Andreas, H; Dorée, A and Martin, L (2010) A constructivist approach for teaching research methodology in construction management. International Journal of Construction Education and Research, 6(4), pp. 253-270. ISSN 1557-8771
Abstract
Construction Management (CM) is an acknowledged field of expertise and profession that requires students to research real world problems. To prepare the students for this task, many CM programs contain a Research Methodology (RM) course. However, after taking part in these courses, many students still lack the ability to define the scope of their research problem and find an appropriate research design. In order to counteract this situation, a constructivist approach to teach RM was developed. A role-play is the central element of this approach in which the students take on the role of "problem-owners" and "researchers." The teaching approach was embedded in RM courses at the University of Twente (The Netherlands) and at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (South Africa). In both cases the lecturers noticed that the students became more aware of the complexity and vagueness of construction management problems. They were better able to define the research problems and communicate the relevance of the problem at hand. The approach further helps to put RM in a more realistic and pragmatic perspective.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | constructivism; education; research methodology; role-play |
| Index terms: | program, South Africa, complexity, Netherlands, profession, research methodology, research design, owner |
| Subjects: | Geography, institututions, software systems, systems engineering, sociology, research design and methodology |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Geographical Context, Digital Applications, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
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