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Creating a BIM-enabled learning space that spans both higher education and industry offers the possibility of immersive and integrated learning on the basis of real, up-to-date project data for a new generation of students who will be “BIM natives” and can “think in BIM”. This paper aims to elaborate the concept of BIM as a learning environment so that it can be produced for Architecture Engineering Construction (AEC) educational purposes.

The complementary theoretical lenses of Experiential Learning, Structuration Theory and Systems Theory are adopted for conceptualising a BIM-enabled Learning Environment (BLE).

The BLE is proposed in the form of a social system embedded within both the education system and the industry system. The BLE is described in terms of its structures and component subsystems, inputs, outputs and flows at different scales.

In this initial paper, the BLE is merely outlined and its constituent structures alluded to. Further investigation is required to fully detail the BLE.

By describing the identified structures in still more detail, the BLE can be understood to the extent that it can be reproduced in practice for actual learning. This is the goal and expectation going forward.

The derived BLE is described in social terms and this reflects the centrality of social activity to both building and learning. Technology, processes and traditional industry roles are subordinated into supporting functions. This potentially offers opportunities for learners to reflect on all of these and to consider ways of improving them.

The role of information and communication technology (ICT) in education is increasingly gaining importance in institutions of higher education. Operationally, ICT has helped to cut costs and speed up transactions by streamlining and automating processes. Pedagogically, it has enabled online, hybrid, and technology enhanced learning as well as a host of other capabilities, from learning management systems to student information system, and from student affairs to academic affairs. ICT is now embedded in every aspect of university life. The role of ICT is found to increase the value of classroom delivery, it has helped in the growth of research, expanding horizons for students mainly with limited accessibility to education and it has created an overall positive impact in the teaching–learning environment in general. There are always two sides to the coin and in this case inaccessibility, economic disparity, and ineffective implementation of ICT has also created impediments for effectively adopting and diffusing integration of ICT into pedagogy. This volume is a collection of interventions and collaborative practices across the world that showcases the multifaceted ways of how various institutions have been engaged in supporting teaching and learning with the use of technology and how it is equipping our future generation with the skills required to face a changing job market.

In this chapter we present a case study about a bottom-up approach in creating the strategy and action plan for the mainstream implementation of blended learning in one Faculty at a higher education institution in Croatia, and the implications this has on the access and retention of students from equity groups. In previous research the target groups were identified, and the next step was to investigate the specific needs of those groups of students, focusing on creating an effective learning environment. Taking an evidence-informed approach, institutional experts, management and staff developed a strategic framework, covering ICT support, the E-learning system and curriculum development to meet the specific needs of these students. One of the very important goals of mainstreaming widening participation at the Faculty of Organization and Informatics (FOI) is to create an effective learning environment for all students. E-learning is recognized as an important tool in making learning and education more accessible to all students at the FOI. The FOI's Strategy for E-learning contributes to this objective and since FOI is one of the leading faculties in the implementation of E-learning at the University of Zagreb, FOI's approach to E-learning is exemplary within the institution, and it has been taken into account when University of Zageb Strategy was being developed and implemented.

Chapter 9 closes the loop with Chapter 2 to demonstrate the methods and techniques that can achieve the goals and objectives presented in Chapter 2. The attributes of the total system are summarized and supported with research that has examined its effectiveness in real-world applications. The attributes of the learning engagement, experience, and environment are discussed and supported with available practical and action research. As in the construction of cognition, this chapter is constructed in a matrixed model where the interactions across categories are explicit from multiple perspectives, which reveals the interactions across the categories of content.

Chapter 1 builds a shared understanding of the definition and role of curriculum in learning. The attributes of a curriculum are presented and described with the research literature. The role and function of these attributes in the design of an effective learning experience are examined in detail.

As there are multiple meanings of the word “curriculum” in use, it is necessary to define this term as used in this work. This definition is not meant to suggest that this is the “one,” “true,” or “only” way to conceive of the term, but instead to suggest a useful and practical conceptual framework for curriculum as a multidimensional, dynamic, and causal component of the instructional system. This definition provides the conceptual framework for curriculum as used in this work.

The term derived from a Latin word (currere) denotes “a race course” (Etymology Online, 2018). Educators in the sixteenth century borrowed this denotation for what is now higher education to increase “order” in the learning processes and enhance learning (Hamilton, 2013). The term now describes the collection of learning experiences in a prescribed instructional unit of study, leading to a defined outcome.

The purpose and function of the curriculum in the learning process are to organize, order, and structure the learning process to facilitate learning. In this system of design, three global dimensions are differentiated to promote and enhance the learning of all individuals who pursue it. These global dimensions determine a learner’s ability to engage with, learn from, and demonstrate authentically the intended learning articulated in the curriculum.

The attributes of an effective curriculum are extracted from the educational literature and converted into criteria with which to evaluate a completed curriculum. These criteria include externally valid content, coherence, alignment, interconnectedness, complexity, and the inclusion of opportunities to demonstrate the expected outcomes. Additionally, the structure of the course groupings is evaluated by the criteria of structure, integration, sequence, and consistency. Each of these standards is discussed and explained as it applies to the design of effective curricula.