Davis, S; Davis, T; Howell, D and Leitzke, D (2020) Building engineers and construction managers: The impact of international service projects on the development of undergraduate students. In: Scott, L and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 36th Annual ARCOM Conference, 7-8 September 2020, Online Event, UK.
Abstract
The Milwaukee School of Engineering chapter of Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB-USA) partners with the community of Joyabaj, Guatemala and mentors engineering students in alignment with the twofold mission of EWB-USA to build "…a better world through engineering projects that empower communities to meet their basic human needs and equip leaders to solve the world’s most pressing challenges." The impact and effectiveness of these development projects is regularly evaluated through EWB-USA’s formalized Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning process and has indicated that we have a positive impact on the first component of EWB-USA’s mission. To evaluate our impact on the second component of EWB-USA’s mission, we conducted an interdisciplinary Institutional Review Board approved research project to study our students engaged in an international EWB-USA project. The guiding question for this research project was, "What impact does an EWB-USA cross-cultural experience have on the development of college students?" The sub-question was, "What professional, technical, and social skills do students engender in an EWB-USA cross-cultural experience?" While there is extensive survey data in the literature, we found no qualitative field data related to international construction service projects. The research team opted to gather field data to observe the potential real-time application of student development in terms of professional, technical, and/or social skills during implementation. The construction project in this research study was a 165-foot cable suspended bridge for the community of El Temal which provided a critical transportation link for the community to local markets, schools, and healthcare. Over the course of an academic year, the students completed the structural design and construction planning of the bridge and traveled to work alongside the community to build the bridge. Four of the ten student construction team members with a diverse range of experience were observed over the ten-day construction period. This paper will present a narrative of our observations and the significant findings from the analysis.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | civil engineering, design and build, developing countries, education, leadership |
| Index terms: | college student, service project, developing country, survey, engineer, construction team, construction manager, effectiveness, international construction, Guatemala, undergraduate, construction project, mentors, monitoring, narrative, construction planning, design and build, structural design, implementation, markets |
| Subjects: | sociology, development economics, Geography, production management, qualitative and interpretive research, performance management, economic analysis, construction planning, project delivery, curriculum development, contractual arrangements, control systems, practitioner, architectural engineering, profession, strategic management, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Project Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Procurement, Design Practice, Quality Management, International Construction, Site Management, Education |
| 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