3 credits
Spring 2026 Lecture Upper Division
Technologies are embedded throughout all communities, and the boundaries between humans and technologies are shrinking considerably. As a result, the construction industry is also changing rapidly. The questions are: Are we ready for this change? What skills are required to be better prepared as a future workforce? This course covers how these smart and advanced technologies are set to revolutionize the construction industry to achieve specific mission objectives (e.g., improving safety, quality, and productivity). This course will give students the opportunity to learn conceptual and practical foundations for designing and developing systems while also learning to harness technology to ensure a new generation of technologies would include humans in the loop. This course will be project-based, and students learn by actively engaging in various real-world case studies. Other topics include challenges in human-computer interaction, the internet of things, human behavior modeling, VR/AR/MR, wearable sensors, machine learning and artificial intelligence, trust in human-robot interaction, and ethics and fairness in the emerging smart technologies in the construction industry. This course follows Bloom's taxonomy to increase knowledge (cognitive domain), develop skills (psychomotor domain), or develop emotional aptitude (affective domain). The instructor will incorporate various techniques in each of the course concepts to facilitate higher-order thinking in their students by building up from lower-level cognitive skills. Each concept will be taught in five phases: 1) Knowledge (i.e., Lecture, podcasts, readings before class); 2) Understanding (i.e., presentations, peer review, discussion); 3) Application (i.e., case studies, problem-solving demonstration); 4) Analyzing and Evaluating (i.e., simulation, discussion); 5) Creating, Reflecting, and Debriefing (i.e., group presentations, case studies, discussion, reflection).
Learning Outcomes1Explain conceptual and practical foundations for designing and developing sensing and monitoring technologies.
2Apply the knowledge and problem-solving skills to real-world case studies.
3Identify the advantages and challenges of the state-of-the-art technologies to outline gaps in knowledge and the necessity for research in the construction industry.
4Integrate effective scholarly writing and teamwork strategies as reflect the environment and communication in a professional civil engineering/construction setting.
Restrictions
made by Purdue students.