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The application of Project-Based Learning (PBL) in a Reinforced Concrete course through the development of a real-life civil engineering project from its conception, as a coursework, is a challenged experience for students. As long as the coursework evolves, students develop real ways to think as an engineer and they work in an environment similar to that of daily engineering practice. The effect of the PBL implementation on learning and acquisition of knowledge and skills in a Reinforced Concrete subject from the [University] in [Country] has been analyzed through some evidences such as the partial and final grades, the results of a survey and the perceptions drawn from students' interviews. As observed, thanks to the application of the PBL strategy, learning and motivation of students has increased, in addition to the final summative assessment, without a significant increase on the workload. This methodology improves not only the acquisition of knowledge and engineering skills, but also transversal skills such as entrepreneurship, leadership, communication, time management, teamwork and other social abilities directly related to those required by the current market for their future professional life.

Integrating STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) in authentic ways is often overlooked in early childhood spaces, despite young children having the ability to engage with the world around them through STEM practices. This piece showcases the work of children in a prekindergarten classroom as they explored an integrated STEM unit centering around the construction of a treehouse on their playground. Through the careful connection to content and standards in science, engineering, and mathematics, along with the integration of developmentally appropriate uses of technology, children learned about and constructed a treehouse on their school playground. Family and community partnerships also contributed to this work. We highlight the various phases of the project, associated standards, and tasks that children engaged with to help demonstrate the propensity of our youngest learners to authentically engage with STEM tasks.

Introduction: There are major differences when children with blindness perform construction tasks using haptics, without relying on sight, compared to when children with typical vision perform them through sight. When using sight, in all of the processes, the overall image can be grasped simultaneously while executing the task. When using haptics, the construction must be made by touching each piece sequentially and successively. In this study, framed block puzzle construction tasks that can be implemented by haptic means are developed with the objective of considering the order of difficulty of the task. Methods: In all, six framed block puzzle construction tasks were performed by 39 children with blindness, and the analysis was conducted from the perspective of the task-completion ratio. These six tasks were established on the basis of factors such as wood panel division and dimension, symmetry and asymmetry, and the number of block patterns. Results: A significant difference was observed in the completion ratio between one- and two-dimensional tasks, between two-dimensional symmetrical and asymmetrical tasks, and between two-dimensional asymmetrical tasks with multiple and single correct patterns. Discussion: This study clarified that the task order of difficulty is influenced by the factors of division and dimension, symmetry and asymmetry, and number of block patterns. Thus, we identified a task order wherein difficulty increases in the order of one- and two-dimensional symmetrical tasks and two-dimensional asymmetrical tasks with multiple and single correct patterns. Implications for Practitioners: Based on these hypotheses, providing instructions to children with blindness, in the order of simple to difficult tasks, is vital after ascertaining each child's level of capacity for spatial cognition.

The idea of remote learning has allowed many learners to overcome the barriers of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic in fulfilling learners' expectations. This study aims to investigate the challenges and strategies mature students, especially those career changers, were facing in construction engineering programmes during the pandemic by establishing an inclusive HyFlex collaboration model between two different organisations, namely one Polytechnics (the higher education institute) and an online learning platform institute (the online institute). A questionnaire survey was developed and distributed to all the 16 mature learners joining this Hyflex pathway in New Zealand. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used, and all students were asked to respond to a questionnaire on the HyFlex route using a Likert scale. To ensure the accuracy of the findings, the reliability of the data collected by a questionnaire survey was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. It was found that students were satisfied with their academic performances and knowledge building for career changes with learning through this model; interaction, empathy and connection between learners and facilitators play a key role in the success of the inclusive HyFlex model. The current study adds to the body of knowledge by highlighting challenges and strategies for reducing COVID-19's impact on mature learners studying construction engineering programmes. The findings are critical for industry practitioners and teachers responsible for establishing and upgrading pre- and post-pandemic construction engineering learning programmes to upskill and solve the skill shortage problem in the shortest period possible.

The use of computer applications as learning media has been widely used in the learning process. One such computer application is Augmented Reality. Augmented Reality has advantages in ease of use, media appeal, and mobility because it can be used on cell phones and tablets. Creative thinking is a skill that students need in solving problems in a learning process in the classroom. The research objective is to investigate the effect of augmented Reality on students' academic achievement viewed from the creative thinking level. MANOVA was used to analyze differences in cognitive and psychomotor learning outcomes between the experimental class using AR and the control class using PowerPoint. The results showed that learning media and creative thinking levels affect cognitive and psychomotor learning outcomes. Cognitive learning outcomes of students using AR are higher than student learning outcomes using PowerPoint. Meanwhile, the psychomotor learning outcomes of students using AR are higher than those using PowerPoint. The learning media significantly affects cognitive learning outcomes with a p-value = 0.007, while the creative thinking level significantly affects psychomotor learning outcomes with a p-value = 0.016.

This qualitative case study was conducted to understand the process learning center administrators used in the creation or remodeling of learning center spaces at a 2-year college system in the Midwest. Data were collected through interviews, which were transcribed and analyzed to conduct a within- and cross-case analysis. Four themes emerged from the creation or remodel process used: "needs assessment," "coalition," "implementation," and "additional changes." The emergent themes from the extent to which pedagogy, space, and technology were considered in the learning center designs were "instructional," "space," and "technology considerations." Based on the findings, implications for practice and recommendations for further research are shared.

