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This presentation presents a blended learning model that provides greater opportunity for learning to be self-managed and personalized.

Currently the Bachelor of Design is the generic degree offered to the four disciplines of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Industrial Design, and Interior Design within the School of Design at the Queensland University of Technology. Regardless of discipline, Digital Communication is a core unit taken by the 600 first year students entering the Bachelor of Design degree. Within the design disciplines the communication of the designer's intentions is achieved primarily through the use of graphic images, with written information being considered as supportive or secondary. As such, Digital Communication attempts to educate learners in the fundamentals of this graphic design communication, using a generic digital or software tool. Past iterations of the unit have not acknowledged the subtle difference in design communication of the different design disciplines involved, and has used a single generic software tool. Following a review of the unit in 2008, it was decided that a single generic software tool was no longer entirely sufficient. This decision was based on the recognition that there was an increasing emergence of discipline specific digital tools, and an expressed student desire and apparent aptitude to learn these discipline specific tools. As a result the unit was reconstructed in 2009 to offer both discipline specific and generic software instruction, if elected by the student. This paper, apart from offering the general context and pedagogy of the existing and restructured units, will more importantly offer research data that validates the changes made to the unit. Most significant of this new data is the results of surveys that authenticate actual student aptitude versus desire in learning discipline specific tools. This is done through an exposure of student self efficacy in problem resolution and technological prowess - generally and specifically within the unit. More traditional means of validation is also presented that includes the results of the

These National Guidelines and Case Studies for Digital Modelling are the outcomes from one of a number of Building Information Modelling (BIM)-related projects undertaken by the CRC for Construction Innovation. Since the CRC opened its doors in 2001, the industry has seen a rapid increase in interest in BIM, and widening adoption. These guidelines and case studies are thus very timely, as the industry moves to model-based working and starts to share models in a new context called integrated practice. Governments, both federal and state, and in New Zealand are starting to outline the role they might take, so that in contrast to the adoption of 2D CAD in the early 90s, we ensure that a national, industry-wide benefit results from this new paradigm of working. Section 1 of the guidelines give us an overview of BIM: how it affects our current mode of working, what we need to do to move to fully collaborative model-based facility development. The role of open standards such as IFC is described as a mechanism to support new processes, and make the extensive design and construction information available to asset operators and managers. Digital collaboration modes, types of models, levels of detail, object properties and model management complete this section. It will be relevant for owners, managers and project leaders as well as direct users of BIM. Section 2 provides recommendations and guides for key areas of model creation and development, and the move to simulation and performance measurement. These are the more practical parts of the guidelines developed for design professionals, BIM managers, technical staff and ‘in the field’ workers. The guidelines are supported by six case studies including a summary of lessons learnt about implementing BIM in Australian building projects. A key aspect of these publications is the identification of a number of important industry actions: the need for BIMcompatible product information and a national context for classifying product

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is evolving in the Construction Industry as a successor to CAD. CAD is mostly a technical tool that conforms to existing industry practices, however BIM has the capacity to revolutionise industry practice. Rather than producing representations of design intent, BIM produces an exact Virtual Prototype of any building that in an ideal situation is centrally stored and freely exchanged between the project team, facilitating collaboration and allowing experimentation in design. Exposing design students to this technology through their formal studies allows them to engage with cutting edge industry practices and to help shape the industry upon their graduation. Since this technology is relatively new to the construction industry, there are no accepted models for how to “teach” BIM effectively at university level. Developing learning models to enable students to make the most out of their learning with BIM presents significant challenges to those teaching in the field of design. To date there are also no studies of students experiences of using this technology. This research reports on the introduction of Building Information Modeling (BIM) software into a second year Bachelor of Design course. This software has the potential to change industry standards through its ability to revolutionise the work practices of those involved in large scale design projects. Students’ understandings and experiences of using the software in order to complete design projects as part of their assessment are reported here. In depth semi-structured interviews with 6 students revealed that students had views that ranged from novice to sophisticate about the software. They had variations in understanding of how the software could be used to complete course requirements, to assist with the design process and in the workplace. They had engaged in limited exploration of the collaborative potential of the software as a design tool. Their understanding of the sign

3D Virtual Environments (VE) are real; they exist as digital worlds with the advantage of having none of the constraints of the real world. As such they are the perfect training ground for design students who can create, build and experiment with design solutions without the constraint of real world projects. This paper reports on an educational setting used to explore a model for using VE such as Second Life (SL) developed by Linden Labs in California, as a collaborative environment for design education. A postgraduate landscape architecture learning environment within a collaborative design unit was developed to integrate this model where the primary focus was the application of three-dimensional tools within design, not as a presentation tool, but rather as a design tool. The focus of the unit and its aims and objectives will be outlined before describing the use of SL in the unit. Attention is focused on the collaboration and learning experience before discussing the outcomes, student feedback, future projects using this model and potential for further research. The outcome of this study aims to contribute to current research on teaching and learning design in interactive VE’s. We present a case study of our first application of this model.

