Three success factors for simulation based construction education

Abstract

Construction education needs to emphasize more on practical knowledge and efficient tools that will enhance the students' thinking, problem solving and interpersonal skills. Simulation has emerged as an important approach to meet this need. However, simulation based tools are greatly under-represented in construction curricula. As an effort to address this issue, three success factors for the implementation of simulation tools are proposed. Their application to construction education is demonstrated through two case studies. With dynamic simulation models developed based on system dynamics, we discuss the effectiveness of the proposed success factors in education for fast-tracking and resource management. The findings obtained from the case studies would provide useful guidelines to the development of simulation tools for construction education.