There is much interest in employing computer technology in design professions and education. However, few attempts have been made to apply immersive visualization technology to learn design details in landscape architecture. This study aims to illuminate how virtual reality (VR) technology helps students with design details in landscape architecture. Students were given a course project to create 3D models such as boardwalk structures located in residential pond areas. Based on their 3D models, we asked 16 research participants to answer survey questionnaires about the perception of realism, scale, and effectiveness of using computer technology in semi-immersive environments (e.g., monitor display-based) as opposed to fully immersive environments (e.g., VR head-mounted display-based). The results of our study showed that students had a higher realism in fully immersive environments compared to semi-immersive environments. In terms of perception of scale, participants perceived the height of the simulated model to be higher than they had anticipated in fully immersive environments. While there were no statistically significant findings regarding the effectiveness of design evaluation in the two modalities, students mentioned that VR technology can effectively assist in creating design details, as it provides them with a better understanding of the spatial characteristics of models.

Purpose: The built environment is responsible for approximately 40% of the world's energy consumption, 30% of raw material use, 25% of solid waste, 25% of water use, 12% of land use and 33% of greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, environmental improvement and decarbonization are becoming increasingly critical objectives for the construction industry. Sustainable construction can be achieved through several practices, including: considering life-cycle assessment, circular construction, resource efficiency and waste management and providing eco-efficient materials, reducing energy demands and consumption and incorporating low-carbon technologies and renewable energy sources. To achieve sustainable construction goals, it is critical to educate the future workforce about decarbonization, circular construction and how to overcome the challenges involved in transitioning to sustainable construction. This study aims to understand the gap in student knowledge related to decarbonization and circular construction and the importance of incorporating these topics in civil engineering and construction management curricula. Design/methodology/approach: This study surveyed 120 undergraduate and graduate students at one of the largest minority-serving institutions in the USA to understand the gap in student knowledge related to decarbonization and circular construction as well as the importance of incorporating these topics in civil engineering and construction management curricula. The authors conducted several statistical measures to assess the consistency, reliability and adequacy of the sample size, including the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy, the normality test to evaluate the appropriateness of using an ordered probit regression analysis and a multicollinearity test to observe the correlation between independent variables. The data was analyzed using ordered probit regression analysis to investigate the need for a curriculum that serves in educating students about decarbonization and circular construction. Findings: The results of this research highlight the gaps in students' knowledge pertaining to sustainable practices and the importance of providing future construction workforce with such knowledge to tackle global inevitable challenges. Originality/value: The findings of this study contribute to sustainable construction bodies of knowledge by advocating for a reformed curriculum to prepare the future workforce and adopt less carbonized, more circular approaches within the engineering and construction industry.

To respond to construction industry-specific requirements for civil engineers, university teachers need to provide opportunities for students to develop their generic and professional skills. This article describes the use of a novel intervention of project-based learning -- PjBL with the consultative approach -- to teach Lean Construction and the influence of this method on the development of students' generic and professional skills. In this Lean course, teams of students carried out projects, in a consultative manner, to manage the real-life challenges that local companies were facing. Data on students' perceptions were collected through reflection documents written by students. Findings indicated that introducing students to an intervention of PjBL did expose students, especially, to learning to express themselves verbally and in writing, working as a team and focusing on the current problem. Particularly, project work, team work, meetings, and seminars were perceived as effective methods for advancing these skills.

Can You Build It? is an engaging Improve It! task that asks children to construct 3D shapes based on 2D depictions. Students' initial 3D creations often need revision, and as they build and re-build, they develop spatial relationships. This task was implemented in a first-grade class, connected to composing 3D geometric shapes to address the Common Core State Standard 1.GA.2 (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010). Moving constantly between 2D and 3D leads to a stronger spatial sense that helps students to unveil the shapes' structures, which is an important topic in mathematics and recommended as a mathematical practice. This article examines how first graders' abilities to build and improve their geometry constructions while moving between and connecting 2D and 3D representations. Because the task is primarily about students constructing and exploring, the lesson was organized into three stages: (1) presenting the task to students (10 minutes); (2) students constructing and improving constructions, alone or in peer groups (30--45 minutes); and (3) a whole-class conversation with students presenting and discussing strategies (15 minutes).

The purpose of this study is to gain a deep understanding of kindergarten children's drawings as a form of documentation of their work, of their ability to notice and depict substantial details, as well as their understanding of how objects in the world "work". In the study, we examined drawings created by kindergarten children for documenting artefacts they previously constructed. The drawing process demands the cognitive transition from the perception of the 3D object to its 2D drawing. Most theoretical and research work conducted over the years focused on children's free, intuitive and/or spontaneous drawing. As well, most studies focused on children drawings of given objects, even their copy of drawings of objects, or on free representation of ideas or feelings. In this study, we addressed two aspects that differ from the foci of previous work: (a) children drew an object they have constructed; and (b) the drawing has a functional purpose (i.e., documentation) as part of a design task. The study participants included 30 kindergarten children, aged 5-6. During freeform play, the children produced constructions using a building kit and documented these in drawings. A total of 39 constructions and corresponding drawings were analyzed. Data analysis was conducted to examine the characteristics of children's drawings, as well as the relationship between the features of the constructions and the corresponding drawings. The insights emerging from the study indicate that drawing can serve as a tool for documentation and reflection by kindergarten children and may support the development of technological thinking.

