Teaching Plan Reading to Construction Students: The Effect of Using Tablet Computers

Abstract

With rapid changes in device technology and adoption rates in the industry, there is an increased need for the construction programs to introduce the use of current technology devices in their curriculum. One of these technologies is to utilize digital devices such as tablet computers replacing traditional printed copies of construction documents. A recent study undertaken at a major university compared the performances of the students on their ability to read and interpret construction documents using both the formats. The students were divided into two groups performing similar assignments- one group using the tablet computer to read the construction documents and the other using documents in paper format. A second study was performed with the construction document mediums reversed between groups. Data was collected during the studies and through post survey questionnaires. Results showed that both the groups took longer time to finish the assignments using the tablet computer. However, the overall time taken by the group that used paper format first followed by tablet was substantially lower than that of the other group. The authors concluded that introducing the tablet after the students have familiarized themselves with the documents in paper format will be beneficial for the students’ learning.