Bridging disciplines, building competencies: Innovating architecture and civil engineering education through integrated project management and spatial science in Saudi Arabia

Normal 0 false false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;} Higher education faces the challenge of preparing graduates for an increasingly interdisciplinary professional landscape. This study assesses the integration of construction project management and spatial information science in the curricula of the Architecture and Civil Engineering Department (ACED) at Saudi Arabian universities. Through a comprehensive survey of 70 experts from academia, industry, and consulting, we evaluated graduate competencies across 44 parameters. Results show moderate to strong agreement (overall Likert scale: 6.02 ± 0.37) on graduates' skills in critical thinking, discipline knowledge, and problem-solving. However, teamwork skills (5.65 ± 0.35) were identified as an area needing improvement. Statistical analysis indicated no significant differences in perceptions across professional backgrounds, except for critical thinking (F=3.939, p=0.020). The study emphasizes the importance of better integrating spatial information applications and recommends curriculum improvements to better prepare graduates for the evolving interdisciplinary fields of modern construction and spatial information, in line with current educational innovation practices.