Nelson, T N T; Poleacovschi, C; Appelgate, M; Drake, R; Swalwell, K; Jackson, C; Svec, J and Cetin, K (2024) Making social justice central to construction engineering: Testing interventions for educating reflexive engineers. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 150(10): 04024122, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Recently published professional learning outcomes require future engineers to think of the impacts that engineering decisions have on society. History shows that construction and civil engineering projects can exacerbate inequality by ignoring community concerns and failing to consider the impacts on marginalized and vulnerable stakeholders, among other factors. How might construction engineering professors help students meet these standards, and how do construction and civil engineering students respond when construction engineering is framed as inextricably linked to these obligations? We designed and evaluated curriculum modules aimed at helping develop a critical consciousness with construction and civil engineering students (N=177) in three construction and civil engineering courses at two universities in the midwestern region between 2020 and 2021. The curriculum builds on a three-phase framework aimed at encouraging students to see social inequities and their impacts, finding social inequities unjust, and enhancing reflective self-awareness. Post-implementation responses to the case study designed to make clear the need for a critical consciousness in engineering found that students responded positively to both the instructional approach of a case study and the content connected to critical consciousness. We discuss implications for the development of further curriculum and the implementation of such an approach.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Index terms: | inequality, history, construction engineering, social justice, society, module, engineer, implementation, testing, consciousness, learning outcome, case study |
| Subjects: | engineering methods, student development, profession, professional practice, sociology, architectural and construction history, architectural elements, communities and social development, data collection methods, contractual arrangements, human factors and perception |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Procurement, Design Practice, Research Practice, Ethics, Education, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions |
| 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