Prevention through Design in Construction Education: An Andragogical Analysis of Learning Profiles for Technology Integration

Prevention through design (PtD) education is critical for developing safety-conscious construction professionals, yet its implementation in the US higher education remains limited. This study examines how technology-enhanced learning can improve PtD education by analyzing construction management students’ learning preferences, attitudes, and motivators. A survey of 74 students revealed that 60% had minimal PtD familiarity, yet most showed moderate enthusiasm for learning PtD. Through cluster analysis, we identified four distinct student groups based on experience (from fresh academics to returning professionals) and four learning style preferences (from comprehensive learners to applied visualizers). Results indicate that students strongly prefer hands-on and visual learning approaches, with preferences varying by experience level. Based on these findings, we propose leveraging large language models (LLMs) to personalize PtD content and matching delivery technologies—such as virtual reality (VR)—to students’ learning preferences, ensuring a scalable and adaptive educational approach. Future research should experimentally validate these strategies and explore their broader application across architecture, engineering, and construction education.