Establishment and Development of BIM Technology Platform for Civil Engineering

Education Research Frontier June 2016, Volume 6, Issue 2, PP.60-63

Establishment and Development of BIM Technology Platform for Civil Engineering Specialty Shan Xia 1, Ke-wei Ding2, Dong Chen 3, Yun-lin Liu 4 School of Civil Engineering, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei, Anhui, China *1

81490271@qq.com; 2dingkw@ahjzu.edu.cn

Abstract Civil engineering major is a practical engineering discipline. As the teaching and practice are out of touch, traditional teaching ways can’t meet the needs of the moment. Considering the development of BIM technology, the author and the research group adjust civil engineering teaching system and propose the establishment of BIM professional teaching platform. Furthermore, the group explores the reform ideas and the educational reform preparation.

Keywords: BIM Professional Teaching Platform; Teaching System Integration; Educational Reform Preparation

1 INTRODUCTION The task of Civil engineering major in the undergraduate stage is to train personnel meeting the needs of social development, mastering the basic theory and knowledge of civil engineering disciplines, getting the basic training of engineers and engineering innovation ability. The civil engineering discipline has the characteristics of wide discipline span, wide range and high practical ability. However, traditional practice teaching ways cannot meet the needs of the moment any longer, so civil engineering practice teaching reform exploration is imminent. How to establish the teaching system and the practice teaching system is the key to achieve the goal.

Building Information Modeling which is an emerging technology leading construction industry to a higher level brings great revolutions in the construction, design, cost and other aspects of the traditional building industry. It not only greatly improves the degree of integration of the industry, but also brings a huge leap forward.

While BIM technology has brought a wider way to civil engineering professional training of new talent, we need to adjust the teaching software, the hardware facilities, and the structure of teachers, the training program, and the knowledge system. We shall dare to open our mind in the teaching method in order to adapt to the request of subject.

All of these demand to build a simulation platform based on the BIM technology for civil engineering specialty practice teaching.

2 THE STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE OF ESTABLISHING THE BIM TEACHING PLATFORM The main features of BIM technology’s application in civil engineering include the overall control of the project design, construction progress, quality and cost information. All information and data are shared through the BIM platform, so Designers and construction management staff can connect the whole process of engineering project management. This can achieve the project's finest management and reasonable allocation of the personnel, materials, time and other resources.

The strategic significance of establishing the BIM professional teaching platform has two aspects:

2.1 Try the Teaching Reform and a New Teaching Method Civil engineering belongs to the field of applied science. In practice, we can’t stick in the mud and break the - 60 www.erfrontier.org

extensive knowledge into pieces, and just rely on the classroom to teach. Civil engineering contains many professional courses and the huge amount of information. As knowledge of a course is intertwined with many classes, the setting of curriculum leads to professional course taught in different time by different teachers. Therefore, the coherence of the curriculum cannot be guaranteed, the system is incomplete, and students often feel unintelligible. In addition, there is a problem that the same knowledge would be told by many teachers. For general students, their professional experience is not deep with no practical experience. Students without the concept of engineering have little learning interest. BIM Technology platform reaches the combination of professional courses during the practice.

With a large number of real teaching materials, construction site and process control would be demonstrated vividly.

Students are able to have intuitive feelings of engineering changes, then they would understand the theory much better.

2.2 Improving the Students' Comprehensive Quality and Strengthening Students' Self-learning Ability Nowadays, the society develops so rapidly that students often feel that their knowledge mastering in the campus has nothing to do with the reality. Accordingly, this thought also affects students in schools. Students generally doubt the usage of what they learn, and even think it is useless.

Educator B. F. Skinner said: "If we are going to forget what we learn entirely, the remaining is the very nature of education." The remaining is the ability of self-study. Though learning professional knowledge is certainly important, thinking methods and the ability to learn by analogy mean more.

