Asee peer logo

Innovative Metrics For Assessment Of A Capstone Course In A Construction Management Curriculum

Download Paper |

Conference

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Honolulu, Hawaii

Publication Date

June 24, 2007

Start Date

June 24, 2007

End Date

June 27, 2007

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Trends in Construction Engineering Education I

Tagged Division

Construction

Page Count

11

Page Numbers

12.896.1 - 12.896.11

DOI

10.18260/1-2--1625

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/1625

Download Count

703

Paper Authors

biography

Michael Soller Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis

visit author page

Michael J. Soller., Project Director at Shook Construction. B.S. Civil Eng., University of Dayton, M.S. Technology Candidate, Purdue University. He has over 20 years of commercial and industrial project management experience and has been an adjunct professor for the Department of Construction Technology of Purdue School of Engineering & Technology at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) for 9 years. Mr. Soller is a member of ASCE, ASEE, AIC, Advisory Board with the Construction Technology department, past chairman of the education committee for AGC/Indiana, a registered Professional Engineer in Indiana and Ohio, and a Certified Professional Constructor within AIC. Mr. Soller was awarded the Associate Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award in 2000.

visit author page

biography

Erdogan Sener Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis

visit author page

Erdogan M. Sener., Professor and previous Chairman at the Department of Construction Technology of Purdue School of Engineering & Technology at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). B.S. Civil Eng., Middle East Technical University; M.S. Civil Eng. Michigan State University. He has over 13 years of international industrial experience in design and construction and has been in engineering and technology education for more than 24 years. Member of ASCE, ASEE, ACI, past president of the Construction Engineering Division of ASEE, and is a registered Professional Engineer in Indiana. Prof. Sener was awarded numerous teaching awards including the Indiana University President's Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1993 and the IUPUI Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1994.

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Innovative Metrics for Assessment of a Capstone Course in a Construction Management Curriculum

Abstract

Assessment methodologies that evaluate student development through demonstrated knowledge assure that student education is current, relevant, and comprehensive, thus meeting the needs of the industry, as well as, that of educational accreditation. However, if the educational assessment method is a comprehensive exam, or a portfolio, or an exit exam, there may be little difference in the demonstration of knowledge other than good examination preparation or good course work production even if a capstone course is used for the assessment purpose

This paper focuses on an innovative assessment method used in a capstone course. This method entails analyzing the management of a variety of construction projects by the student teams according to 13 different criteria and making presentations of their analysis and an overall summary statement. The presentations are evaluated by judges from the industry using the special metrics created for this purpose. Student performance is also incorporated as a metric in the assessment process. The paper elaborates on how student performance is affected by the different types of construction projects used as the “cases” by means of graphically displaying the metrics used and discussing their inter-relationships.

Introduction

University Engineering and Technology programs that assess student development through demonstrated knowledge ensure that student education is current, relevant, and comprehensive, to meet the needs of industry, as well as, that of educational accreditation. When students complete their education, there are a number of different ways to assess whether the students have actually learned how to articulate their knowledge, but a single methodology has not been universally agreed upon [1]. Standardized certification exams provide some independent method of assessment of student knowledge, but the results of the exams are generally not available for use in coursework. Capstone courses that aim to utilize competencies assimilated over four or more years of education are commonly used instead. However, if the educational assessment methodology used in such capstone courses is a comprehensive exam, portfolio, or even an exit exam, there may be little difference in the demonstration of knowledge other than good examination preparation or good coursework production [2]. Without a method to measure how well students demonstrate their range of technical knowledge, present their information and generalize these concepts within a team environment, assessment of real learning by the student does not meet the needs of industry or academia [3]. The method of assessment for the Construction Project Management capstone course used at the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) is innovative because it measures the students’ integrated understanding of the primary topics directly related

Soller, M., & Sener, E. (2007, June), Innovative Metrics For Assessment Of A Capstone Course In A Construction Management Curriculum Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--1625

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2007 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015