DigiEduET

Tallinn
2013
DigiEduET
Digital Processes for Education and
Management of Construction
Activity Report
Tallinn University of Technology
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Digital Processes for Education and
Management of Construction (DigiEduET) project funded by the Central Baltic
INTERREG IV A Programme 2007-2013 of the European Regional Development
Fund and European Commission.
The findings and opinions reported in this paper are the sole responsibility of the
authors and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the
programme funders.
Tallinn University of Technology project team:
Irene Lill, Erki Soekov, Jüri Sutt, Tiina Nuuter, Toomas Laur, Rein Plats, Kristjan Tüvi,
Emlyn David Qivitoq Witt, Raul Liivrand, Moonika Mändla and Katrin Soone
We thank construction companies who let TUT students onto their construction sites
for monitoring and were willing to share their experience in interviews in spite of their
tight schedules:
AS Merko Ehitus Eesti, AS Astlanda Ehitus, AS Nordecon, AS Nordecon Betoon, AS
Skanska EMV, AS Kaamos Ehitus, AS Harju Ehitus, AS NCC, OÜ Turmar Kate, OÜ
Ehitus5eco and others
We are grateful to the students who participated in the project on voluntary basis:
Jane Aaresild, Andrus Aaviste, Ants Aavola, Helene Abel, Arvo Abner, Marvin Ader, Silver Ader,
Epp Alas, Taavo Allik, Kaarel Altmäe, Mikk Andreson, Talvar Anijärv, Tambet Anso, Anna Antonova,
Riina Archipova, Merli Aron, Marven Aus, Marek Barankov, Veronika Birotsi , Oleg Bolšakov ,
Anastasia Boltina , Tiit Bürkland , Viktor Dekterjov , Ingvar Ehala , Siim Ehatamm , Asko Eigi ,
Gerli Enula , Arina Fetissova , Rain Fridolin , Aleksandr Gildi , Tõnis Haaviste, Pille Hamburg ,
Daria Haustova , Sten Hoolma , Laura Huik , Alar Härmik , Taavi Ilu , Vladislav Iounakovski ,
Karl-Erik Jakobsoo , Dmitri Jegorov , Tarmo Joab , Reg Jõeleht , Jaanus Jõgisoo , Morten Kaasik,
Mikk Kadarik , Mikk Kalma , Kaspar Kapp , Dmitri Karlov , Kask Even , Timo Kaus , Kelli Keizars ,
Karl Keldrima , Kirsika Kerner, Ramil Khalilov , Henri Kikkas, Karel Kirss, Vatšeslav Kittel,
Marie Annette Kittus, Tõnis Kivimäe, Taavi Kivistik, Erik Koidu, Hannes Kold, Mariann Kolk,
Roman Kostrõkin, Jael Kotkas, Jarko Kracht, Martti Krass, Kairit Kraudok, Tiina Krauvärk,
Ragnar Kruusimäe, Mihkel Kukk, Tatjana Kurilova, Kaur Kuuskmäe, Ergo Käesel, Liis Köster,
Katrin Kütt, Hannes Laar, Uku-Tanel Laast, Merilin Laid, Mihkel Laine, German Leiman,
Magnus Lelumees, Mikk Lend, Raul Lend, Rivo Leo, Jakov Lepahhin, Taavi Lindeberg,
Johannes Lindvere, Sigrit Link, Kadi Luht, Raimond Luide, Silver Lumi, Gert Lõhmus, Juri Lüter,
Taavi Lüütsepp, Vassili Malgin, Mihhail Marakasov, Argo Maripuu, Natalja Maštšenko,
Galina Missai, Eduard Moor, Murd Elari, Hannes Must, Raili Mõim, Nele Katrin Mäger,
Rene Männiste,Priit Nigols, Tarmo Niinas, Rihard Niinberg, Ilja Nikiforov, Marina Nikolajeva,
Kadri Normak, Andrei Noskov, Rauno Nõmmiko, Mikk Oblikas, Olari Paadimeister,
Märt Pakats, Ülar Palmiste, Eliisa Petmanson, Taavi Pettal, Jürgen Piir, Silver Pikk,
Aleksandr Ponomarjov, Liisa Post, Kalmer Prostang, Andri Prual, Marek Pruuli,
Mihhail Pugatšov, Jürgen Pukk, Peep Põld, Madis Pärn, Kady Pärnaku, Märt Pärnala,
Mailis Pütsep, Silver Pütsep, Ragnar Rahu, Birti Raup, Silver Rebane, Sandra Reile,
Uku Reinhold, Hannes Reinsoo, Johhannes Reppo, Martin Ringo, Peep Rinne,
Ethel Rosenfeldt, Siim Rospu, Martti Russak, Ksenja Ruzevitš, Andres Ruul, Andrei Rõžikov,
Jaanika Saar, Mari Saartok, Marten Saarva, Jelena Saikova, Mihkel Sala,
Martti Salm, Tõnn Savelli, Taavo Schmidt,Tanel Sepp , Raili Sepri, Kaarel Siim, Uku Sikk,
Andres Sokk, Sorokin Natalja, Virgo Sulakatko, Tanel Sults, Sten Suurmäe, Kadi Särgava,
Kristiina Sööt, Kairi Sülla, Kaspar Süvirand, Ilja Štobert, Kristiina Štõkova, Sergei Zuev,
Artur Žuravljov, Mats Tamme, Taavi Tammekivi, Sergey Televny, Tauri Tikerpe, Tanel Tilk,
Liisi Tomasberg, Madis Tomberg, Risto Toming, Arli Toompuu, Marko Tosso, Kaspar Triebstok,
Martin Trossek, Aleksandr Tšaikovski, Nikolai Tšerkassov, Andres Tukia, Kaur Tull,
Thea Tuum, Rauno Uusma, Marten Uusväli, Silvar Vahkal, Juhan Valge, Heins Vallimägi,
Kadi Varda, Rauno Vijar, Kersti Vilimaa, Alina Vorobiova, Jekaterina Vorobjova, Kristel Väin,
Alan Väli
Contents
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... 1
Contents ............................................................................................................................... 3
1
2
3
4
5
Background.................................................................................................................... 4
1.1
Objectives ............................................................................................................... 4
1.2
Expected outcomes ................................................................................................ 6
