Paradigm shift in construction education is vital for the future of our profession

Bernold, L E (2005) Paradigm shift in construction education is vital for the future of our profession. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 131(5), pp. 533-539. ISSN 0733-9364

Abstract

In 2001, a survey found that 87% of engineering professors in the United States spend the entire class time lecturing to a passive group of students material that is copied down and never looked at again. This paper presents the results of scientific inquiry and keen observations all leading to the same conclusion: engineering education has to reform itself. Presently, almost all engineering students learn best doing lots of homework (∼50%) and theoretical study (25%) are accommodated by lectures, homework, and rote-problem tests. Regrettably, an overwhelming number of the creative students do not learn this way and fail. Learning as a process needs to be put at the heart of education moving us away from the traditional educational enterprise. The presented data benefits researchers and practitioners in that they highlight the urgency of the issue and show how the proposed paradigm shift is underpinned by our understanding of how people learn.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: construction; engineering education; learning; teaching
Index terms: engineering education, heart, paradigm, profession, survey, United States, practitioner, construction education
Subjects: medical science and clinical practice, education and knowledge transfer, Geography, professional education, data collection methods, practitioner, institututions
Topics: Education, Roles and Professions, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Geographical Context
Descriptive scope: 4 PCTE

N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here