spent on pre-construction planning, using any method, that would save the highest amount of both money and time. Additional objectives are to find which method is most widely used in the industry today and how much each method costs. The data for the research will be collected using an online survey since such information cannot be easily found. Show less