Construction Terminology .............................................................................................. 6
2.1
Visual thesaurus of construction terms.................................................................... 6
2.2
Impact of language proficiency on learning outcomes ........................................... 10
Localization .................................................................................................................. 11
3.1
Translation and localization of instructive materials............................................... 11
3.2
Monitoring on construction sites ............................................................................ 13
Methodology ................................................................................................................ 14
4.1
Increase of practical input in the curricula ............................................................. 14
4.2
Multimedia ............................................................................................................ 14
4.3
Involving students in research ............................................................................... 15
Summary ..................................................................................................................... 16
5.1
Target groups of the project .................................................................................. 16
5.2
Sustainability and follow-up actions ...................................................................... 16
5.3
Summary of outcomes .......................................................................................... 16
References ......................................................................................................................... 20
Appendixes ......................................................................................................................... 22
Appendix 1: Visual Thesaurus User Manual .................................................................... 23
Appendix 2: Visual Thesaurus Administrator Manual ...................................................... 36
Appendix 3: Report of on-site monitoring ........................................................................ 57
Appendix 4: Manual of on-site practice.......................................................................... 103
Appendix 5: Manual for recording on-site monitoring data ............................................. 105
Appendix 6: Manual for recording data of building under construction ........................... 108
Appendix 7: Manual for recording data of construction company................................... 110
Appendix 8: Manual of on-site safety for students ......................................................... 113
Appendix 9: Course description and assessment criteria for “Advanced Building
technology” ................................................................................................................... 119
Appendix 10: User guide for Digital robot ...................................................................... 122
3
1 Background
The building sector is a practical industrial branch in which the conditions, realization,
organizations and teams are changing constantly. It has been discovered that
planners, managers, workers and other actors have nowadays too little time to
deliver enough information on each stage of workflow. In addition, the work on
construction sites and in the construction industry as a whole is rapidly becoming
internationalized. The construction management's language capacities are and will
be challenged by projects and contracts which are carried out in another country or
several separate countries, or in which workers come from different countries and
language-cultural groups. While communication becomes more complicated, the
work process itself also turns more sophisticated because changes in working
methods require a higher level of knowledge of different processes, rules and
standards than ever before. Updating new information is required on a regular basis
and all this makes the supervisor’s role more challenging.
Once the level of internationalization of the engineering, building and the
construction materials used increases, the complexity of management and
construction site planning will call for new and higher competence requirements. Of
course, this affects universities and other educational institutions which have to face
higher demands on the education quality and pay more attention to learning
outcomes and industry requirements.
This project was intended to unify and improve methods of work, create new
applications for teaching and develop better linkages between construction
counterparts.
Tallinn University of Technology (TUT) was the lead partner of Work Package 2:
Translation, Terminology and Localization.
