Integrating BIM in higher education programs: Barriers and remedial solutions in Australia
Casasayas, Oskar and Reza Hosseini, M. and Edwards, D.J. and Shuchi, Sarah and Chowdhury, Mahmuda (2020) Integrating BIM in higher education programs: Barriers and remedial solutions in Australia. Journal of Architectural Engineering, 27 (1). ISSN 1076-0431
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Abstract
Despite the increasingly widespread adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Australia, a steady pipeline of BIM-ready graduates needed to meet industry demand remains elusive. Anecdotal evidence suggests that universities in Australia have not been successful in delivering BIM-enabled graduates of the right calibre due to a plethora of barriers. This paper aims to identify, define and delineate barriers to integrating BIM education into programs in Australian higher education institutions (HEIs), and unearth the antecedents of these barriers. A post-positivist philosophical design was implemented to undertake a cross sectional and mixed methods approach to collecting and analysing primary data. Data was collected through qualitative methods – 18 structured and seven semi-structured interviews – with key BIM educators in Australia. Data were analysed using Nvivo. Findings reveal that four thematic groups of barriers hinder effective BIM education integration in Australian HEIs. These are: 1) change management challenges; 2) curriculum and content limitation; 3) educators’ problems; and 4) disconnect with the industry. The research concludes that a major overhaul is needed to change the modus operandi via which the industry, accreditation bodies and government policy makers engage with HEIs to define BIM education programs. However, given a notable dearth of investment and collaboration from the industry and government, HEIs cannot manage the change needed for running effective BIM training programs. Therefore, cross government/industry collaboration and financial support is needed to stimulate a cultural shift in existing HEIs’ provisions to generate future generations of highly skilled and competent BIM enabled graduates. This paper represents the first attempt to contextualise HEIs’ capacity to deliver advanced BIM training given a wider and prevailing economic and political topology that currently fails to adequately support the supply of fully trained graduates.
| Item Type: | Article | ||||||
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| Identification Number: | https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)AE.1943-5568.0000444 | ||||||
| Dates: |
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| Uncontrolled Keywords: | BIM training, Curricula, Digital engineering, Competency, Learning outcomes, Knowledge, Skills | ||||||
| Subjects: | CAH13 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01-02 - building | ||||||
| Divisions: | Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment > School of Engineering and the Built Environment | ||||||
| Depositing User: | David Edwards | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 18 Aug 2020 10:14 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 12 Jan 2022 13:25 | ||||||
| URI: | https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/9703 |
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