BIM technology provides a new way for students to collect information as well as a way in which students are taught how to fish. In the process of collecting and dealing, the students can cultivate their information literacy. Both cooperation in different parts and study based on source are capable of enhancing students' self-learning ability. Try to cultivate students' innovative consciousness, deliberate thinking, the habit of thinking independently, and interest in gain all kinds of knowledge. Through the advanced technology of BIM simulation platform, students of civil engineering are able to achieve greater achievement with less effort and qualities in many fields.

3 THE PREPARATION FOR ESTABLISHING THE BIM PROFESSIONAL TEACHING PLATFORM Rome is not built in one day, so does the BIM platform. Students, teachers, schools all need to carry out the preparation work and strengthen their own qualities.

3.1 The Construction of the Software and Hardware of the Institute BIM technology has obvious advantages in dealing with large quantities of data, but the ability must rely on hardware support. BIM is demanded on this aspect. It requires the fastest processing capacity to mass of data, even real-time [1]. In addition, the BIM professional teaching platform requires open, integration, easy-reading and interactive operation. Platform users and project team members also need a wide range of exchanges and interaction.

As an executor of traditional teaching ways, we must stand on the strategic height of the development of the industry, abandon the old ideas, absorb advanced management methods, and put forward a set of feasible platform construction scheme.

According to the teaching practice of the research group and the author, it is needed to build the computer laboratory, which is in accordance with the BIM program's requirement like construction modeling. In the wide area network, it can be extended, remote real-time tracking design, conflict demo and avoidance, remote viewing construction progress. In order to facilitate teaching, necessary guidance and remote assistance are also needed. In the local area network, each work station shall have the power to work with multiple ports, and capacity to handle data and communication online for multiplayers.[1] For software, it is necessary to introduce BIM genuine its components of the system, including BIM modeling, analysis and calculation. The native products are Luban glodon, Brownsville, and so on. At the same time, other civil engineering related to structure design and analysis software are also - 61 www.erfrontier.org

required, such as PKPM, ANSYS, and so on.

3.2 Changes in the Teaching Model of the School and Teachers Traditionally, classroom teaching rely mainly on teachers, but the practice teaching needs capital, energy and support from all aspects such as contacting site practice, setting up practice base and guaranteeing the safety. For schools, the traditional practice teaching implementation is already a tough task, so they are lacking of motivation for reforming practice teaching. For general teachers, it has been easy to teach the same contents for all these years. And because of the closed school environment, the new technology and the new direction of the industry are difficult for many teachers to grasp. The establishment of the BIM platform faces the same situation. For many teachers, especially older ones, other than establishment of the platform, BIM itself is something entirely new, which they may have no wish to try.

We must realize that today's college education has shifted from "student oriented" to "student centered". The socalled "student centered" means higher request tougher implementation. Simply to say, it is to develop the quality of personnel. This quality is not the qualities of the top students, but the ability of students to graduate with poor performance in school, and the long-term development potential in the industry. That is the real assessment of schools' abilities in training personnel. These are also the requirements for many schools to work actively to get the undergraduate teaching professional certification.

As a kind of virtual reality technology with powerful expression, BIM technology requires teacher to pay attention to the renewal of knowledge, the new technology, the new standard, and then brings them into the professional field.

This will not only greatly enrich the theoretical system of teaching, but also expand the practical teaching thinking.

Of course, this is a contradictory, unadaptable and even painful process. The practice oriented teaching will cause full range of adjustment in the teaching content, structure and process. Furthermore, teaching methods and management will be changed, too. Teachers and the teaching management department are required to make great efforts and work hard to explore the truth. Therefore, many teachers and management member will be unadaptable and even fearful at the beginning stage[1].