1.1 Objectives
Objectives of this work package were:
 Raising the level and harmonizing the effectiveness and quality of local
building know-how in regard to the building standards followed in the
Programme Area of the EU and localize the construction data to the one
new Programme Area language (Estonian);
 Develop tools and methods for the monitoring of construction work
processes in the field in order to make study process more responsive to
industry requirements and ensure technical quality standard of on-site
performances in the future;
 Develop the structure of online construction terminology database and
provide multilingual digital education materials for students. It is important
that the construction terminology of Estonian language will constitute a
solid foundation of all information exchange, good management and
planning.
4
The outline of the role of Tallinn University of Technology in the project is illustrated
in Figure 1.
Figure 1 . The framework of TUT activities in the project
Localization package is intended to perform translation work of work descriptions,
time norms and standards which the Estonian construction industry is in urgent need
of. This will be followed by evaluation and adaption of these materials for local use.
Teaching methodology package involves enriching the theoretical learning process
with practical applications and engaging capable students in research work.
Terminology work is connected with the systematization of key Estonian
construction terminology and the creation of a web-based thesaurus.
The overlaps in Figure 1 illustrate the tight connections between the aforementioned
activities as these cannot be treated separately and all the work has to be performed
simultaneously using iterative methods.
5
1.2 Expected outcomes
The expected outcomes in this project could be described as follows:
 Translation of building and construction materials into Estonian language
for educational use;
 Web-based visual thesaurus of construction terms for public use;
 Improved teaching methodology for educational use in the university;
 Construction database (building technology descriptions, standards, norms,
full texts of publications, images, multimedia files of construction
processes etc.) for internal use of students;
 Publication of research outputs internationally.
2 Construction Terminology
It is difficult to argue against the necessity of unification of key construction
terminology in the Estonian language. Firstly, this is the basis of translation works for
standards, work descriptions and other normative materials which the Estonian
construction industry lacks. Secondly, the development of teaching methodologies
has to be built on appropriate terminology. And, thirdly, we cannot underestimate the
fact that considering our small population, an essential amount of construction
literature comes from other languages and therefore it is important, especially in
engineering disciplines, to get a correct understanding of foreign text. This means
that we have to consider equivalent terms in most commonly used languages
(English, Russian, and Finnish) while creating the web-based thesaurus of
construction terms
2.1 Visual thesaurus of construction terms
A very significant part of DigiEduET project was the creation of key Estonian
terminology and the structure of the database.
We have to give credit that a lot of work had already been done in this area
(Ehitusinfo, Masso, 1999) but these works did not involve sufficient explanations of
terms and there are no links to sources for additional information. Problematically,
there is still no common understanding in terms and some sources of information
cannot be trusted. For example, the commonly used Google search engine will give
us a huge amount of uncontrolled information, placing material producers and
service providers at the top of the list. This might be very useful indeed if the user is
competent enough to judge the quality of this information (see Figure 2).
Another popular source of information is Wikipedia. With all due respect, we have to
admit that this information is also beyond professional control. For example, while
searching for the term “betoon” in Estonian language, the returned information was
not true (Figure 3).
6
We can conclude that there is a massive amount of information available in the
internet but it is fragmentary and unreliable. Consequently, there is a need for trusted
sources of information and reliable databases.
Figure 2 Example of google search
Figure 3 Example of Wikipedia search
7
We found that there is no point to argue about the choice of a 'one and only' right
term, for example “sarrus” or “armatuur” as the Estonian language term for
“reinforcement”. Instead of that, we decided to include different synonyms to the
database not giving precedence to any of these. This means that while looking for a
term, a user will find synonyms in Estonian and equivalents in English and in other
languages. This will let the user move further with his/her literature searches and
learning and not get stuck on a single word. Only time will tell which of these terms
will be eventually the winner.
This was a vast scope of work and doing this we had to give up and realise that this
was impossible to complete in its entirety within the three years of the project. At the
start, we had to consider over 15 thousand construction terms. After filtering these,
about 2700 terms concerning building technology and construction management
were chosen and these form the structure of the visual thesaurus. By the end of the
project we have accommodated, explained, linked and .provided with EnglishFinnish-Russian equivalents about 600 construction terms which have also been
linked to RATU cards (work descriptions, time norms, etc.) and other relevant
sources. However, the main outcome is that the structure has been created and
today we have a database of almost 3000 construction words and the terminology
work is continuing.