This paper discusses two different approaches to teaching design and their modes of delivery and reflects upon their successes and failures. Two small groups of third year design students have been given projects focussing on incorporation of daylighting to architectural design in studios having different design themes. In association with the curriculum, the themes were Digital Tools and Sustainability. Although both studios had the topic of daylighting, the aim and methodology used were different. Digital Tool studio’s aim was to teach how to design daylighting by using a digital tool, where as, Sustainability studio aimed at using scale modelling as a tool to learn about daylighting and integrating it into design. Positive results for providing student learning success within the University context were the students’ chance to learn and practice some new skills –using a new tool for designing; integration of the tutors’ extensive research expertise to their teaching practice; and the students’ construction of their own understanding of knowledge in a student-centred educational environment. This environment created a very positive attitude in the form of exchanging ideas and collaboration among the students of Digital Tools students at the discussion forum. Sustainability group students were enthusiastic about designing and testing various proposals. Problems that both studios experienced were mainly related to timing. Synchronizing with other groups of their studios and learning of a new skill on top of an already complicated process of design learning were the setbacks.

These National Guidelines and Case Studies for Digital Modelling are the outcomes from one of a number of Building Information Modelling (BIM)-related projects undertaken by the CRC for Construction Innovation. Since the CRC opened its doors in 2001, the industry has seen a rapid increase in interest in BIM, and widening adoption. These guidelines and case studies are thus very timely, as the industry moves to model-based working and starts to share models in a new context called integrated practice. Governments, both federal and state, and in New Zealand are starting to outline the role they might take, so that in contrast to the adoption of 2D CAD in the early 90s, we ensure that a national, industry-wide benefit results from this new paradigm of working. Section 1 of the guidelines give us an overview of BIM: how it affects our current mode of working, what we need to do to move to fully collaborative model-based facility development. The role of open standards such as IFC is described as a mechanism to support new processes, and make the extensive design and construction information available to asset operators and managers. Digital collaboration modes, types of models, levels of detail, object properties and model management complete this section. It will be relevant for owners, managers and project leaders as well as direct users of BIM. Section 2 provides recommendations and guides for key areas of model creation and development, and the move to simulation and performance measurement. These are the more practical parts of the guidelines developed for design professionals, BIM managers, technical staff and ‘in the field’ workers. The guidelines are supported by six case studies including a summary of lessons learnt about implementing BIM in Australian building projects. A key aspect of these publications is the identification of a number of important industry actions: the need for BIM-compatible product information and a national context for classifying produc

Digital Songlines is an Australasian CRC for Interaction Design (ACID) project that is developing protocols, methodologies, and toolkits to facilitate the collection, education and sharing of indigenous cultural heritage knowledge. This research will illustrate significant Australian Indigenous spaces such as the Mt Moffatt area at Carnarvon Gorge in south-west Queensland and areas around the Pilbara in Western Australia. The project explores the areas of effective recording, content management and virtual reality delivery capabilities that are culturally sensitive and involve the indigenous custodians, leaders and communities in those areas as well as how players in a serious gaming sense can experience indigenous virtual heritage in a high fidelity fashion with culturally appropriate interface tools.

This paper introduces the method used to produce a 3D model of an Aboriginal Rock Art Cave for inclusion in a synthetic environment using the Torque game engine as its user interface. The site chosen for this is an area called “The Tombs” in the Mt Moffat section of the Carnavon Gorges National Park. The game developers were facing a number of obstacles such as remoteness of the site, its accessibility and the necessity to produce a 3D model with a low number of polygons for an efficient use in Virtual Reality. Given the nature of the model to construct, a traditional method of surveying/modelling would have produced a very high number of polygons making it necessary for a lengthy process of optimization. Laser scanning or Photogrammetry would produce the most accurate data collection but would have been difficult due to the presence of numerous trees; and, because little was known about the site, the choice of appropriate equipment was difficult to make and not practical to carry into the remote of the site. The geometrical accuracy was not a priority, as the purpose of the model is for visualisation alone, therefore a much simpler method of surveying and modelling was chosen. A series of high resolution photographs were taken onsite. These were used as a base for the mesh modelling as well as for the texturing of the final result. Each photo was then calibrated before stitching to produce a panorama of the entire rock face. The panorama was then used as a texture onto a flat plane made of 500 polygons. The most obvious cracks and recesses were then created by changing the Z value of the relevant polygons, finally the high resolution panorama was re-applied to form the final texture. The entire process took approximately 16 hours and the end result is a very realistic mesh model with less than 1000 polygons. This paper will report on the processes and outcomes of this project in the context of preserving and enhancing aboriginal cultural heritage.

