Adapting engineering education to BIM and Industry 4.0: A view from Kolb’s experiential theory in the laboratory

Abstract

Currently, the industry is undergoing a transformation toward intelligent manufacturing processes and complete digitization, emerging new information and communication technologies, such as cybersecurity, the internet of things, Big Data, and cloud computing, among others, concepts that are driving forces of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, what is commonly known as Industry 4.0; and due to the implementation of technology in the construction industry, the Building Information Modeling (BIM) methodology arises, proposing new solutions for the work system during the entire building life cycle. An important part of the tasks in preparing for Industry 4.0 and BIM is adjusting engineering education to the requirements of this vision. The objective of this research is to present a proposal for the engineering educator, which consists of how engineering education should be adjusted towards BIM and industry 4.0 from the laboratory, relating Kolb’s experiential learning theory, teaching methodologies-learning, and the CDIO (Conceive - Design - Implement - Operate) initiative, resulting in an improvement in the learning environment and in the teaching-learning process that maximizes the competencies of students when learning through their own experience. Finally, this research is the first step towards a more tangible vision of engineering education adapted to BIM and Industry 4.0.