The visual thesaurus of construction terms enables:
•
•
Estonian speaking students to find terms, their explanations and equivalents
in the languages which are most commonly used locally. Knowing equivalents
of terms in other languages enables searches for additional information in
these languages.
Non-Estonian students can search for terms in foreign (Russian, English,
Finnish) languages and find their equivalents in Estonian. This enables them
to link information with lecture materials in TUT. Explanations in foreign
languages are not available at this time, but we can see that this is the way
we have to continue and look for relevant funding in future projects.
We have introduced the idea during DigiEduET project dissemination events and
learned that there are many target groups interested in such a database besides
students. These are:





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Building contractors;
Producers of construction materials;
Designers and consultants;
Researchers;
Do-It-Yourself builders;
Translators;
Vocational school teachers, etc.
This is ongoing work to be continued. Our future plan is to connect terms with
multimedia files, standards, other relevant sources and add explanations in different
languages to enable other language groups to act as main users. As mentioned
before, currently, the main user interface is in Estonian and the multilingual content
is oriented to this user type.
8
The visual thesaurus of construction terms is available online as seen in Figure 4. To
follow the link, please click link to visual thesaurus.
Figure 4 Front page of visual thesaurus of construction terms
Inserting a term into the search box will open the term with its definition and
explanations in Estonian, show the English, Russian and Finnish equivalents, and
also links to other relevant sources as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Example of searched term with links to other definitions
9
It is possible to type terms in Finnish, Russian or English into the search box, but this
action will return the results in Estonian. This is useful when a student is learning
material in another language and wants to be sure about its Estonian definition.
To have the user interface in other languages is not possible at this time but it
certainly will be a useful development in the future.
To make this work possible, several supporting documents guiding users in the
online environment have been created:
 Visual thesaurus User manual (see Appendix 1)
 Visual Thesaurus Administrator manual (Appendix 2).
2.2 Impact of language proficiency on
learning outcomes
We have been involved with the problems of language proficiency and its impact on
learning outcomes for about a decade. Our initial research aimed to identify if there
is a connection between these issues. It was a convenient opportunity to study this
problem based on a sample of Russian speaking students when their teaching
language changed from Russian to Estonian. We considered this an important area
of enquiry, especially given the ongoing process of internationalisation and
globalisation in higher education. We presumed that there might be similar impacts
on Estonian students who study in foreign languages (e.g. English) in the future.
The main outcome was that in engineering studies we cannot underestimate this
problem and it is extremely important to ensure full understanding on basic levels of
education. If the foundation is solid, it is possible and beneficial to continue on PhD
and partly on Masters level in foreign languages, as it will essentially widen
perspectives and opportunities. These challenges are described and reasoned in our
previous publications: (Lill and Witt, 2008a, Lill and Witt, 2008b, Vorobiova et al.,
2011, Witt and Lill, 2010).
The problem to solve in the university is HOW we can efficiently teach students from
different nationalities within a limited timeframe. For that reason the DigiEduET
project was very helpful. In order to build a solid foundation, it is important to
understand the construction terminology in the most relevant languages of our
region: Estonian, Finnish, English and Russian.
Articles on this subject have been produced during the project and have been
published (Witt and Lill, 2013, Witt and Lill, 2015).
These articles are available for public use in the libraries. TUT has no authority to
upload the full text on open access web pages because of copyright agreements
between publishers and authors. As the copyright issues with scientific journals have
always caused a problem of free sharing we decided to create an internal
educational database for TUT students where they can freely access all the
information needed for learning with the student access code.
10
The internal database is linked to the visual thesaurus on its front page through link
to database (see Figure 6 ). But with regard to the reasons previously mentioned,
this data is available for students with a valid password only.
Figure 6: Gate to password protected database for students
3 Localization
3.1 Translation and localization of instructive
materials
The professional construction community in Estonia has acknowledged the serious
lack of standardized descriptions of building methods, time norms, harmonized
standards, principles of classification, etc. and is aware that this influences
construction quality in general. These problems have been discussed during various
seminars and meetings among construction professionals. A lot of work has been
done in translation and adopting different standards and quality requirements.
Several regulative materials from different countries, but especially Finland, have
been translated and taken over by local companies. Many firms have created their
own norms based on their experience. All this is very useful and there are examples
of best practice. However, the problem lies in the fact that a lot of unbounded work
has been done independently and there is a lack of local standardized building
know-how linked to corresponding European materials.
The reasonably safe and relatively fast solution is to translate Finnish materials
tested in practice not only in Finland but also in several Estonian companies,
especially considering that Finland has relatively similar climatic conditions and
cultural background and there are many Estonian craftsmen working on Finnish
construction sites and vice versa - Finnish companies building in Estonia.
