Appraising Academic Training of Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) Graduates in Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies
1*, Faremi, O.J., 1 Kukoyi, P.O., 1 Sotunbo, A.S., 1 Adeyanju, O.G., 1 Arowolo, A.H., and 1 Adenuga, O.A.
1Department of Building, University of Lagos, Yaba-Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria
DOI: 10.36108/laujoces/6202.71.0190
Abstract
As the global construction industry undergoes digital transformation, it becomes imperative that graduates of Architecture, Engineering and Construction are well-equipped to cope with the reality of technological disruption. The study examined the extent to which the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) were taught to students in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) Programmes in the institutions of higher learning across Nigeria. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was employed for the study. The questionnaire was designed to elicit both quantitative and qualitative data. Data were collected from one hundred and seventy (170) graduates of Architecture, Engineering and Construction undergraduate programmes across universities and polytechnics in Nigeria. The collected data were processed and analysed. Tools employed for the data analysis include Descriptive Tables, Thematic analysis, and the Mann-Whitney test. The results show relatively low levels of academic training acquisition (0.27 ≤ RLA ≤ 0.63) for all of the seventy-six (76) technological dimensions of 4IR. However, entrepreneurship, digital communications and information technology are among the top-rated as knowledge acquired during the respondents’ academic training. Also, there was no significant difference in the level of exposure of university and polytechnic graduates of AEC to the technological dimensions of 4IR. The study concludes that the component of 4IR technologies in AEC programmes is low and identifies critical areas requiring intervention by regulatory agencies and the management of tertiary institutions in the review and repositioning of AEC curriculum.
Keywords: Architecture, Construction, Digitalisation, Engineering, Training