Background: From a range of perspectives, scholars have demonstrated the value of school-based health centers (SBHCs) in recent decades, but few studies have examined the logistics of establishing SBHCs. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 9 hospital and 6 school employees involved in a network of SBHCs. After common themes were identified, cluster analysis was performed. Finally, quotes were identified within each thematic cluster for further qualitative analysis. Results: The most prominent themes were (1) differences in physical space (between schools and clinical settings), (2) collaboration and communication, and (3) privacy and compliance. Implications For School Health Policy, Practice, and Equity: This study points to several high yield considerations for the practice of SBHCs. First, we identified three distinct needs: (1) clear funding streams for construction costs for health services on school grounds, (2) improved understanding of SBHC space needs, and (3) blueprints for collaborating within SBHCs. Second, this study points to a future in which new-build and renovated schools should include space for SBHCs. Conclusions: This qualitative thematic analysis provides a picture of health and educational professionals engaged in creative, collaborative, and adaptive work to meet children's health care needs within SBHCs, but also highlights the challenges of navigating physical space, compliance, and collaboration within SBHCs.

A longtime construction industry professional and business owner, the author transitioned to career and technical education (CTE) in 2014. Since becoming a construction trades instructor at Woodruff Career and Technical Center in Peoria, Illinois, he has been central to Peoria's CTE renaissance. Currently, he teaches renewable energy and construction-focused work-based learning. In this article, the author describes becoming a CTE instructor, growing the program through collaboration and relationship building, and some exciting opportunities ahead.

As has been pointed out in previous research, teacher-led learning plays an important role in developing preschool children's technological skills and technological self-esteem. What is missing in research are more detailed analysis of how the children's and teachers' actions and interactions shape the learning process. In order to study this within the field of construction, an action research project was conducted, where construction activities were developed, implemented and revised in an iterative procedure. Data from the second cycle were analyzed for this article using graphic transcriptions and multimodal analysis, with a focus on action, interaction and experience from a pragmatist perspective. Our findings show that children who quickly and decisively engage with the material, the teachers and their peers in suggesting which material to use and/or how the material can be used, end up in a central role in the design process. These children (or their actions) often get legitimized by the teachers. Thus, in order to give children access to equal opportunities in the construction activities, it is important for teachers to understand how the children's construction-focused actions become constitutive and what their role in that process is.

A model kit consisting of magnetic rods and steel balls, which is generally sold as a desktop toy, has been utilized to construct physical models for teaching packing arrangements of metallic crystal. All four basic metallic crystal structure models are easily constructed layer by layer, and corresponding unit cells can be naturally derived from the packing structures. The low-cost models based on magnetic rods and steel balls are portable and easy-to-construct, and teaching practice shows that they can guide students to gain a deeper understanding of packing arrangements of metallic crystal. Positive feedback from students indicates that they are interested in constructing models with the rods and balls by themselves. Overall, compared with the existing crystal structure models, these models combine the characteristics of portability, low cost, and ease of construction; therefore, they have great potential to enhance students' learning of metallic crystal structures through hands-on activities or classroom demonstrations.

Developing a knowledge of design and construction technology and engineering is often overlooked in favour of 'digital' technology such as tablets and computers. By taking children outdoors into nature, removing tablets and computers as well as artificial and synthetic materials and replacing them with only what nature provides, children become attuned to developing STEM knowledge through play with natural materials. This knowledge often develops through teacher support and at times by default, as children experience the constantly changing landscape of the natural environment. The development of children's understandings of 'nature's' technology and engineering provides an opportunity for further investigation of nature-based early childhood education and care settings. Through research conducted at four Australian bush kindergartens, this paper presents data from photographs, interviews and observations undertaken of twelve teachers and over one hundred and twenty children. It responds to the research question, how do early years learners develop their understanding of technology and engineering by engaging in nature-based learning? The research was undertaken using ethnography, a useful method in nature settings as the approach enables a deep understanding of how children develop their understandings of applying technology and engineering over time. The data demonstrate the benefits preschool children can gain from learning and being 'in' and 'with' nature and the important role bush kinders play in supporting children's technological and engineering literacy. Findings reveal that through their participation in bush kinder, children can develop technological and engineering knowledge.

Intuition is the first way humans get knowledge. A worker in making a traditional West Java house works using his experience to be able to determine how many building materials are needed to become a house. The roof of the house is one part that is quite complicated to determine the amount of wood needed. Workers using intuition based on experience that has been experienced greatly determine the accuracy of the measure. Through this research, the researcher hopes that the method of determining the amount of wood used to make the roof (suhunan) of houses in West Java has added scientific value because it is related to existing mathematical concepts. The subjects of this study were workers who made traditional houses in West Java Regency. This study uses a qualitative method with an ethnographic approach. This study aims to describe an in-depth study of how to determine the amount of wood used to make traditional houses and its relation to mathematical concepts. The results showed that the workers who made the traditional houses started outing for the first time by calculating the number of wood chips needed to make the KAP intact to make the roof from it, they were easier to determine the amount of wood needed.

