Offsite Construction education adoption in Civil Engineering undergraduate curriculum: analysis and proposal

Abstract

Offsite construction (OSC) is not new globally yet is still not widespread in Civil Engineering (CE) programs. This study proposes strategies for implementing OSC education in a CE undergraduate program curriculum. The research method used was the exploratory field study. Data were collected from three online questionnaires sent to interested parties: OSC industry professionals, faculty members, and final-year students. Each questionnaire sought to answer a specific objective of this study: to identify the design and onsite assembly competencies demanded by the industry, identify the interfaces between OSC and the CE program curriculum and determine the level of confidence of final-year students in applying OSC competencies. The collected data analysis was qualitative and generated from a crossing of the data from the three questionnaires, which supported the proposition of hypotheses for the insertion of OSC teaching by identifying the needs, deficiencies, and difficulties the three interested parties presented. Findings suggest that the OSC competencies most demanded by the industry are about knowing how to detail the interfaces between the components and the parts of the construction site, guarantee the assembly of elements within the deadlines, or learning how to take safety measures against accidents during the construction site. Data also suggest that students are interested in the subject but graduate with little confidence in applying most of the design and onsite assembly competencies demanded by the industry. One of the few exceptions is the knowledge to take safety measures against accidents on the job site. As a result, two hypotheses were generated to adopt OSC teaching in a Civil Engineering program.