11
Doing this, we have to bear in mind that localization does not mean just pure
translation but also linking translated materials to Estonian standards and regulations.
Consequently, translation, terminology briefings and expert work had to be done
simultaneously.
For now, all major construction works have technology descriptions translated and
these are stored in the Construction database (see Figure 6). The access to the
database is for students with a password only because of copyright issues with
Rakennustieto. The example of the RATU folder is shown in Figure 7 and students
can download these technology descriptions as needed for learning purposes.
Figure 7: Example of RATU folder in the Database
12
3.2 Monitoring on construction sites
An important part of localization is to observe real construction processes on building
sites and identify if and how the translated Finnish norms and technology
descriptions are compatible with the real situation on Estonian construction sites.
The participation of students in this process was the only realistic option to get this
work started. We did not realize the amount of work involved at the beginning of the
project.
The main problem here is the reliability of gathered data because every construction
site, construction company and building under construction is different. We can say
the same about students working on the project. This required serious attention to
the development of monitoring methods with the purpose of ensuring the
comparability of data gathered in the field. The tools and methods for the on-site
monitoring of construction work processes are listed in the Methodology section
(section 4) of this report.
We have to keep in mind that, for construction companies having visitors on-site is
troublesome and brings with it safety issues. This meant that we had to rely only on
the good will of construction firms. For that reason we are deeply grateful to those
site managers who understood the necessity of this research and were willing to
explain to students the technology issues and accept the extra responsibility.
All the raw material gathered on construction sites is stored in the Construction
Database. It includes:
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Work descriptions based on monitoring;
Data on buildings under construction;
Data on construction companies;
Preliminary analysis of results (student reports);
Image bank (technology, faults examples etc.) from building sites.
All this valuable data is kept for future analysis and research use in order to create a
reliable database. Understandably, this is sensitive material for construction
companies and this part of information is used for research purposes only.
Based on the available material to date, an initial report in Estonian language has
been prepared and this is available in Appendix 3 of the current Report and the
project website of TUT:
 Report of on-site monitoring within the DigiEduET project in context of site
management and building technology in 2011 – 2013 (DigiEduET
ehitusplatside vaatlused 2011-2013 ehitustehnoloogia ja –korralduse
analüüsi aruanne).
13
4 Methodology
As an educational institution, we have to bear in mind that the main task of the
University is to maintain a high level of teaching and research work. Naturally this
involves curricula development and innovative methods of teaching. The peculiarity
of engineering education is the ability to ask and answer more “why?” rather than
“how?” questions.
Even more, we have to admit that it is impossible to capture all building technology
specifics during the lectures within the limited timeframe. Particular methods of
building are taught in vocational schools. However, students are interested and need
to know more about the practical side of construction. This became obvious when we
were looking for volunteers to carry out the on-site monitoring – there was great
interest.
4.1 Increase of practical input in the curricula
Involving students does not mean that we send them to construction sites to wander
around and then see what happens. There was a need for tools and methods for onsite monitoring of construction work processes in order to make the study process
more responsive to industry requirements and to ensure the technical quality of onsite performances in the future. In order to attend and make use of site monitoring
we had to develop several guides:
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Manual for on-site practice (Appendix 4);
Manual for recording on-site monitoring data (Appendix 5 );
Manual for recording data of the building under construction (Appendix 6);
Manual for recording data of construction company (Appendix 7);
Manual of on-site safety for students (Appendix 8).
All these materials are available in TUT’s official study system ÕIS, but also on
project website of TUT and appendixes of this report as mentioned above.
The positive feedback from students and construction companies encouraged us to
make amendments to the curricula. Today, the on-site practice is part of the curricula
in the course of Building Technology and this work is graded as stated in the course
description. The course description and assessment criteria for “Advanced Building
Technology” course is available for public use in TUT’s official study system ÕIS and
in Appendix 9.
4.2 Multimedia
As mentioned earlier, it is impossible to capture all the technology issues during the
lectures. However there are always devoted students who want to learn more.
During this project our Finnish partner, Digital Robot, shot numerous clips on
construction sites describing rules of building technology for different construction
14
processes. Project members from TUT participated in this work and translated and
recorded these multimedia scripts in Estonian language. As a result, students can
watch these materials individually and broaden their knowledge after lectures. The
multimedia files are available on the DigiRatu website (see Figure 8) and the user
manual appears in Appendix 10.
