Efficacy and benefits of a required service-learning course in construction management education

A trend for universities in the United States to embrace high-impact educational practices in curricula to enrich student learning experience has emerged over the last couple decades. During a curriculum revision in 2017, the faculty at Auburn University made the decision to add a stand-alone, service-learning course as a requirement for graduation. The service-learning course is centered on a construction project that serves the community and incorporates the application of various critical facets of construction management: engagement and communication with all stakeholders, planning, estimating, scheduling, and constructing the project. The research focused on perceptions of the execution and efficacy of the course from two primary stakeholder groups: students and clients. The results show the students increased their interpersonal engagement, management skills, civic responsibility, and understanding of diverse needs by the end of the semester. While clients and students noted major challenges in logistics, project planning, and scheduling, the results illustrate the effort to deliver this high-impact educational experience for the students was worthwhile and had a beneficial effect in the engaged communities. Dissemination of the results may be useful in starting a stand-alone long-term construction management service-learning course at other institutions.