Integrating Construction Engineering and Geospatial Technician Projects

Dallas County Community College Dist Brookhaven College, Dallas TX

Investigators

Abstract

Based on national data and specific input from Dallas/Fort Worth construction-related industries, great demand exists for geospatial and construction engineering technicians who have skills in the use location-based data. To educate students in these areas, transformative changes must be made within curricular material. In response, Brookhaven College in Texas will engage industry to identify needed curricular revisions and will create learning modules to educate geospatial and engineering technicians about the spatial data technologies that support civil and construction engineering. By incorporating real-world, service-learning experiences into the curriculum, the project will seek to prepare technicians to enter the well-paying industries of civil engineering, commercial construction, and geospatial technology. The institution will align the new curriculum with the emerging field of constructioneering (http://constructioneering.com/) to educate construction industry professionals who are prepared to manage and integrate survey, engineering, and construction data, and to streamline construction workflows and improve project delivery. The project will also strive to create an environment that allows students to master interdisciplinary knowledge and technical skills in both engineering and geospatial technology. The curriculum changes also aim to promote 21st century career-ready abilities that use technologies to improve efficiency and lower costs. This project is designed to serve as a national model for cross-disciplinary approaches to technology education. The project will investigate recent advances in imaging, spatial intelligence techniques, and analysis technologies, and adopt and adapt those technologies into new instructional materials in two ways: by creating new content modules that serve the needs of engineering and commercial construction industries; and by integrating cross-disciplinary field experiences throughout the content modules. These field experiences may help close the identified skills gaps between current curricula and real-world rapidly advancing technology applications and allow student teams to learn and practice the knowledge, skills and abilities needed on the job. It is expected that, as a result, technicians will understand connections between related geospatial, construction, and engineering disciplines and will be better prepared to meet the needs of construction engineering-related industries. The curriculum materials will be designed for use in community college engineering and geospatial technician education programs, as well as for professional development by the incumbent workforce. Graduates who participate in this program have the potential to become resources and role models, and may expand community partnership opportunities. In addition to serving more traditional students, the project will also recruit students from a population traditionally underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields (e.g., African American, Hispanic, and low-income students) and will create curricular materials based on research on how these groups learn. 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.