Development and evaluation of context-based assessment system for visualization-enhanced construction safety education

Abstract

Construction jobsites remain among the most dangerous workplaces, with fatalities, accidents and injuries still plaguing the industry. Safety education is critical in fostering graduates capable of ensuring safe construction work; however, current learner assessment methods in pedagogy fail to ascertain the possession of safety knowledge and skills as they would be required in practice. This article aims to address this problem by proposing context-based learner assessment in construction safety education. A novel assessment system is developed and deployed with final-year construction management students, with learner testing through visualization-enhanced safety theory questions, site inspection scenario questions and job safety analysis review questions. The cognitive impact of the assessment approach is investigated through the NASA task load index, and its effectiveness is verified through educator and learner trials. Results demonstrate that the proposed system has significant potential as an innovative assessment tool for safety education.

Keywords: assessment; construction safety; context-based; safety education; virtual reality.