Project-based learning and pedagogies for virtual reality-aided green building education: case study on a university course

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13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Purpose: Green building education, an important aspect of sustainability in higher education, has rapidly expanded across the world. Yet, a bespoke pedagogical model integrating the essential elements of green building knowledge into a university course is lacking. To plug this deficiency, this study aims to develop an innovative pedagogical model that incorporates four types of teaching activities, namely, lecture, virtual reality (VR)-aided site visit, physical site visit and practicum-based project. Design/methodology/approach: Based on an extensive review of the relevant literature and course materials, a pedagogical model was constructed for application to the teaching and learning activities of a university’s hospitality and real-estate programme. Using a case study approach involving in-depth interviews with green building professionals and a workshop coupled with an online survey on building professionals, the model’s transformative effectiveness was evaluated. Findings: The study finds that the pedagogical model was able to effectively equip students with the essential green building knowledge pertinent to the different stages of a building life cycle. Concerns about wider applications of the model, including barriers to implementation in other academic programmes and resources for updating the VR platform, were identified. Originality/value: The VR-aided and project-based pedagogy model is novel and effective in delivering green building education. Future work, particularly expanding the VR platform to cover more green building cases, thereby allowing multiple case studies to be conducted, is recommended for illustrating further contributions and implications of the model.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1308-1327
Number of pages20
JournalInternational Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
Volume24
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 Jun 2023

Keywords

  • Green building education
  • Pedagogical model
  • Project-based learning
  • Site visit
  • Virtual reality

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Human Factors and Ergonomics
  • Education

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