Examining an interdisciplinary university course for architecture, wood science, and engineering students, this paper studies how the students' ability to master digital workflows influenced their success in learning collaborative design skills. It highlights potential challenges and opportunities posed by the introduction of new digital tools to support emerging integrated building design in both education and professional practice. The particular course focuses on the wood industry, which is rapidly changing from a very traditional to a highly innovative sector and increasingly embracing the latest technological developments in computational design, simulation, and digital fabrication. This study explores the influence of parametric design on collaboration dynamics and workflow within an interdisciplinary group of students embodying the roles of manufacturer, engineer, and architect. Student-generated data of the first three years of the class is analyzed thematically to find correlations with productive collaborations. Focusing on a stage of an evolving teaching and learning process, this analysis allows identifications of common themes and patterns, suggesting implications for practice and future research. The course highlights the need to integrate data interoperability, collaboration skill-building, and material awareness in contemporary digitally enabled architecture, engineering, and construction education. The lessons learned in this course can be of value to academic programs and professional firms involved in incorporating digital design and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Due to the pandemic conditions, hands-on courses in architectural education were conducted remotely and their presentation had to be reconsidered. Hands-on courses, by their nature, support learning and learner-instructor interaction in the classroom environment. It was necessary to develop innovative solutions to ensure this interaction in virtual classrooms. This study discusses a method we experienced in the 2021-2022 spring semester of the "Principles of Digital Design and Fabrication in Architecture" course given at Gazi University. To combat potential interaction deficits, "problem-based learning (PBL)" and "learning by doing (LBD)" teaching methods were applied. While reflecting on foreseen problems in the curriculum on the students, we determined the distance education process causes different reflections on students in terms of digital modelling and fabrication techniques. All constraints and problem determinations obtained by the students were classified and a way to solve these problems developed with the LBD style. By the end of the course, the students, who were expected to design a small 3D object, first designed the mould then realised their fabrication of the object. In this process, while the foreseen problems and curriculum determined at the beginning overlapped, other problem determinations and their reflections formed an important base for the future curriculum.

There is a known association between LEGO® construction ability and mathematics achievement, yet the mechanisms which drive this association are largely unknown. This study investigated the spatial mechanisms underlying this association, and whether this differs for concrete versus digital construction. Between January 2020 and July 2021, children aged 7-9 years (N = 358, 189 female, ethnicity not recorded) completed spatial and mathematics tasks, and either a concrete or digital Lego construction task. Mediation analyses examining direct and indirect pathways (through spatial skills) between Lego construction ability and mathematics explained 8.4% to 26.6% of variance in mathematics scores. Exploratory moderated mediation analyses revealed that only the indirect path through mental rotation differed between Lego conditions. Findings are discussed in relation to theories of spatial-numerical associations and the potential of Lego training for mathematics improvement.

Contribution: This research paper contributes to engineering education research with a framework for interdisciplinary learning outcomes based on students' experiences from participation in an interdisciplinary project for engineering students. A theoretical frame of reference is developed to analyze students' experience with interdisciplinary projects. Background: Engineers are important stakeholders in solving complex global challenges, and faculties have a very important role in educating engineers with the necessary competences. However, research finds many challenges when engineering students work with complex problems in an interdisciplinary setting crossing different disciplinary boundaries. Research Question: What cognitive learning outcomes are experienced by engineering students when working on interdisciplinary problem-based projects across engineering disciplines? Methodology: The case study draws on insights from interdisciplinary projects involving students from different yet related disciplines (referred to as narrow interdisciplinary projects) in spring 2022. The study followed 18 engineering groups during the spring semester of 2022. The students were all from The Faculty of Engineering and Science and belonging to the programs: Energy, Materials & Production, and Construction. The students worked together in clusters on different narrow interdisciplinary engineering projects (leadENG). Data was collected through eight qualitative group interviews and observations from meetings, status seminars, etc. Interview data was transcribed and analyzed in NVivo using a data-driven approach and afterward categorized according to the model for learning outcomes. Findings: A list of intended learning outcomes was compiled for students working on narrow interdisciplinary problems in relation to interdisciplinary understanding, reflexivity, enactment, and coordination. The findings highlight the importance of coordination in an interdisciplinary setup and suggest more focus on student leadership in engineering education.

Purpose: Nigeria has one of the highest graduate unemployment rates in Africa, and there is no comprehensive policy framework to address it. Evidence shows that integrating craftsmanship into higher education academic programmes can enhance graduate employability. Therefore, there is a need to integrate it into the built environment programmes at institutions in Nigeria. The built environment craftmanship (BEC) in Nigeria's HEIs may have had some challenges, although studies about these challenges are scarce. In this regard, the study investigated BEC's perceived encumbrances and proffered measures to integrate craftsmanship skills in Nigerian HEIs built environment programmes. Design/methodology/approach: The research adopted a qualitative research design using a virtual interview approach to solicit data from 34 experts across Nigeria. An exploratory approach was used to engage selected HEIs in Nigeria and thematic analysis was adopted to analyse the collected data, and saturation was achieved. Findings: The study findings indicate that integrating BEC in built environment programmes will enhance graduate employment. However, possible encumbrances like institutional frameworks, funding, infrastructural development and pedagogical and social-cultural issues were found to be affecting BEC's integration into built environment programmes at higher education in Nigeria. Research limitations/implications: Future studies should explore more detailed large-scale investigations about integrating craftsmanship into higher education institution (HEI) programmes. Originality/value: Given the dearth of pragmatic studies on the built environment graduates' unemployment in Nigeria, this research contributes to the academic community debates on reducing graduates' unemployment via BEC in HEIs.

