Exercising Building Code knowledge through a virtual site visit with the 4D learning environment

 Kim Maund

 

Pedagogical intent

ARBE1304 Building Codes and Compliance is a first-year course that introduces students to the realm of building regulation and certification. As part of the course, students are briefly exposed to environmental planning and assessment legislation to contextualise material. ARBE1304 presents a diverse cohort with on-campus, distance and BCA Academy students, in addition to mature age students, school leavers and industry practitioners. Generally, students have minimal/no experience with the course themes.

In ARBE1304, class sizes can exceed 250 and students are in diverse locations. Therefore, they have limited exposure to building regulations and professional practice in a real-world context. The AEB 4D Construction Learning Environment assessment was designed to replicate the experience of being on site, giving students an opportunity to explore the complexities of building regulation.

Application of 4D learning environment

Course: ARBE1304 Building Codes and Compliance

Year level: First year, Bachelor of Construction Management, The University of Newcastle

Cohort size: 277 students

Learning activity

Students were exposed to the 4D learning environment during lecture periods on multiple occasions and were required to use it as part of an assessment task. Their first assignment concentrated on a multistorey commercial development using 2D drawings. As part of Assignment 2, students were able to move beyond such drawings and into the realm of the Advanced Engineering Building (AEB) where they had the opportunity to use their knowledge of regulation in relation to the AEB.

Assessment items

Students were required to familiarise themselves with the 4D learning environment outside of lecture times and complete three short-answer questions as part of Assignment 2. The assessment task required students to apply their knowledge and understanding of the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and the National Construction Code (NCC) Series 2015 (Volume One: Building Code of Australia Class 2 to Class 9 Buildings).

Question 1 posed a scenario of an identical building constructed in NSW and focused on the study of planning issues (such as building style, scale and height). Students were to determine the type of development under the Act, the applicable sections of the Act related to assessment and the consent authority.
Question 2 concerned the auditorium and students identified issues to be considered in terms of access and egress against Volume One.
Question 3 again focused on the auditorium where students identified mandatory fire services and equipment required for the building.

In all three cases, students had to justify their determination.

Student feedback

In anonymous feedback on the usability and potential benefits of the 4D learning environment, most responding students (N=63) considered that the 4D tool enhanced their learning experience. Among the benefits they identified were:

‘a more practical experience than text-based learning’

‘[a mechanism to] demonstrate the logical sequence of events’

‘provides a revisiting option that wouldn't be possible with a real site’.  

Although 40% of respondents had suggestions for improvement,  mainly to navigation and on-site descriptions, most students viewed the 4D environment as a useful tool providing opportunities for deeper learning.

Impact on teaching practice

Use of the 4D learning environment provides students with a building in which they can apply regulatory provisions associated with building and planning as if they were undertaking an on-site inspection.

Technical limits

The lack of descriptions or explanations within the site tour was mentioned by 10% of students as limiting their understanding of processes in operation. Some students highlighted that a video or voice-over would enhance their experience and help them to understand operations at certain nodes.

Conclusion and recommendations

For this course, moving beyond the traditional learning processes clearly had benefits. Students were able to work on a real-life project to achieve the objectives.

It is proposed that the 4D learning environment will be used for ARBE1304 in 2016. The assessment processes will be further refined to enhance student skills in the area of inspections, replicating on-site activities. The AEB 4D Construction Learning Environment offers a building that students can inspect and use to apply the NCC as if they were in real practice.