OBJECTIVES

This assessment item relates to the course learning outcomes 1, 2, 4 and 5.

Note: Assessment item should be submitted online via “Assessment” in the course Moodle site. Only ONE file (doc, docx) can be submitted.

TASKS

The Global Standards Initiative on Internet of Things defined the Internet of Things (IoT) as "the infrastructure of the information society." The IoT allows objects to be sensed or controlled remotely across existing network infrastructure, creating opportunities for more direct integration of the physical world into computer-based systems, and resulting in improved efficiency, accuracy and economic benefit in addition to reduced human intervention.

You are invited to prepare a report on how IoT impacts architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. The specific tasks include:

1. Refer to relevant literatures (including books, journal articles, and conference proceedings), refer to them and use the Harvard style referencing technique (4%);

2. Explain the potential benefits of IoT to the AEC industry (5%);

3. Identify and explain four possible applications of IoT in the AEC industry (8%);

4. Discuss how these four applications of IoT impact the AEC industry (8%)

5. Identify and explain potential barriers to adopting IoT technologies in the AEC industry (5%).

Note: You should refer to reliable literatures, which should be books, journal articles, and conference proceedings. If you refer to only websites, you will lose many marks. The overall length of the report should be around 2,500 words, excluding references. There is no word limit to each specific task.

OBJECTIVES

This assessment item relates to the course learning outcomes 1 and 3.

Note: Assessment item should be submitted online via “Assessment” in the course Moodle site. Only ONE file (doc, docx) can be submitted.

TASKS

Time and cost overruns have been a common problem in the construction industry. So, industry practitioners would like to know what result in time and cost overruns. A research project will be performed to achieve the following objectives:

(i) identify the critical factors that cause time and cost overruns in Australian building projects;

(ii) identify the project player that contributed most to time and cost overruns in Australian building projects; and

(iii) develop strategies to mitigate time and cost overruns in Australian building projects.

Now, please prepare a report to show how you will design this research to achieve the above three objectives. Your specific tasks include:

1. Describe how you will identify a comprehensive set of the factors that possibly cause time and cost overruns (5%);

2. Elaborate how you will design the research to achieve the three objectives, how you will collect data, and why you will choose these methods (14%);

3. Elaborate how you will analyze data and why you will choose these methods (8%); and

4. Show the possible limitations of your research design (3%).

In your report, you should describe the details of your research design. In Tasks 2 and 3, the data collection and analysis methods should be rigorous and comprehensive enough to achieve the research objectives. The overall word limit is 2500 words.

OBJECTIVES

This assessment item relates to the course learning outcomes 3, 4 and 5.

Note: Assessment item should be submitted online via “Assessment” in the course Moodle site. Only ONE file (doc, docx) can be submitted.

TASKS

A research group is now investigating the factors influencing construction productivity in Australia. The researchers have conducted a questionnaire survey with 33 professionals from 33 different construction projects. In the literature review, the researchers identified five factors that may influence construction productivity in Australia:

A: Design errors;

B: Coordination problems on site;

C: Rework;

D: Change of work scope;

E: Insufficient knowledge and skills of workers

In the survey, the respondents were asked to rate the influence of these five factors using a five-point scale (1=very low; 2=low; 3=neutral; 4=high; 5= very high). The data set is included in the appendix. In this study, the data are assumed to be interval data and normally distributed. The significance level is determined at 5% in this research.

Your specific tasks include:

1. Select an appropriate data analysis method and identify which factor(s) can significantly influence construction productivity. (4%)

2. Select an appropriate data analysis method and identify which factors are significantly correlated? (4%)

3. Ten of the respondents were from large-scaled projects, eleven were from medium-scaled projects, and twelve were from small-scaled projects. Select an appropriate data analysis method and identify which factor(s) received significantly different scores among large, medium and small projects. (12%)

4. The researchers have collected the productivity data (m²/man-day) before and after the application of BIM in the 33 surveyed projects. Select an appropriate data analysis method and check whether BIM is effective in improving construction productivity. (4%)

5. Please identify four limitations of this research. (8%)

6. Discuss what analysis methods could be used to analyze the cause-and-effect relationships between the factors. (8%)

Note: In your answers to the above questions, you should include the data analysis results from SPSS. Tabulated results are highly recommended. Showing only the name of factors in your answers without any data analysis results is not acceptable, and will make you get zero.

APPENDIX: DATASET OF THIS RESEARCH