Digital technology applications in construction education: A systematic review of methodological pluralism

The purpose of this study is to provide a systematic analysis of the nexus of methodological pluralism and digital technology pedagogies in construction education literature. Recent technological advancements transform the built-environment-related fields rapidly, and this transformation has the potential to improve productivity and efficiency in the industry. Alongside this transformation, the future workforce should be equipped with skills to accelerate the adoption of evolving technologies. Considering these, this study systematically reviewed over 100 papers in the construction education literature with a qualitative analysis. The majority of the reviewed studies use quasi-experimental design, and several technological advancements are utilized in teaching core construction concepts, mainly building information modeling (BIM) and extended reality (XR). With the applied nature of the construction domain, various studies utilized technology to introduce virtual site visits, quantity take-off and estimating, visualization, scheduling, surveying, and communication. Together with these, this study contributes to the body of knowledge by revealing methodological approaches commonly used by researchers to help spur the growth of research efforts in digital technology utilization in construction, with its significant potential to be one of the reference guides in the construction education literature.