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Session 2549

Assessing Group Learning Courses in Construction Management Technology

Amitabha Bandyopadhyay State University of New York, Farmingdale

Introduction

The need for college students to be actively involved in their own learning has received wide acceptance1. The value of teamwork and ability to solve problems in group environment for engineering and technology students is undeniable. Specifically construction is an interconnected process. The construction engineers and managers work cooperatively with many professionals and workers to implement design into reality. So it is logical to teach construction students group environment.

Assessment is the process by which evidence for congruence between a program’s stated goals and objectives and the actual outcomes of its programs and activities is assembled and analyzed in order to improve teaching and learning 2. Although classroom teachers have been testing students on their mastery of subject matters for centuries, there is a growing concern that traditional classroom tests are frequently used as summative evaluations to only grade students and not as effective feedback tools. Assessment of students' learning is considered as both a means and an end 3. However, tests are effective ways to bound goals and objectives of the course. Research suggests that students concentrate on learning whatever they think will be on the test. As McKeachie and his colleagues observe whatever teachers' goals and no matter how clearly they present them, students' goals are strongly influenced by tests that determine grades 4. No matter how clear the teacher is about the "big picture"; students are unlikely to share the view unless tests and other assessment measures point them toward it.

Learning in Team

A team is a group of people actively cooperating in an organized way to achieve a goal. . Learning in groups depends upon the synergy in a group. The assumption is the whole is more than the sum of the parts. Learning from each other and supplementing each other’s strong attributes is the key in learning in groups. The relative effectiveness of different environments has shown the superiority of the learning in groups5. Students working in cooperative learning groups, relative to the other situations learn more. They also have more positive attitudes regarding the subject area. In a group environment students are more likely to acquire critical thinking skills, cognitive learning strategies and process skills that are essential in the work place5. As a team becomes involved in a lesson, the different information, perceptions, opinions, reasoning, theories, and conclusions of the members lead to disagreement. With constructive

Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education

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Bandyopadhyay, A. (2003, June), Assessing Group Learning Courses In Construction Management Technology Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12456