Geometric constructions present an opportunity to help students develop geometric proofs and justifications while actively creating mathematical representations (Mariotti, 2001). Though traditionally carried out with paper and pencil, dynamic geometry software allows students to produce more precise constructions with greater certainty (Kondratieva, 2013). In this Construct It! activity, students must construct the circumcenter of a triangle and then justify that it is equidistant from all three vertices of the triangle. Students were given three different attempts to do this, each with different resources: physical materials, compass and ruler, and dynamic geometry software. On each attempt, they became increasingly precise in their ability to both locate the circumcenter and justify their reasoning.

What comes to mind when one thinks about building? One may envision constructions with blocks or engineering activities. Yet, constructing and building a number system requires the same sort of imagination, creativity, and perseverance as building a block city or engaging in engineering design. We know that children invent their own notation for negative numbers and use creative reasoning with negative integers (Bishop et al., 2011). Building on that knowledge, the author describes a unique task, The Tree Problem, that supports children in the messy process of extending their number system from whole numbers to including negative integers. The Tree Problem facilitates opportunities for imagining negative integers. The task also supports children in creating their own ways of making sense of integers. After describing the task, the author illustrates how a fifth-grade student, without prior instruction with negative integers, used imagination and perseverance to build a number system with flexible representations of negative numbers.

This paper presents partial results of a broader investigation and focuses on describing a process of reification that took place at the heart of an immigrant community in Sant Mateu (Castelló, Spain), and that crystallised through the construction and management of a mosque. The theoretical framework draws on social learning theories, with a particular focus on situated learning and communities of practice. Regarding the method, the study follows an ethnographic, qualitative approach. We present the fieldwork procedures (participatory observation, interviews and focus groups) and analytical procedures (content analysis) followed in the research. The results recount the process this immigrant community followed to build the mosque, and the meanings for the community of the process followed and its culmination. Finally, the discussion and conclusions characterise this immigrant community as a community of practice where situated learning processes arise.

Context: Through a dual model, based on 2 years of education in upper secondary school followed by two and a half year of apprenticeship training, Norwegian plumbing education has become an integrated part of the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET). Competence and skills are described in national plumbing curriculum. However, there is little information on how learning and training, interaction and relations between craftsmen and apprentices take place and develops at the workplace. The objective of this article is to identify significant learning processes by studying apprentices in a training agency and in communities of plumbers at the building site. Approach: The study has an ethnographic approach, based on a combination of fieldwork and interviews with apprentices, plumbers and a vocational teacher. During one year of fieldwork I followed a group of plumbing apprentices in a training agency, and in their plumbing companies at different construction sites. As a former plumber and vocational teacher, I was able to participate as a plumber and researcher and thus I had a unique position to work along with the apprentices and plumbers. This enabled me to observe interaction, learning and training in their communities of practices as an "insider." Findings: The study showed that the process of learning practical skills, a professional language and a technical rationale was time consuming, challenging and sometimes tiering. In return the apprentices discovered proficiency, gained confidence and were considered as participants in the community of plumbers. A central finding is the great value of working in a community of plumbers at the building site, combined by studying sanitary and heating technology at the training agency. Among peers at the training agency, the apprentices were challenged to build and explore complex pipe laying, and to discuss technical regulations and rationale with each other and the vocational teacher. Conclusion: Craftsmen, like plumbers, consecutively handle a variety of technical work tasks and situations. "Inside" practice, the plumbers are close to materials and systems on construction site, where pipes, cableways and building structures looks different from the plan and the progress on paper. As experts, the plumbers often solve problems more functional and cost effective than suggested in the blueprint. The study shows how apprentices and plumbers develop skills, tacit knowledge and professionality through involvement with relevant "things" and "situations," and by sharing experiences and technical expertise in communities of peers and plumbers.

The Vygotskian preschool education program (VPEP) is built around mediation in the context of preschool age-specific activities such as sociodramatic play, constructive play, listening and retelling fairy tales, playing with dollhouses, motor activities, and some others. We used the VPEP as part of the daily curriculum in two pre-K classes at PS 197 in Harlem, New York, to promote the development of children's self-regulation and symbolic thought. Another pre-K class at PS 197 was used as the control group. For pre-and posttests, we administered the Coding and Symbol Search subtests of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-III (WPPSI-III), which target the ability to self-regulate, and the Block Design subtest of the WPPSI-III, which targets the ability to exercise symbolic thought. The results of the study demonstrate that the VPEP promotes the development of preschoolers' self-regulation and is beneficial for the development of their symbolic thought.

Bridges are a popular topic in this journal, because they are a very visual display of static and dynamic physical principles. In this paper, we provide an intuitive derivation of the equations associated with suspension bridge cables and load-bearing arches, which is of pedagogical interest in illustrating the consequences of Newton's laws for familiar and visually striking objects.

