ENGAGEMENT WITH REGIONAL SCHOOL STUDENTS THROUGH THE VIRTUAL CONSTRUCTION SITE TOUR - AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE - a summary of the 2019 NAWIC IWD Scholarship Research Report by Dr Fiona Lamari Senior Lecturer in Construction Management, Faculty of Engineering, QUT & 2020 NAWIC IWD Scholarship Winner and NAWIC Chapter Co-Vice President (QLD)
Travelling back 20 odd years ago, I told my Dad I wanted to study construction at university. Dad was taken aback. No one in my family worked in the construction-related industry. My Dad said, “Daughter, construction is not a place for girls. Climbing up and down [the scaffold].” He shook his head, in awe of my choice of further study. Dad did not stop me from putting down a construction course as my first preference, but he did insist that I put down more conventional options such as business administration and accounting as my second and third preferences. I received an offer to study a construction course in Hong Kong. The rest is now history. Fast-track 20 years, through my years working in the education sector, I get questions from students, parents and teachers - I have a student interested in a placement in construction. Is it safe? What is it like to work on site? “What is better than to show them what actually happens on a construction site?” I thought. This was the birth of the Virtual Construction Site (VCS) tour. The overarching project aim is to demystify the construction industry by promoting the exciting, diverse career options for high school students through an immersive virtual experience, the VCS tour, to take a peek at what goes on behind the gates on a construction site. The VCS tour offers an authentic experience similar to a physical construction site visit. The VCS tour takes students on a trip in a personnel hoist to the top of the jump form and finishes at the display suite. During the VCS tour, students meet with
a diverse range of professions on the project and hear their career journeys in the construction industry. This project also evaluated whether the VCS tour experience has an impact on students’ perception of the construction industry and students’ consideration of a construction career. The VCS tour was offered to high schools through NAWIC Queensland’s In-School Experience Program. 76 students (16 male and 60 female) from three high schools from three different regions in Queensland participated in this research project from August to November 2019. KEY FINDINGS • 99% of participating students enjoyed the VCS tour experience. • The VCS tour experience has a positive impact on changing students’ perceptions of construction being a male-dominated career with a net 34% improvement overall. Particularly, these findings revealed a net favourable movement of 40% in regional students. • Four in five students believe they have an increased understanding of people’s roles in construction after the VCS tour experience. • The VCS tour experience increases students’ level of interest in construction • The VCS tour experience can trigger students’ consideration for a career in construction, an 11% increase in regional students. • School teachers could see huge potential in class teaching using immersive engagement such as the VCS tour.
25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
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