Curriculum delivery and assessment for net generation construction students

The Net Generation of students, born between 1980 and 2000, has transitioned into the college classroom and beyond. Universities have recognized that the typical Net Generation student is different than predecessors. Technology, elementary and high school instruction, and parental expectations and involvement are vastly different than previous generations. As construction management programs consider how best to educate the next generation of constructors, this research sought to determine how the Net Generation would prefer college construction classes to be delivered and assessed. Traditional construction management classes have been delivered by the "wise" professor at center stage. Knowledge has been delivered using lectures and=or Powerpoint1 slides. Research shows that such lectured based models may not be the best educational delivery method to reach the Net Generation. Some of these researchers are even predicting a shift in the teaching paradigm across all of higher education. This project sought to compare the established research on the Net Generation in aggregate with students in the McWhorter School of Building Science at Auburn University. Four focus groups of undergraduate students were used to establish results. Results indicate that construction management students generally agree with the established research on curriculum delivery and assessment for the Net Generation.