Jean Wineman, Associate Dean and Professor of Architecture; James Macgillivray, Assistant Professor of Practice in Architecture; and Wei-Han Vivian Lee, Assistant Professor of Architecture have teamed with Civil and Environmental Engineering professor Vineet Kamat to earn a Discovery Grant through the Transforming Learning for the Third Century (TLTC) program. The two-year collaborative project is titled, "Experiential Learning in Construction: The Case for Construction".

The full abstract of the project reads:
Construction and infrastructure systems are growing in complexity and size, involving continuously interacting dynamic processes that occur in constantly evolving environments. The circumstances in which these processes take place often become more complicated due to factors such as unforeseen site conditions and change orders. Despite this, figures show that many construction and civil engineering students have historically lacked a comprehensive knowledge of onsite construction tasks, and the dynamics and complexities involved in a typical construction project.1

The intent of the project is to develop new forms of pedagogy based on the integration of new visualization technologies that will provide timely and effective education and, at the same time, enhance collaboration among students and between students and instructors. Three demonstration case study modules (the Virtual Site Visit (VSV); the Virtual Classroom Visit (VCV); and the Immersive Construction Room (ICR)) will bring construction course content to life through media enhanced documentation, on-site encounters, and live chats with project architects/engineers. These real-time construction processes will bring experiential, hands-on learning to construction courses in Architecture and Engineering. The project will provide a procedural model and content for construction courses, as well as an evaluation component of the effectiveness of these experiential modules for student learning.

The Third Century Initiative is an initiative to develop innovative, multi-disciplinary teaching and scholarship approaches and is a powerful testament to the excellence and creativity of the human capital that is the University of Michigan.

Transforming Learning for a Third Century (TLTC) is one of four programs encompassing the $50 million Third Century Initiative — along with M-Cubed, Global Challenges for a Third Century and the Learning Analytics Task Force. TLTC will provide grants of up to $50,000 each to 24 proposals, ranging from new applications of existing best practices to high-risk/high-reward experimental innovations.

Visit the Transforming the Future, Third Century Initiative website for more information about the initiative and future calls.