Collaborative engineering with IFC : new insights and technology

The concept of working in one central Building Information Model (BIM) is becoming increasingly popular. Reports in literature as well as industry practitioners describe the lack of good implementations for IFC import/export in current software tools. The so-called ‘round tripping’ of an IFC model cannot be performed without data loss, making the merging of data into one central data repository impractical. This feeds discussions about the workability of IFC in relation to a homogeneous software environment. In the Netherlands several experiments were conducted to research if IFC still meets the needs from the AEC industry. The observations and opinions from users refute current theories and perceptions on collaborations using IFC. This paper describes a collaboration process called ‘reference models’. User opinions from the research state that the use of IFC, in an suitable collaboration process, meets the needs of the industry even better than homogeneous proprietary software environment

Collaborative engineering with IFC : new insights and technology

The concept of working in one central Building Information Model (BIM) is becoming increasingly popular. Reports in literature as well as industry practitioners describe the lack of good implementations for IFC import/export in current software tools. The so-called ‘round tripping’ of an IFC model cannot be performed without data loss, making the merging of data into one central data repository impractical. This feeds discussions about the workability of IFC in relation to a homogeneous software environment. In the Netherlands several experiments were conducted to research if IFC still meets the needs from the AEC industry. The observations and opinions from users refute current theories and perceptions on collaborations using IFC. This paper describes a collaboration process called ‘reference models’. User opinions from the research state that the use of IFC, in an suitable collaboration process, meets the needs of the industry even better than homogeneous proprietary software environment

Comparing Language Learning Attitudes in England, Germany and the Netherlands: some methodological considerations

The following article examines the methodological considerations involved in carrying out a trinational comparative survey of pupils' attitudes to learning French, German and English (as foreign languages) at comprehensive schools in England, Germany and the Netherlands. The research was conducted as part of a Ph.D. study aiming to describe the nature of the pupils' attitudes and to examine and compare the pupils' perceptions of educational and socio-cultural influences in the different contexts. A discussion of the broader theoretical framework in which the study is located is followed by an analysis of research design and decision-making. This includes a detailed review of country, sample and instrument selection, along with an examination of the practicalities of access, piloting and analysis. Finally, a number of ethical issues are considered