A Case for International Study in Construction Education and Industry Practice

David Dylan John; Marcel Maghiar; Clint D. Martin

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Conference: 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Publication Date: June 26, 2016
Start Date: June 26, 2016
End Date: June 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-692-68565-5
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Construction Session 4: Outside of the Construction Curriculum
Tagged Division: Construction
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 14
DOI: 10.18260/p.26266
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/26266
Download Count: 594

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Paper Authors

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David Dylan John Georgia Southern University orcid.org/0000-0002-0062-9808

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A graduating Senior Construction Management Student at Georgia Southern University, Dylan John is an active student leader within multiple student organizations. His research interests include Building Information Modelling (BIM), Sustainable Construction, Productivity and Efficiency in the Construction Industry. He is mentored by Dr.Marcel Maghiar and Dr.Clint Martin of the Department of Civil Engineering and Construction Management at Georgia Southern University

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biography

Marcel Maghiar Georgia Southern University

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Marcel Maghiar, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at Georgia Southern University teaches Construction Management courses at junior and senior level in the Civil Engineering and Construction Management department. His research experience includes development of computer syntaxes to unequivocally describe construction activities and development of a consistent methodology to explicitly classify and quantify construction methods (emerging taxonomy of construction methods). Marcel’s main expertise is in computer modeling of construction processes. His doctoral work allows the profiling of each journeyman’s affinity for productivity, quality and safety. By analyzing the behavior of framers from various industry companies, he found that safety is held at the same level of importance as productivity. He is also interested in educational contributions and research opportunities towards integrating field-level construction knowledge in BIM models and exploring their benefits in classroom environment with feedback from jobsite project managers.

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Clint D. Martin Georgia Southern University

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Abstract

A Case for International Study in Construction Education and Industry Practice

This paper will be a representative case study of a Construction Management student intern experience on a foreign construction project. It is structured as a case study, highlighting the student’s experiences through engagement as an intern on the construction of a BMW Service Center project in Sri Lanka by a medium scale Sri Lankan commercial contractor, Dwellco Developments (Pvt) Ltd. Some of the challenges during the project will be reviewed inclusive of aspects relating to scheduling, staffing, sub-contracting and project communication, while highlighting some of the strategies implemented by the construction management team to mitigate these challenges.

One of the focus on this paper would be to give the reader insights into construction management process challenges by providing evidence how Construction Management education can equip a senior student in performing under pressure and, in turn, how an internship helps in the seasoning of the student experience into becoming an effective construction management professional. The case study will also illustrate some of the areas in which the construction management education program may be enhanced in terms of providing a wholesome and global perspective on construction as opposed to a more US-based construction education.

Quoting different examples and situations from the project, the manuscript will show the complementary benefits of an academic based approach to learning construction with the inclusion of hands-on industry practice/experience. The authors are showcasing that the most effective learning process as a construction management professional cannot be achieved with the focus on any individual component of the learning, but in fact requires an effective balance between both academic and experience components.

Finally, the paper attempts to provide potential solutions for improvement of the education process in preparation of the students as interns for construction industry internships through opening considerations for global construction industry. An emphasis is placed on discussing methods on bringing up the interns experience to benefit the students who have not yet had an internship experience and thus increasing the effectiveness of construction education on both the fronts of global exposure and the professional preparedness of first time interns.

Citation
Format

John, D. D., & Maghiar, M., & Martin, C. D. (2016, June), A Case for International Study in Construction Education and Industry Practice Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.26266

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - A Case for International Study in Construction Education and Industry Practice

This paper will be a representative case study of a Construction Management student intern experience on a foreign construction project. It is structured as a case study, highlighting the student’s experiences through engagement as an intern on the construction of a BMW Service Center project in Sri Lanka by a medium scale Sri Lankan commercial contractor, Dwellco Developments (Pvt) Ltd.  Some of the challenges during the project will be reviewed inclusive of aspects relating to scheduling, staffing, sub-contracting and project communication, while highlighting some of the strategies implemented by the construction management team to mitigate these challenges. 

One of the focus on this paper would be to give the reader insights into construction management process challenges by providing evidence how Construction Management education can equip a senior student in performing under pressure and, in turn, how an internship helps in the seasoning of the student experience into becoming an effective construction management professional. The case study will also illustrate some of the areas in which the construction management education program may be enhanced in terms of providing a wholesome and global perspective on construction as opposed to a more US-based construction education.

Quoting different examples and situations from the project, the manuscript will show the complementary benefits of an academic based approach to learning construction with the inclusion of hands-on industry practice/experience. The authors are showcasing that the most effective learning process as a construction management professional cannot be achieved with the focus on any individual component of the learning, but in fact requires an effective balance between both academic and experience components.

Finally, the paper attempts to provide potential solutions for improvement of the education process in preparation of the students as interns for construction industry internships through opening considerations for global construction industry. An emphasis is placed on discussing methods on bringing up the interns experience to benefit the students who have not yet had an internship experience and thus increasing the effectiveness of construction education on both the fronts of global exposure and the professional preparedness of first time interns.

AU  - David Dylan John
AU  - Marcel Maghiar
AU  - Clint D. Martin
CY  - New Orleans, Louisiana
DA  - 2016/06/26
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - A Case for International Study in Construction Education and Industry Practice
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/26266
DO  - 10.18260/p.26266
ER  -