The virtual construction simulator - development of an educational simulation game

The ability to effectively visualize the construction process and make important decisions about resource utilization, sequencing, site layout, and project-related risks are critical skills for design and construction engineering students. The increase in complexity of projects and shorter schedules pose pressure to develop more efficient construction methods, and also many challenges to educators to prepare students to manage these multifaceted processes. CPM schedules and 2D drawings have been predominantly used for developing construction schedules, but remain rather challenging for construction engineering students who lack the experience required to understand the dynamics of construction processes. Research at the Pennsylvania State University initiated in 2004 focused on developing a construction schedule simulation application - the Virtual Construction Simulator - as a 4D learning module to visually immerse students in a 3D model allowing them to interactively create a sequence for constructing a building project. The VCS was implemented in an upper level construction management course in 2006 and 2007 and demonstrated benefits for teaching construction scheduling. However, the current VCS application lacks specific project-based constraints that would motivate consideration of the most feasible construction sequence. The feedback exclusively comes from the instructor which can limit the students' exploration of various decision consequences. The goal of the current development initiative is to extend the functionality of the existing VCS application into a more comprehensive simulation game with project constraints, rules, variability and system feedback. The goal is to create an experiential simulation environment where students can make decisions about resources, methods, cost/time trade-offs and related risks; and observe the impact of these decisions over time thus actively learning to manage various factors that impact construction projects. The immediate feedback will allow students to track their own progress, while the competition and scoring will introduce fun for more engaged, motivated and deeper learning of complex construction concepts.