4 METHODS ON ESTABLISHING BIM PROFESSIONAL TEACHING PLATFORM There is a proverb that says: "What I hear can be forgotten, What I see can be remembered, What I did can be really understood." The importance is well told by the proverb. The author's research group analyze the current practice, design and other practice teaching parts of civil engineering disciplines, study the civil engineering practice system, reform teaching ideas, and establish BIM professional teaching platform. The specific ideas are as follows:

4.1 First, at the Grade One, Let students be Familiar with the Relevant Software, while Developing Practice Teaching Material Based on BIM Technology Major students should begin to be familiar with the relevant soft-wares when they take courses like computer, architectural drawing, building architecture. Using BIM technology platform to make animations showing construction, students shall participate in the making process and enjoy the results. General education at the beginning stage will help students understand the professional courses and arise interest in learning.

4.2 Using the Technical model as the Core of Teaching Material, Put Knowledge as a Whole through the BIM Platform Teachers teaching different courses could use the same BIM model as the core of teaching material to explain the knowledge related with their own courses in the model. In this way, students can understand the project overall and promote comprehensive abilities.

After virtual construction, the group led by teachers went to the site to start a real survey. According to the progress of construction, students could visit the construction for several times. Students who have already imitated the whole construction will know their own doubts. Unlike the inefficient old way, students shall spend less time at the scene, which would reduce troubles in security.

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4.3 Continue to Deepen the Achievement from Practice on the BIM Platform, Establish Interactive Platform Interactive platform is divided into two parts. The first part is each student's own independent forum. In the first part, all information of designs and practices must be stored on the platform, which is not simply to save the archives, but a kind of management that can facilitate student to check and alter. Students can check their outcomes and summary problems. During school time, they could form project awareness which means summary, relearning and improvement [2].

The second one is a shared section. Students can discuss their opinions and ideas from practices and designs. With such a studious environment, learning effect will be much better than current separated teaching ways. Such integration of resources will keep students constantly remind themselves of how to use professional knowledge in practice during school time. This teaching way would ensure the quality of teaching. As a result, students' comprehensive quality and practical ability can be greatly improved.

5 CONCLUSIONS "Truth comes from Practice". Civil engineering is a very practical engineering discipline. The reform in the practice of civil engineering is the inevitable choice of the teaching plan for Universities' engineering[3].The BIM professional teaching platform we set up would integrate courses providing a new thought for teaching and perfect the traditional class. Most importantly, the quality of personnel training has greatly improved, and meets the needs of social development better.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT Foundation item:"Research on the reform and practice of Civil Engineering Specialty in Anhui province " 2013 revitalization plan for major teaching reform research projects in Anhui Province (2013zdjy193).

REFERENCES [1]

Chen Liping and Chen Shu.The Establishment of Engineering Management Specialty Practice Teaching Platform Based on BIM Technology [J]. China Education Innovation Herald, 2010 No. 31: 234~235.

[2]

Li Yanfeng, Sun Xiaolong, Xing Xuefei, Lin Xinxin and Liu Shanshan.“Research on Integration of Civil Engineering Cognitive practice and Graduation Designs”. Education Teaching Forum.2012:63~65.

[3]

Nie Yihua, Wang Qiren Liu Lifang. “Discussion on Integration of Civil Engineering Curriculum Designs and Graduation Designs”. Theory and Practice of Contemporary Education. Vol 04 2012: 96~98 .

AUTHORS Xia Shan (1985.2- ), female, lecturer of Anhui Jianzhu

Ding Kewei (1962.12- ), male, professor of Anhui Jianzhu

University Civil Engineering Academy, master, mainly research

University Civil Engineering Academy, doctor. mainly research

on concrete construction, repair and reinforce of buildings, civil

on Repair and Reinforce of Buildings, Symplectic algorithm for

engineering teaching and research.

Hamilton characteristic equation, Numerical modeling and

write the paper“Research on the thermal performance of new

Simulation of multi field coupling, The influence of special

sandwich insulation composite wall panel” (Advanced Materials Research.Vol.567 2012 pp220-223) patent“Type T connection between prefabricated sandwich outside panels and interior

environment to engineering structure, Mechanical behavior of engineering structures and Teaching and research of Civil Engineering.(E-mail) dingkw@ahjzu.edu.cn.

wall” .(E-mail)81490271@qq.com.

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