Abstract—The objective of this research is to identify the architecture and construction management students’ learning challenges of the building measurement. This research used the survey data obtained collected from the students who completed the building measurement unit. NVivo qualitative data analysis software was used to identify relevant themes. The analysis of the qualitative data revealed the major learning difficulties such as inadequacy of practice questions for the examination, inability to work as a team, lack of detailed understanding of the prerequisite units, insufficiency of the time allocated for tutorials and incompatibility of lecture and tutorial schedules. The output of this research can be used as a basis for improving the teaching and learning activities in construction measurement units. Keywords—Building measurement, construction management, learning challenges, evaluate survey. I. INTRODUCTION UILDING measurement, estimating and cost planning are some of the challenging quantity surveying units which are delivered to architecture and construction management students at the School of Architecture and Built Environment, Deakin University. Over the last few years, review of students’ grades for the building measurement unit showed poor performance (lower grades) as compared to other units. Further, the feedback provided by the students indicated that they have difficulty in understanding most principles and practices of building measurement and estimating. Previous research conducted in the UK, Malaysia and Nigeria has also pointed out some of the challenges associated with teaching and learning processes of building measurement units [1]-[3]. Because of differences in teaching and learning practices, the standard methods of measurement, measurement principles and practices, the challenges identified in the international context might not be applicable to Australian students. Thus, it is essential to explore context-specific difficulties which could be encountered by students in Australian universities, in this study at Deakin University. Further, to develop appropriate solutions which help to enhance the understanding of the measurement practices and principles, the teaching and learning difficulties should be thoroughly investigated. Hence, the objective of this research is to identify the key challenges in learning Building Measurement unit at Deakin University. Gurmu T. Argaw is with the Construction Management at Deakin University, Australia (corresponding author, e-mail: argaw.gurmu@deakin. edu.au). Mohamoud M. Nateque with the Construction at Deakin University, Australia (e-mail: n.mahmood@deakin.edu.au). II. LITERATURE REVIEW A. Difficulties in Learning Building Measurement Tunji-Olayeni et al. [2] explored the learning difficulties associated with the delivery of building measurement unit in Nigeria. The study concluded that the main sources of the learning difficulties were related to the lecture, lecturer, and learning facilities. Furthermore, [2] found that lecturers assumed that students already possessed knowledge about construction technology and rush over the lecture. Additionally, the interviewees (students) involved in the study revealed that the teaching style adopted by lecturers was one of the major barriers to comprehend the contents of the unit. Also, the availability of insufficient exercises or examples, the adoption of non-interactive lectures and lack of exposure to software and country-specific textbooks on building measurement were identified as some of the causes of the learning difficulties. In Australia, context-specific problems related to the teaching and learning of the unit Building Measurement should be explored so that appropriate solutions could be proposed. In the Australian context, [4] investigated the difficulties in construction disciplines which include quantity surveying, building surveying and construction management. According to the study, the major challenges are related to the curriculum and the fragmentation of the teaching and learning in the disciplines. Similarly, [5] analyzed quantity surveying education system in Ghana and found that the major deficiencies include lack of skills development, unavailability of teaching and learning resources, shortage of qualified and experienced teachers and the dearth of linkages between the different levels of education. In the UK, [6] identified six categories of difficulties which are related to building measurement teaching and learning. These challenges were categorized under (1) process, (2) calculations, (3) technology, (4) the rulings, (5) the standard method of measurement (SMM) and (6) speed. According to the author, ‘process’ was defined as the difficulty in knowing what to do next. The ‘calculations’ denoted not understanding how to carry out the numerical calculations. The term ‘technology’ was used to represent problems relate to the inability to understand the building processes. The difficulties associated with the use of a book comprising of rules of measurement were classified under ‘Standard Method of Measurement’ (SMM). The ‘rulings’ was the failure to know how to use the specialist paper used for measurement purpose. The ‘speed’ was defined as the ability of the lecturer to teach either too fast or too slow [6]. Investigation of Learning Challenges in Building Measurement Unit Argaw T. Gurmu, Muhammad N. Mahmood B World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Educational and Pedagogical Sciences Vol:14, No:2, 2020 144 International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 14(2) 2020 ISNI:0000000091950263 Open Science Index, Educational and Pedagogical Sciences Vol:14, No:2, 2020 publications.waset.org/10011077/pdf