Figure 8: DigiRatu.net FrontPage
The user manual guide is in the form of a demo-video and this is available in
Construction Database, TUT’s official study system ÕIS, and also on the project
website of TUT.
The full content is available only for students with a password and a USB key. The
Department of Building Production has 50 USB keys for educational use. Public use
is restricted due to the copyright agreement with Digital Robot.
4.3 Involving students in research
Problems of construction on-site management, workforce issues and technology
faults have been analysed in previous and recent research papers written by the
Building Production Department members (Kaklauskas et al., 2010, Lill, 2008, Lill,
2009, Soekov and Lill, 2012, Soekov and Lill, 2011, Liisma et al., 2014).
Several course projects and Master theses have been connected to on-site
management and building technology improvement issues.
A new PhD student became interested in research work after participating in the
DigiEduET project as a volunteer. His current research and first paper (Sulakatko et
al., 2014) are connected with the impact of on-site management and building
technology on the degradation of facades.
15
A number of research outputs are analysing teaching and learning methodology in
built environment education (Kaklauskas et al., 2012, Keraminiyage and Lill, 2013,
Witt and Lill, 2011, Witt and Lill, 2012, Witt et al., 2013).
The articles in journals and conference proceedings are available for the general
public worldwide in libraries. Because of copyright agreements with publishers, we
cannot place these papers on a public website. However, the full text can be
accessed by students from the Construction Database.
5 Summary
5.1 Target groups of the project
Target Groups:
 Workers, planners and managers of the construction sector;
 Students, teachers and researchers of construction and the building
sector;
 Public actors: the construction branch of the education sector, construction
education developers, architects and planners, public authorities,
university teachers, workers in building and the construction sector
 Higher educational institutions, vocational schools and lifelong learning
centres, teachers and researchers in the building and construction sector
5.2 Sustainability and follow-up actions
The project will foster sustainable development within the programme area. It will
promote interaction and partnership supporting the construction sector's good
management and new education processes, services and methods. It will raise
awareness of new methods, approaches and solutions.
The project will make it possible to share innovations and to use good quality
building and construction materials and content in the wider programme area and
across national borders.
The work carried out under the project will increase the quality and general use of
the developed content and materials in the programme area permanently and it will
foster new chances to accelerate the development of targeted objectives for the
building and construction sector.
5.3 Summary of outcomes
The brief summary of project outcomes is presented in Table 1
16
Table 1: Summary of project outcomes
1.
2.
Expected Outcome and
main activities
Translation of building and
construction materials into
Estonian language for
educational use:
• Translation
• Expert work with content
and localization
Web-based visual
thesaurus of construction
terms for public use
• Creation of visual
thesaurus
• Work with terms
(systematization,
synonyms, explanation,
translation, etc.)
• Creating links between
words, standards and
other relevant sources
• Developing user
manuals
• Data input
• Testing, etc.
Concrete outcomes
Where it is?
Main users and access
rules
• Students with
password.
(Due to
Rekennustieto copy
right issues material
is for educational use
only )
• Regulative and instructive
materials translated from
Finnish language: RATU
cards, technology
descriptions, time norms
etc.
Construction
database
(link
ANDMELADU
from Visual
thesaurus of
construction
terms)
• Construction terminology
with links and explanations
Visual thesaurus
of construction
terms
• Public : Students,
educators, all
interested people
working in
construction industry
• User Manual
• Appendix 1
• TUT Project
web page
• Appendix 2
• TUT Project
web page
• Website user
• Administrators’ Manual
17
• Website
Administrator
How user will benefit?
Future plans
Raising the level and
harmonizing the
effectiveness and quality
of local building know-how
as students can learn
from these materials but
they will use the
knowledge when starting
their work life in
construction industry
Systemizes construction
terminology, gives
explanations, synonyms,
equivalents in Russian,
English and Finnish
language and links to
relevant sources.
Developing the structure
of online construction
terminology database is
important because
construction terminology
in Estonian language will
constitute a solid
foundation of all
information exchange,
good management and
planning.
• Linking normative
materials to visual
thesaurus.
• Solving copyright
problems with IT
solution (linking
with commercial
sites)
The structure is in
place and opportunity
for further
development is
created. Expanding
the structure,
translation of full
content and making
the whole system
multilingual, improving
links with multimedia
etc.
Table 1: Summary of project outcomes (continuation1)
3.
Expected Outcome and
main activities
Construction data base for
internal use of students:
• Construction on-site
monitoring
• Developing methods and
instructions
• Improving contacts with
construction firms
• Creation of image and
data bank based on
monitoring results of
construction processes.