Instigating fire prevention and mitigation procedures within the rural/urban interface can save properties and lives. Councils and fire services can only do so much to prevent bushfire spread and damage within these areas. It is highly desirable that local communities to take responsibility for fire prevention and mitigation on their own properties. Changing people’s fire prevention and mitigation behaviours can only occur through effective education and consultation processes. This paper presents a virtual reality bushfire mitigation tool that will facilitate community consultation, and thus stimulate behavioural change with regard to fire mitigation. Virtual reality can visualise the effect mitigation can have in saving properties through using an interactive 3D interface that is readily understandable by the general public. This was achieved though a game-like application that allows users to change the vegetation and building configuration on their property. The users can run a fire simulation over the property and easily see the effect that their fire mitigation procedures would have on a fire front as it passes through their property. This contribution will improve community bushfire awareness and stimulate behavioural change which will directly reduce property damage and potentially save lives within the rural/urban interface.

/Summary Queensland’s Government Energy Management Strategy (GEMS) seeks to reduce energy use in Queensland Government owned and leased buildings, generating substantial cost savings for government while reducing greenhouse emissions. Electricity and water consumption are being specifically targeted. This research project acted as a pilot study in the investigation of the use of Virtual Reality (VR) Modelling to facilitate communication about energy efficient technologies and behaviours. Virtual Reality software was used to model offices on Level 10 and 11 of the Queensland Audit Office. The software enabled users to navigate around their virtual office using a typical first person shooter interface that is found in many computer games.

This Software was used as a prototype demonstration tool to assist in the development of a Web based bushfire mitigation tool. The web based tool was developed by Australian Centre for Interactive Design (ACID).

Digital Songlines is an Australasian CRC for Interaction Design (ACID) project that is developing protocols, methodologies and toolkits to facilitate the collection, education and sharing of indigenous cultural heritage knowledge. This research will illustrate significant Australian Indigenous spaces such as the Mt Moffatt area at Carnarvon Gorge in south-west Queensland and areas around the Pilbarra in Western Australia. The project explores the areas of effective recording, content management and virtual reality delivery capabilities that are culturally sensitive and involve the indigenous custodians, leaders and communities in those areas as well as how players in a serious gaming sense can experience Indigenous virtual heritage in a high fidelity fashion with culturally appropriate interface tools.

This short paper presents a means of capturing non spatial information (specifically understanding of places) for use in a Virtual Heritage application. This research is part of the Digital Songlines Project which is developing protocols, methodologies and a toolkit to facilitate the collection and sharing of Indigenous cultural heritage knowledge, using virtual reality. Within the context of this project most of the cultural activities relate to celebrating life and to the Australian Aboriginal people, land is the heart of life. Australian Indigenous art, stories, dances, songs and rituals celebrate country as its focus or basis. To the Aboriginal people the term “Country” means a lot more than a place or a nation, rather “Country” is a living entity with a past a present and a future; they talk about it in the same way as they talk about their mother. The landscape is seen to have a spiritual connection in a view seldom understood by non-indigenous persons; this paper introduces an attempt to understand such empathy and relationship and to reproduce it in a virtual environment.

Per capita, Australia has the highest rate of greenhouse gas emissions in the industrialised world (Turton & Hamilton, 2002). As such, it is increasingly recognised that engaging Australians in environmentally sustainable practices and behaviours is central to reducing greenhouse gas emissions for a sustainable future. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for engaging people in environmentally sustainable everyday behaviours using interactive Virtual Reality (VR). First, it provides a framework through which to understand the elements necessary for the long-term uptake of environmentally sustainable behaviours. It then considers how an active participatory engagement model is suited to addressing these issues. Finally, it articulates the approach required by facilitators as well as the role of VR in facilitating communication about environmentally sustainable behaviour change between people in small group settings.

PC based software (Virtual Reality Simulation Program). Project description and video demonstration attached to this record.