Towards a BIM-based decision support system for integrating whole life cost estimation into design development

A common barrier to achieving design intent is the absence of information about operational performance during key design stages. This results in uninformed decision-making, which has negative impacts on actual building performance and Whole Life Cost (WLC). It is proposed that Building Information Modelling (BIM) has the potential to assist design decisions at initial stages, if the model can utilize reliable and robust cost and performance data from buildings in use. This paper describes the findings of a research project that has investigated the integration of WLC estimation into BIM processes. Firstly, the research attempts to gather tacit expert knowledge by reverse-engineering unstructured processes to clarify information requirements for WLC assessment. The Integrated DEFinition (IDEF) 3 structured diagramming modelling technique was utilised for process mapping of information flows. As a result, value adding information, and the chain of interdependencies, were determined. The model has informed the development of a decision-support tool that automates prescriptive tasks and stream-lines information exchange procedures. The research findings support the idea that BIM can assist the accurate estimation of WLC of an asset, from the early design stages, through the implementation of a structured information exchange. However, source data is fragmented and in propriety formats and further work is needed to standardise and gather performance data and BIM model structures

Facilitating Knowledge Visualisation as Communication and Knowledge Transfer Mechanism in Postgraduate Learning

Advances in technology and subsequent access to inexpensive software have made visualisation, as a method of knowledge creation and transfer, more accessible. Visualisations have been used to support knowledge representation and transfer in teaching but the focus has primarily been on creating visualisations for learner consumption. The idea of students becoming active participants in producing visualisations, as part of knowledge creation and learning, has largely been overlooked. The study reported here investigated the use of visualisation for summarising knowledge at postgraduate level. The student’s need to assimilate and organise knowledge is an important part of their learning. We suggest that it would be useful for students to learn how to produce knowledge visualisations as part of this activity. The production is an act of knowledge creation, which can improve their comprehension of the research literature. Producing visualisations is not necessarily straightforward and it is therefore advisable to scaffold the process. We propose a faded-struts learning process that gradually removes scaffolding as the learner masters the principles and becomes more adept. The contribution of this research is to present the idea of providing worked examples and faded examples to support postgraduate learning. This helps postgraduates to craft knowledge visualisations so that they can slowly become more proficient and independent. Due to the ubiquity of mobile devices we propose providing this support on these devices, incorporating their unique constraints and affordances in our learning process. This is essentially a proof of concept paper, suggesting how the idea could be realised. Further work is necessary to test the idea with students and to extend the repertoire of mobile learning (m-learning) visualisation tasks.College of Engineering, Science and Technolog

A modular approach to promote creativity and inspiration in search

We thank our funding agencies—NSERC, SurfNet, AITF, Grand, Smart Technologies—that made this research possible.Today, searching through collections of books or written texts is often performed using digital search engines. There, the efficient yet limiting query paradigm is still the most dominant entry point. Previous work has characterized search processes in various contexts and describes search as integral and closely related to creative endeavours. We revisit this work from a design perspective, proposing guidelines for versatile search interfaces that are based on a modular approach to search. Inspired by aspects of search in physical environments, our recommendations address learning, creativity, inspiration, and pleasure as important and positive factors of (book) search. Based on in-depth interviews with library patrons about search practises in physical and digital environments and drawing from previous work on search behaviour, we discuss search patterns as modular constructs consisting of micro-strategies. We illustrate how the structure of these patterns, much like creative processes, is highly flexible and fluidly evolves based on learning and ideation during search, particularly in physical search environments. This modular approach to search provides a concrete yet flexible basis to design interfaces that facilitate versatile and creative approaches to search in digital environments.Postprin

Facilitating knowledge visualisation as communication and knowledge transfer mechanism in postgraduate learning

Advances in technology and subsequent access to inexpensive software have made visualisation, as a method of knowledge creation and transfer, more accessible. Visualisations have been used to support knowledge representation and transfer in teaching but the focus has primarily been on creating visualisations for learner consumption. The idea of students becoming active participants in producing visualisations, as part of knowledge creation and learning, has largely been overlooked. The study reported here investigated the use of visualisation for summarising knowledge at postgraduate level. The student’s need to assimilate and organise knowledge is an important part of their learning. We suggest that it would be useful for students to learn how to produce knowledge visualisations as part of this activity. The production is an act of knowledge creation, which can improve their comprehension of the research literature. Producing visualisations is not necessarily straightforward and it is therefore advisable to scaffold the process. We propose a faded-struts learning process that gradually removes scaffolding as the learner masters the principles and becomes more adept. The contribution of this research is to present the idea of providing worked examples and faded examples to support postgraduate learning. This helps postgraduates to craft knowledge visualisations so that they can slowly become more proficient and independent. Due to the ubiquity of mobile devices we propose providing this support on these devices, incorporating their unique constraints and affordances in our learning process. This is essentially a proof of concept paper, suggesting how the idea could be realised. Further work is necessary to test the idea with students and to extend the repertoire of mobile learning (m-learning) visualisation tasks