Download PDFOpen PDF in browserImproving Student Learning in an Entry Level Construction Management Course Through the Application of a Social Constructivist Approach to Teaching9 pages•Published: June 9, 2021AbstractWhen students initially begin their pursuit of a degree in Construction Management (CMGT), the first CMGT courses they take address a wide breadth of foundational concepts. At the time of taking these entry level courses, most of these new CMGT students have little to no experience in the construction industry. This lack of experience presents a significant challenge for these students to understand the relevancy and real-world application of the concepts they are being taught. Often times these entry level courses utilize a traditional teaching method, where the instructor delivers the concepts to students via lectures. In turn, students focus on memorizing the delivered information, with little understanding of how the information they are taught is used in the construction industry. In this paper the author will demonstrate how a social constructivist approach was used in an entry level CMGT course to design a group project. This group project required students to relate the concepts taught in class to an actual construction project, resulting in improved student understanding of the concepts taught. This study is significant in that similar social constructivist approaches can be used in other entry level CMGT courses to greatly improve the quality of student learning.Keyphrases: collaborative learning, social constructivism, student learning, teaching pedagogy In: Tom Leathem, Anthony Perrenoud and Wesley Collins (editors). ASC 2021. 57th Annual Associated Schools of Construction International Conference, vol 2, pages 423-431.
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