BIM-based Learning Outcomes and Teaching and Learning Activities in Higher Education: Social Network Analysis

Abstract

Building information modeling (BIM) is becoming more widely used in higher education due to changing industry demands. As a digital representation of a facility’s characteristics, BIM promotes cost-effective facility planning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and sustainability initiatives. Additionally, it assists educational institutions in meeting the demands of the evolving architecture-engineering-construction (AEC) industry while preparing students for careers in these fields. This study employs social network analysis (SNA) to examine learning outcomes (LOs) and teaching and learning activities (TLAs) in BIM courses to address three research questions: (1) What are learning outcomes of a typical BIM course in the higher education? (2) What are teaching and learning activities of the BIM course? and (3) What are relationships between learning outcomes and teaching and learning activities in a typical BIM course? The findings point out a relationship matrix comprising 57 keywords aligned with LOs and 121 keywords associated with relevant TLAs, then ranking LOs and TLAs keywords based on experts’ feedback. These results shed light on the authentic relationships between LOs and TLAs within the framework of a BIM course. Besides, this study indicates the top LOs and TLAs keywords that BIM educators may refer to when creating a BIM course following their needs.