Chung-Suk Cho

Integration of BIM and GIS: Highway Cut and Fill Earthwork Balancing

The proposed paper intends to provide a technical review between Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Geographic Information System (GIS) and measure the different strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Then, the proposed project aims to present a newly developed data integration approach in facilitating the continuous work processes of the two distinct environments. This research utilizes BIM based (IFC) system to store road components data in highway construction and then GIS system to import data such as land boundaries, and topographic data. In order to retrieve and integrate the two distinct types of data formats, this research uses the concept of semantic web in Resource Description Framework (RDF) format to provide semantic interoperability between BIM and GIS operations.

Enhancing Education of Construction Materials Course Using Guided Inquiry Modules Instruction

AbstractThis paper describes a study of the effects of guided inquiry module instruction on undergraduate construction engineering students’ understanding of course concepts and attitudes toward module instruction. Eighty-one students from two sections of the same Construction Materials engineering course participated in the study. Both sections received guided inquiry module instruction (treatment) for three of the six course topics. Participants completed pre- and posttests for each topic, exams (midterm and final), and a questionnaire to assess attitudes and perceptions. Results of the study show students perceived module instruction to be more effective than the traditional lecture. Students across both sections indicated that they participated more during module instruction and that this approach was more effective in encouraging participation and providing opportunities for discussion, activities, and teamwork. Additionally, students performed better on certain topic posttests under the treatment co...

Eye-Tracking Studies Based on Attentional-Resource Effectiveness and Insights into Future Research

Abstract In the majority of cases, the primary means of information input to operators in nuclear power plant (NPP) control rooms is through the visual channel. In this study, eye movement patterns of NPP operators are analyzed with eye-tracking data obtained from simulator-based experimental studies. Two eye-tracking measures of attentional-resource effectiveness in monitoring and detection tasks in NPPs that have been developed by the authors are introduced, and several applications with the two eye-tracking measures are discussed for use of the measures. The underlying principle of the measures is that information sources should be selectively attended according to their importance. One of the two measures is the fixation-to-importance ratio (FIR), which represents attentional resource (eye fixations) spent on an information source compared to the importance of the information source. The other measure is selective attention effectiveness (SAE), which incorporates the FIRs of all information sources. The FIR represents the effectiveness of an information source, whereas the SAE represents the overall effectiveness of all information sources. Frequency and duration of eye fixations of an operator on information sources are used as the attentional resource. Finally, insights on future applications of eye-tracking data coupled with other psychophysiological measurement techniques to nuclear human factors are addressed on the basis of advances of fourth industrial revolution technologies.

Enhancing Construction Education: Implementing Habitat for Humanity Projects as Service-Learning for Construction Materials

Service-learning is considered a valuable approach in applying concepts from the higher education classroom in real-world settings, and has become quite common in some disciplines. Engineering educators in the United States are making efforts to incorporate service-learning activities and to study their benefits for student learning and engagement. This article describes the design and results of implementing a Habitat for Humanity service-learning project in an introductory construction materials course. Study results collected from two semesters of service-learning implementation show students respond positively to the hands-on active learning of real-world activities related to the course content. Service-learning activities in particular were not only found to enhance student learning and interpersonal skills, but also increase student awareness of their intended profession and society as a whole. Overall, students reported positive perceptions of the service-learning experience and its contribution to their learning of course concepts.