Building Information Modeling Learning Behavior of AEC Undergraduate Students in China

With the popularization and application of Building Information Modeling (BIM), the demand for BIM technical talents in the construction industry is increasing. Exploring college students’ BIM technical learning behavior is of great practical significance to improve education activities. Based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), this research adds learning attitude variables to construct a theoretical model of influencing factors of college students’ BIM technology learning behavior. Chinese undergraduate students were asked to complete online questionnaires through peer-to-peer contact with sample colleges and universities. Finally, 1090 valid questionnaires were obtained. The students were sampled from research-oriented, applied research-oriented, application-oriented, and private research-oriented universities in seven regions of China: northeast, north, east, south, central, northwest, and southwest. The structural equation model was used to analyze the sampling data. The results indicate that college students’ BIM learning attitude, performance expectations, and social influence positively and directly impact their learning intention, which indirectly impacts their learning behavior. At the same time, promoting factors and learning intention demonstrate a significant positive and direct impact on learning behavior. Therefore, the following suggestions have been put forward to enhance college students’ learning motivation for BIM technology: increase the popularization of BIM technology in colleges and universities and improve the operation level of full-time BIM teachers. The latter enables colleges and universities to continuously and stably export qualified BIM technical talents to society and the market, resulting in a continuous industry development cycle.