A General-purpose Situational Simulation Environment for Construction Education (manuscript Co/2003/022795)

The traditional construction education model based on precise, well-defined problems and formal definitions is not satisfactorily fulfilling its mission of educating the decision-makers of tomorrow. This realization has moved several researchers to explore alternatives where problem solving is carried out in conjunction with the environment and concepts are embedded in the context promoting learning within the nexus of the activity. Several efforts have been undertaken to develop these environments resulting in a variety of special-purpose situational simulations. However, special-purpose situational simulations exhibit inherent limitations related to their application breadth, flexibility, and promotion of collaborations. These limitations cannot be resolved within the framework of special-purpose learning environments. A general-purpose environment is required to overcome these shortcomings and take full advantage of the situational learning paradigm. This paper describes the conceptual framework and pilot implementation of such an environment called the Virtual Coach. INTRODUCTION The introduction of authentic practice in construction education has always been challenging. McCabe et al (2000) argue that current civil engineering coursework teaches only the theories of construction 1 Assistant Professor, Department of Construction Management. University of Washington. 116 Architecture Hall, Seattle, WA 98195-1610. E-mail: [email protected] 2 Graduate Student, Department of Civil Engineering. University of Washington. 116 Architecture Hall, Seattle, WA 98195-1610. E-mail: [email protected]