2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The construction industry needs graduates who can apply what they learn to real problems. As construction management (CM) programs adopt problem-based learning (PBL), students often struggle with technical concepts that require both procedural skill and professional judgment. This study examined AI-assisted video scaffolding across three undergraduate CM courses at the University: Advanced Estimating & Bid Analysis (n = 58), Construction Project Management (n = 88), and Building Construction (n = 37). The production workflow used ChatGPT for script development and HeyGen for video generation with a custom instructor avatar. Each video took about 2–3 hours to produce.
The study used a quasi-experimental mixed-methods design. Results show that video scaffolding was associated with strong student performance. In Advanced Estimating & Bid Analysis, students scored 89.6% on the quiz and 91.0% on the assignment. In Construction Project Management, students who watched the optional videos scored higher than those who did not (48.0% vs. 39.6%). They also exceeded the three-year historical mean of 44.0%, which ranged from 38.9% to 50.0%. This comparison matters because students who chose to watch tended to be those who had struggled earlier. The quiz used identical questions and rubrics across all four years. Only the numbers changed to prevent answer sharing. In Building Construction, students scored 81.7% on a case study with no prior comparison data.
Survey data (n = 64) showed strong acceptance. Between 91% and 100% of upper-division students said the materials were easy to follow. Only 43% correctly guessed that the videos were AI-generated when asked directly. The custom avatar appears to have kept a sense of instructor presence. Students valued the ability to pause, rewind, and review content at their own pace. That fits with the idea that videos work best as scaffolding in a blended approach. Class level mattered. Juniors showed more confidence and stronger preferences for video resources than freshmen. For construction educators, AI-assisted video production offers a practical, low-barrier option for adding technology to PBL without extensive production skills.