Concrete outcomes
Where it is?
Main users and access rules
Results of on-site monitoring:
• Work descriptions based on
monitoring
• Image bank from construction
sites (technology, faults,
examples etc.)
• Construction • Researchers and students
database
with password
• Due to sensitive materials
of particular construction
firms for research and
educational use only
• Report of on-site monitoring (in
Estonian language)
• Appendix 3
• TUT
Project web
page
18
• Public
How user will
benefit?
Students can learn:
• On-site
management
• Building technology
• Reasons of main
faults etc.
• study process will
become more
responsive to
industry
requirements and
ensure technical
quality standard of
on-site
performances in
the future
Future plans
Linking bank of
construction faults with
visual thesaurus.
Table 1: Summary of project outcomes (continuation2)
4.
Expected Outcome and
main activities
Improved teaching
methodology for
educational use in the
university:
• Increase of practical input
in the curricula
• Methodology
improvement
• Creation of multimedia
files of building
technology on
construction sites (Digital
Robot)
• Involving students in the
research work of the
department
5.
Publication of research
outputs internationally:
• Terminology and
language issues
• On-site analysis
• Methodology
improvement
Concrete outcomes
• Changes in curricula “Advanced
Building Technology” (On-site
practice included into the
course)
• Manual for on-site practice
• Manual for recording on-site
monitoring data
• Manual for recording data of the
building under construction
• Manual for recording data of
construction company
• Manual of on-site safety for
students
• Multimedia files of building
technology of different
construction processes
• Demo video user guide
•
•
•
Course projects, Master Thesis
on practical applications
Phd students dealing with
practical applications
Research papers
Where it is?
Main users and access rules
• TUT study
system ÕIS,
• Appendix 9
• Public
• TUT study
system ÕIS;
• Appendix 4
• Appendix 5
• Appendix 6
• Appendix 7
• Appendix 8
• Students with password
Files at
DigiRatu.net
Demo video at:
• Construction
database
• TUT Project
web page
• Library of the
department
• Students with password and
USB key. TUT has 50 keys
for educational use.
Copyright belongs to
Cooperative Digital Robot
Finland
• Public
worldwide in
libraries
• Construction
database
Journals are public worldwide in
libraries or for purchase. Free
full text for students is available
in Construction database.
Access is restricted because of
copyright issues between
authors and journals
19
How user will
benefit?
Increases of
involvement with
practice and
makes study
process more
responsive to
industry
requirements
and ensure
technical quality
standard of onsite
performances in
the future.
Future plans
Continuous
improvement
Linking multimedia files
to visual thesaurus
• Public
Linking research
to the practice
Looking for research
problems in construction
industry
References
EHITUSINFO. Available: www.ehitusinfo.ee/index.php?sonastik.
KAKLAUSKAS, A., AMARATUNGA, D. & LILL, I. The Life Cycle Process Model for
Efficient Construction Manager: Conceptual Modelling at the level of
Personality and at Micro, Meso and Macro Levels. COBRA 2010. The
Construction, Building and Real Estate Research Conference of the Royal
Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), 2010 Dauphine Université, Paris, 23 September 2010. RICS, 18.
KAKLAUSKAS, A., DANIUNAS, A., AMARATUNGA, D., URBONAS, V., LILL, I.,
GUDAUSKAS, R., D'AMATO, M., TRINKUNAS, V. & JACKUTE, I. 2012. Life
Cycle Process Model of a Market-Oriented and Student Centered Higher
Education. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STRATEGIC PROPERTY
MANAGEMENT, 16, 414-430.
KERAMINIYAGE, K. & LILL, I. 2013. Strategies to address gaps in the supply and
demand of skills and knowledge in built environment-related disciplines.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STRATEGIC PROPERTY MANAGEMENT,
17, 111-113.
LIISMA, E., RAADO, L.-M., LUMI, S., LILL, I. & SULAKATKO, V. The Effect of
Moisture Content of Insulation Boards on the Adhesion Strength of ETICS.
5th European Conference of CIVIL ENGINEERING (ECCIE '14), 2014
Florence, Italy, November 22-24, 2014.
LILL, I. Sustainable management of construction labour. In: ZAVADSKAS, E. K.,
KAKLAUSKAS, A. & SKIBNIEWSKI, M. J., eds. 25th International Symposium
on Automation and Robotics in Construction, Jun 26-29 2008 Vilnius,
LITHUANIA. 864-875.