Even though construction tasks have a long history as an activity in the Swedish preschool, technology as a content matter (e.g., construction) is relatively new. Hence, preschool teachers are generally unsure of the content of technology and how to handle it from a teaching perspective. Thus, there is need for deeper understanding of how construction tasks in preschool can be enacted and what kind of premises are offered to the children. To investigate this, we took our stance in activity theory and the concepts of mediating artifacts, rules and division of labour. This helped us discern what type of instructional practices that were enacted by preschool teachers when working with construction tasks. Activity theory in combination with thematic analysis helped us distinguish four general didactic actions that the teachers used to bring about the construction task--to engage, to guide, to coordinate, to show. These four strategies were then formulated into specific technology didactic actions through the perspectives of technology as product, process and concepts.

It is reported that engineering for play-based settings is a new body of knowledge under debate and contradictory. Many studies show how play-based settings are full of engineering possibilities for young children, whilst others have identified missed engineering teaching possibilities. In order to better understand the research, this paper answers the questions, 'How is engineering knowledge being constructed through research into play-based settings?', and 'What do the results show for practice and future engineering research for preschool settings?' To answer these questions, a critique of those studies which focused on engineering education in play-based settings was undertaken. By examining existing studies in relation to the study designs and the results, this paper reports on how categories of engineering knowledge were established and how knowledge was constructed for engineering education for play-based settings. Using cultural-historical theory, the results show that studies of play-based setting have primarily been guided by practices from only some engineering professions, knowledge construction is based on both pre-defined and emergent categories, and research has tended to focus mostly on constructing (e.g. blocks). Gendered engineering knowledge was also identified, suggesting only partial understandings of engineering education evident. The critique not only identified knowledge construction that positively contributes to scholarship but also found gaps in what was being studied, thereby contributing to research by cautioning against full acceptance of the existing analytical concepts in the literature and suggesting that the building of a broader set of analytical categories for future research is needed.

It is important for students in the built environment related disciplines to acquire subject-based knowledge and skills from reflecting on their experience. In return, the learning-by-doing approach has been widely adopted in the academic cluster of built environment. To further strengthen this, this paper proposes a Virtual Reality (VR) based learning and teaching tool. It creates a virtual 3D environment that helps architectural engineering students conceive their design ideas, plan the layout, design the structure, construct the products (buildings, communities, infrastructures, etc.), and directly interact with the products they designed. The objectives of this research are: (1) to build a VR design environment for students to experience corresponding impact from different scenarios, which will help the student understand and investigate different design theories and schemes; (2) to build a VR construction environment for students to investigate how the building is built and what safety issues should be noted when visiting a construction site; and (3) to provide a collaborative environment for students in the Built Environment domain for better communication through a complete building project featuring active and experiential learning. Unity is used to develop the package and VIVE, a VR package, is used to facilitate the immersive interaction between the virtual environment and the users. Students from the Built Environment cluster were invited to use the tool and give feedback using a questionnaire. Positive comments were given by the students showing that they were very interested in studying academic subjects through such a technical game. All of them wanted to play more rounds to improve their performance and to find answers to the questions they failed to answer correctly. Most of the students were willing to spend more time in finding answers after playing that game.

Educational approaches in structural engineering have focused on classical methods for solving problems with manual calculations through assignments, quizzes, and exams. The use of computational software to apply the learned knowledge has been ignored for decades. This paper describes an educational approach to tackle the lack of applicable practical exercises in the structural engineering class "CE 506-Prestressed Concrete" at a university in the western United States during the spring of 2017. The class was designed to provide students with the theoretical concepts of prestressed concrete and the ability to interpret applicable design codes. In their project, students continued to build this knowledge by designing a prestressed bridge superstructure according to a unique state design manual. Students prepared a literature review of their selected state in the U.S.A. and used commercial software to perform an analysis and design of their bridge. Additionally, students were asked to backcheck their design using theoretical methods through manual calculations. By the end of the class, students presented their projects in a head-to-head presentation format, to contrast the differences between their designs in a competitive style. This paper summarizes the class structure, the outcome of the design project, and recommendations for future applications of computer technology in structural engineering education.

The relevance and feasibility of this study are determined by the absence of serious, scientific research, as well as teaching materials, when it comes to the use of Augmented Reality (AR) in teaching students and future teachers Descriptive Geometry, Engineering and Computer Graphics (DGECG). The purpose of the study is to examine the current state of knowledge and practice of existing courses, which use the AR concept; to conduct a pedagogical experiment by teaching students how to create an information model of a building structure using the AR concept; to study the impact of the AR technology on students, lecturers, on the quality of students' design works and project presentation. The research methods used were a set of various, complementing each other methods, which can be divided into two groups: (1) theoretical: analysis of the teachers' and psychologists' works on the point of the research, analysis of methodological and educational literature; and (2) empirical: observation, statement, pedagogical experiment. The authors synthesized qualitative and quantitative AR research in the field of education. A team of students from Saint-Petersburg Mining University, Kazan (Volga region) Federal University and Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation solved a design problem using AR and created an informational 3D-model of the structure. Existing methods of teaching students were supplemented and updated by the method of graphical presentation of the results, with due regard for AR-technologies. It has been found that at the present moment, the concept of AR has gained popularity not only among designers and planners, but also among schoolteachers, as well as among teachers at engineering universities. The absence of scientifically substantiated and proven programs and training materials for training students of DGECG using AR has also been confirmed. The necessity of further scientific research in the field of AR for DGECG has been substantiated. The article materials could prove to be useful for lecturers, schoolteachers and parents.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has changed the way many civil engineers organise and execute their job in recent years. Many universities around the world have been adapting their curricula to include BIM education. However, this adaptation has been incomplete, occurring only in a small number of subjects. To fill this gap, this paper presents a proposal for a full integration of BIM education into civil engineering curricula. Based on a literature review on BIM outcomes and their supporting knowledge, learning activities, BIM software, types of assessment, and civil engineering curricula, it was possible to define an alignment blueprint for all BIM-related subjects. It was concluded that (i) nearly 62% of civil engineering curricula is BIM-related; (ii) the main BIM outcomes are mostly common in all universities; (iii) activities such as problem-based learning, interdisciplinary projects, and case studies are recommended; and (iv) for a successful application, an implementation plan is required, including monitoring and improvements.

