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The growth in the adoption of sensing technologies in the construction industry has triggered the need for graduating construction engineering students equipped with the necessary skills for deploying the technologies. One obstacle to equipping students with these skills is the limited opportunities for hands-on learning experiences on construction sites. Inspired by opportunities offered by mixed reality, this paper presents the development of a holographic learning environment that can afford learners an experiential opportunity to acquire competencies for implementing sensing systems on construction projects. The interactive holographic learning environment is built upon the notions of competence-based and constructivist learning. The learning contents of the holographic learning environment are driven by characteristics of technical competencies identified from the results of an online survey, and content analysis of industry case studies. This paper presents a competency characteristics model depicting the key sensing technologies, applications and resources needed to facilitate the design of the holographic learning environment. A demonstrative scenario of the application of a virtual laser scanner for measuring volume of stockpiles is utilized to showcase the potential of the learning environment. A taxonomic model of the operational characteristics of the virtual laser scanner represented within the holographic learning environment is also presented. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by advancing immersive experiential learning discourses previously confined by technology. It opens a new avenue for both researchers and practitioners to further investigate the opportunities offered by mixed reality for future workforce development.