LILL, I. 2009. Multiskilling in Construction - a Strategy for Stable Employment.
Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 15, 540-560.
LILL, I. & WITT, E. The Effect of Language of Instructions on Course Results for Civil
Engineering Studens in Estonia. In: AMARATUNGA, D. & HAIGH, R., eds.
CIB International Conference on Building Education and Research, Building
Resilience,, 2008a Sri Lanka. University of Salford, UK, 287 - 299.
LILL, I. & WITT, E. 2008b. Training in a multicultural environment: the effects of the
language of instruction. International conference on multi-national
construction projects "Securing high performance through cultural awareness
and dispute avoidance". Shanghai, China.
MASSO, T. 1999. Ehitaja sõnastik eesti-soome-inglise. Rakentajan sanakirja suomiviro-englanti. Constructor's dictionary English-Finnish-Estonian [Online].
Tallinn, Eesti Ehitusteabe Fond. Available:
http://www.keeleveeb.ee/dict/speciality/builder.
SOEKOV, E. & LILL, I. Effect of Subcontracting on Construction Scheduling. In: V.
VASEK, V., SCHIMALIY, Y., TREK, D., KOBAYASHI, N., CHORAS, R. &
20
KLOS, Z., eds. International Conference on Social Science, Social Economy
and Digital Convergence (IC-SSSE-DC'11), May 27-29, 2011, 2011 Lanzarote,
Canary Islands, Spain. WSEAS, 105 - 110.
SOEKOV, E. & LILL, I. 2012. Modelling the Impact of Subcontracting on the Building
Process.
SULAKATKO, V., LILL, I., SOEKOV, E., ARHIPOVA, R., WITT, E. & LIISMA, E.
Towards Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings through analyzing reasons for
degradation of facades. 4th International Conference on Building Resilience,
Building Resilience 2014, 8-10 September 2014, 2014 Salford Quays, United
kingdom. Elsevier, Procedia Economics and Finance.
WITT, E. & LILL, I. The mismatch between graduate competences and market skills
requirements in the construction sector – the Estonian situation. COBRA
2010: The Construction, Building and Real Estate Research Conference of
the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), 2010 Dauphine
Université, Paris, 2-3 September 2010. RICS, 15.
WITT, E. & LILL, I. Learner Perceptions of Construction Industry Knowledge and
Skills Requirements. Recent Researches in Social Science, Digital
Convergence, Manufacturing and Tourism: International Conference on Social
Science, Social Economy and Digital Convergence (IC-SSSE-DC'11), 2011
Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain, May 27-29, 2011. WSEAS, 93-98.
WITT, E. & LILL, I. 2012. Lifelong Learners in Engineering Education – Students’
Perspectives. International Journal of Education and Information
Technologies, 6, 9-16.
WITT, E. & LILL, I. Globalization Effects – Language Proficiency and Understanding.
In: SOLIMAN, K. S., ed. The 22nd International Business Information
Management Association Conference, November 13-14, 2013, 2013 Rome,
Italy. International Business Information Management Association (IBIMA),
845-855.
WITT, E. & LILL, I. 2015. The effect of language proficiency on course results
Journal of e-Learning and Higher Education.
WITT, E., LILL, I., MALALGODA, C., SIRIWARDENA, M., THAYAPARAN, M.,
AMARATUNGA, D. & KAKLAUSKAS, A. 2013. Towards a framework for
closer university-industry collaboration in educating built environment
professionals. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STRATEGIC PROPERTY
MANAGEMENT, 17, 114-132.
VOROBIOVA, A., WITT, E. & LILL, I. 2011. Multilingual and multicultural education in
construction. In: EGBU, C., SUTRISNA, M., UNDERWOOD, J., ARIF, M. &
AZIZ, Z., eds. 10th International Postgraduate Research Conference (IPGRC),
2011. UK, 547-554.
21
Appendixes
In this Report only the title pages of Appendixes are listed. Links to appendixes are
at TUT Project web page.
22
Appendix 1: Visual Thesaurus User Manual
23
Appendix 2: Visual Thesaurus Administrator Manual
36
Appendix 3: Report of on-site monitoring
57
Appendix 4: Manual of on-site practice
103
Appendix 5: Manual for recording on-site monitoring data
105
Appendix 6: Manual for recording data of building under construction
108
Appendix 7: Manual for recording data of a construction company
110
Appendix 8: Manual of on-site safety for students
113
Appendix 9: Course description and assessment criteria for “Advanced
Building Technology”
119
Appendix 10: User guide for Digital robot
122