From free and low-cost dental clinics provided by dental hygienist students, to home building by students in construction programs, to more individualized service-learning across a wide array of courses, two-year schools are putting the "community" in community college by mixing academics and service in a panoply of creative ways. These arrangements benefit students, nonprofit organizations they serve, and the community at large, providing a mix of technical and customer-service skills for the students along with added motivation and direction, services to nonprofits and their clientele, and new partnerships among nonprofits and colleges themselves. This article highlights some community colleges service-learning programs throughout the country.

Yucatec Maya theory of learning may be thought of as Learning by Observing and Pitching In to family and community endeavours. Children learn everyday and specialized tasks by observing and pitching in. This mode of learning is embedded in children's developmental niche in which parental ethnotheories play the central role. I present results from a study of children's process of learning to become vernacular architects as they participate in building the boxes that make up the bullring for the village fiesta. Ninety-two expert adults were interviewed and direct observations were made during the building process. Results show that children accompany their fathers from an early age and observe and pitch in until they become experts. In order to learn, children need to have the will to like the task. Having the will depends on their destiny. Only those who have the will become responsible experts. Fathers encourage their children to accompany them to help their will to emerge. The developmental niche is organized to incorporate children into the building process to learn by observing and contributing. [Translation from English by Mercè Rius.]

Background & aims: How can non-autistic adults facilitate social learning with children on the spectrum? A new theoretical understanding of autism is currently emerging that has made this question more relevant than ever. At the intersection of two growing research areas in the field of autism, the borderland that separates the experience of social interaction between neurotypes is increasingly mapped out. By integrating anthropological research on autistic sociality and the neurocognitive framework of predictive processing, this paper explores the question: If autistic people experience the world in a fundamentally different way, what is a meaningful strategy for supporting them in developing their socialities? Methods: The paper reports an in-depth analysis of a 2-min sequence in which a non-autistic adult facilitates a collaboration game between three autistic children (8-12 years). The data comes from a participatory research project that develops a new pedagogical approach to social learning based on open-ended construction play. The analytical strategy is informed by conversation analysis. Results: We find that the facilitation supports the children in accomplishing social interaction and collaboration, but it also in several instances gives rise to misunderstandings between the children. Whereas the facilitator aims to support the children's direct verbal communication about the construction task, we observe that the children use a broad repertoire of non-direct communication strategies that enables them to coordinate and align their shared process. We find that the children's actions with their hands in the construction task count as turns in the communication. Regarding the play-based learning environment, we find that the children are engaged in the shared construction task and that they competently navigate social tension when it arises without the facilitator's help. Conclusion: We conclude that the misunderstandings between the children created by the facilitation from a non-autistic adult emerge from a discrepancy of attention in the situation. The facilitator focuses on the words, but the children focus on the task. Even though this discrepancy is not necessarily a result of different neurotypes, we find that it emerges from the social dynamics of facilitation by non-autistic adults that is key in many social intervention settings. Furthermore, we conclude that the play-based learning environment enables the facilitator to support the children without directly instructing them in their social behavior. This appears to give the children an opportunity to acquire complex social experiences through their collaboration. Implications: The interaction dynamics in the data clip is shaped by the non-autistic adult's expectations of the children's interaction. This made us wonder whether we can establish a learning environment that begins from the learners' perspectives instead. The analysis caused us to change the facilitation strategy that we employ in our project. It is our hope that our approach will inspire reflection and curiosity in researchers and practitioners who develop social interventions targeting autistic people.

Over the past decade, the architecture and construction (AC) industries have been evolving from traditional practices into more current, interdisciplinary and technology integrated methods. Complex and intricate digital technologies and mobile computing such as simulation, computational design and immersive technologies, have been exploited for different purposes such as reducing cost and time, improving design and enhancing overall project efficiency. Immersive technologies and augmented reality (AR), in particular, have proven to be extremely beneficial in this field. However, the application and usage of these technologies and devices in higher education teaching and learning environments are yet to be fully explored and still scarce. More importantly, there is still a significant gap in developing pedagogies and teaching methods that embrace the usage of such technologies in the AC curricula. This study, therefore, aims to critically analyse the current state-of-the-art and present the developed and improved AR approaches in teaching and learning methods of AC, addressing the identified gap in the extant literature, while developing transformational frameworks to link the gaps to their future research agenda. The conducted analysis incorporates the critical role of the AR implications on the AC students' skillsets, pedagogical philosophies in AC curricula, techno-educational aspects and content domains in the design and implementation of AR environments for AC learning. The outcomes of this comprehensive study prepare trainers, instructors, and the future generation of AC workers for the rapid advancements in this industry.

