Vohmann, B (2019) Enhancing assessment to prepare undergraduates as effective built environment industry practitioners. In: Gorse, C and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 35th Annual ARCOM Conference, 2-4 September 2019, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK.
Abstract
Meeting the needs of industry is one function of higher education and preparing students for employment in industry is a goal of vocational undergraduate construction courses. Assessment is a key influence on the learning activities students undertake. Designing assessment to be authentic to professional practice can support students' preparation and development for industry through the simulation of real world experiences. There is a considerable amount of literature regarding authentic assessment, yet most literature in this field does not specifically address the needs of construction undergraduates. To evaluate the efficacy of authentic assessment to support students learning and preparation for industry, an action research project was undertaken in a post-1992 UK university. In this project, two assessment briefs were modified to incorporate authenticity, one of which was a practice-based brief and the other was theoretically based. Following these modifications to assessment design, data concerning students' evaluation of the modified assessment was gathered, first via the university standardized questionnaire, and second, from student focus groups. Findings suggest that the modified assessment was perceived by students as an improved experience which better supported their development of real world knowledge and skills through authentic learning activities.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | learning; professional practice; undergraduate. |
| Index terms: | practitioner, action research, higher education, focus group, professional practice, authentic learning, undergraduate, employment, built environment, questionnaire |
| Subjects: | management, professional development, infrastructure and transport systems, data collection methods, educational institutions, practitioner, learning methods, curriculum development |
| Topics: | Urban Studies, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Human Resources, Information Management, Education |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
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