Student Background and Implications for Design of Technology-Enhanced Instruction

Knowledge of students' construction and technology background is an important input to the process of designing technology-enhanced instruction. Current literature in student background is either not specific for the construction/civil engineering student population or lacks direct implications for pedagogical design. This paper presents a survey study that assesses students' self-reported technology skills and attitude, learning preferences, and baseline construction knowledge. The survey is designed as a questionnaire with three sections: demographic and background information, technology attitude and exposure, and construction-related knowledge. From the 280 data points collected, it was found that today's students are exposed to a wide range of technology applications. They had a positive attitude toward technology, were enthusiastic video-game players, and strongly preferred learning activities that involved interactions, whether these interactions were face-to-face or mediated by technology. These findings suggest that technology-assisted learning would excite and engage students. The paper also provides a discussion on specific pedagogical design implications of the findings and ways in which these could be incorporated in the design of technology-enhanced learning tools. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CP.1943-5487.0000173. (C) 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.