Science is a human endeavor; the way it is taught, applied, and in some cases exclude populations from having access to it, may affect people for generations (NGSS Lead States 2013). Science education continues to be a complex civil rights issue (Tate 2001), but there is hope. Movements to promote just, equitable, and inclusive opportunities to learn within the context of community, identity, and action are being developed and implemented in classrooms across the country. This article describes lessons planned with a lens on gender equity, community needs, and engineering for a diverse population. It sits within a larger framework of physics knowledge for social justice and community applications. Before beginning a modeling, design, and construction project, students at an urban high school in southern California considered the implications of who participates on the design team for a science project. The following questions framed the exploration: (1) How does the perspective of the design team affect the product outcome?; (2) Who should be selected for a design team?; and (3) How to communicate the need for a diverse design team to the larger community? The focus of this article is on the ways in which the authors helped their diverse population of students feel capable and welcome, and to understand why they belong in physics when traditionally there have been so few physicists to whom they can relate.

Environmental conceptions justify the way we understand the 'environment', as well as the way we connect with it. Therefore, it is important to study the way environmental conceptions are shaped, especially during the various experiences of childhood, which is the time that a person's identity is shaped. In the present study we focus on 8-9 years old children environmental conceptions and how they were affected by their participation in a school kitchen-garden project. Following a socio-constructivist approach, we asked from 24 children to construct three-dimensional (3 D) representations of the 'environment', using miniatures of biotic and abiotic elements (e.g. plants, animals, rocks), humans and human constructions and equipment (e.g. buildings, roads, bins). The analysis showed that aesthetic and "light" utilitarian perspectives were dominant in participants' conceptualizations, as well as a stewardship connection with nature. It also turned out to be that, for most of the participants, the participation in a school kitchen-garden project enhanced a more realistic and at the same time, more relational representation of the 'environment'.

This philosophy of education paper describes a schizophrenic situation. A new airport is being planned in the locale of a university which is a Centre of Excellence of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), and the university is a major partner. The airport involves an investment in jobs, resources, and will encourage further economic development. The planners have named the inter-connected developments around the airport as the 'Aerotropolis', including new university facilities. One could argue that the airport is a classic example of the 'Capitalocene', where capital rushes into a new project, and environmental costs are ignored. This paper will execute a schizoanalytic critique of the process, from the perspective of a university education researcher caught up in the rushing flows of capital. Schizoanalysis has been chosen as the educational methodology to analyse this situation, because the researcher is part of what is happening, and is turned inside out (schizo) by the designation in their region of the new airport. This paper is positioned in education between capital and the environment -- it will describe from an insider's perspective what it is like to be possessed, evacuated, sold out, and exploited by capital.

Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver) has been educating students for Colorado's urban workforce for over fifty years. The following case study of MSU Denver's new Aerospace Engineering Sciences (AES) Building reveals the roles played by partnerships among universities, faculty, and local civic and industry leaders in creating new curricula and facilities. The new Advanced Manufacturing Sciences (AMS) curriculum and specialized labs will be "game changers" for manufacturing in Colorado, because they provide flexible makerspaces that encourage the iterative, changing interaction among students, faculty, and industry essential in an evolving economy. Nurturing such places for collaboration fosters self-sustaining curriculum enrichment.

For instructors interested in flipping their courses or using in-class video introductions to new topics, the development of custom video lecture content can be a daunting task. Having students create videos as a term project creates the potential opportunity to engage students in peer-to-peer learning via videos while also generating course content that could help flip a course over time. In addition to aiding the instructor in course content generation, the project helps the student creators learn the video content, as indicated by the literature. This paper explores the effectiveness of resulting asynchronous peer-to-peer video content at facilitating student learning amongst the students enrolled in a Construction Estimating course from four semesters of implementation. Pre- and post-video presentation quiz scores were analyzed to verify an overall statistically significant increase in student quiz performance for the majority of the video projects whether used in class to introduce a new topic during the semester or during the end-of-semester presentation day for new projects. Thus, this study shows the promise of student-produced videos as course content, especially for those instructors seeking to flip or partially flip their course. Additionally, the paper presents some lessons learned from the implementation of a video project to produce course content.

"Form is 'what', Design is 'how'" (Kahn, 1960). Learning about the formal universe and the wide range of possibilities it offers should be one of the purposes of the early subjects in architectural studies. This article aims to explain the contents of a first course of architectural design and demonstrate how, using a methodology based on precise theoretical-practical tools and an active pedagogical dynamic, results are obtained that, on average, are very satisfactory. It shows that in twelve weeks' time, students have acquired the tools they need to approach any design problem from its form.

"Make to Learn Invention Kits" allow students to reconstruct working models of historic inventions. This design case describes the development of a series of "Make to Learn Electric Motor Invention Kits" that spans the time frame from development of the first patented electric motor in the United States to contemporary brushless motors. The design process is described and design decisions that led to the final sequence of electric motor kits are summarized.