Renovating Contract Delivery Education to Bridge the Gap Towards Current Practices

Mohamed Elzomor; Piyush Pradhananga; Rubaya Rahat

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Conference: 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access
Location: Virtual Conference
Publication Date: July 26, 2021
Start Date: July 26, 2021
End Date: July 19, 2022
Conference Session: Construction Engineering Division Technical Session 4
Tagged Division: Construction Engineering
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 13
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--37663
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/37663
Download Count: 360

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Paper Authors

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Mohamed Elzomor Florida International University

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Dr. Mohamed ElZomor is an Assistant Professor at Florida International University (FIU), College of Engineering and Computing and teaches at the Moss School of Construction, Infrastructure and Sustainability. Dr. ElZomor completed his doctorate at Arizona State University (ASU), Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. Prior to attending ASU, Dr. ElZomor received a master’s of science degree in Architecture from University of Arizona, a master’s degree in Engineering and a bachelor of science in Construction Engineering from American University in Cairo. Dr. ElZomor moved to FIU from State University of New York, where he was an Assistant Professor at the college of Environmental Science and Forestry. Mohamed’s work focuses on Sustainability of the Built Environment, Engineering Education, Construction Engineering, Energy Efficiency Measures and Modeling, Project Management, and Infrastructure Resilience. Dr. ElZomor has extensive professional project management experience as well as a diverse cross-disciplinary academic knowledge. Mohamed, distinct expertise supports fostering interdisciplinary research in addition to embracing innovative pedagogical approaches in STEM education. Dr. ElZomor has been integrating innovative and novel educational paradigms in STEM education to support student engagement, retention, and diversity.

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Piyush Pradhananga Florida International University

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Piyush grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal. Following college graduation in 2016 from Tribhuwan University (TU) in Kathmandu, he worked for a leading real estate corporation of Nepal on a project worth over ten million USD. He then joined a Research firm based in London where he worked as Engineering Graduate Researcher. Piyush now is a Ph.D. Candidate at Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Teaching/Research Assistant at Moss School of Construction, Sustainability and Infrastructure, Florida International University. His research interest includes Sustainable construction, Construction Safety, Engineering Education, AI and Robotics-based construction, and Sustainable infrastructure and resilience for disaster and extreme weather.

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Rubaya Rahat Florida International University

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Rubaya Rahat grew up in Bangladesh, where she pursued her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). After graduating she worked for two years in a construction management company in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She was involved in various residential and infrastructure projects. Rubaya now is a Ph.D. student at Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Teaching/Research Assistant at Moss School of Construction, Sustainability and Infrastructure, Florida International University. Her research interest includes Sustainable and resilient infrastructure, Engineering Education, and Sustainable transportation system.

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Abstract

With the growing adoption of innovative practices, accelerated construction methods, and technological advancement in the construction industry, curriculum reform is necessary to provide nexus between the current practices and construction management (CM) education. Although construction practices have evolved throughout the last decade, CM education has not yet revolutionized which sparks questions about the relevancy and efficacy of the current programs and curricula. Generally, in complex construction projects, traditional contract delivery methods have been found to limit innovative construction practices and extend the construction schedule as well as seldom provide the best value to the owner. Despite the shortcomings of the traditional contract delivery methods, the education of such delivery methods is still being taught as mainstream in CM education. To this end, an alternative technical concept (ATC) coupled with accelerated construction technique is currently being implemented to address the issues related to conventional methods of project delivery during construction. These methods have been effective to successfully replace the deteriorating infrastructures, incorporate an innovative design that fosters faster construction, and ensure delivery of the project without interruption of critical transportation services. Unfortunately, CM students are rarely exposed to such accelerated construction means as well as advanced contract delivery methods that are currently being more adopted in practices. Thus, there is a pressing need to consider a pragmatic contract delivery education in construction to bridge the gaps towards current practices. Such curriculum reform focuses on disseminating recent advanced practices while fostering the development of critical skills among CM students. To achieve this, approximately 59 undergraduate and graduate students are introduced to an advanced contract delivery module on ways of gaining competitive benefits during procurement and construction project delivery of infrastructure projects. A questionnaire survey evaluated the necessity of integrating recent, novel, and advanced construction practices in the curriculum. The obtained data is analyzed through Ordinary least square regression analysis by utilizing machine learning techniques such as Pearson’s correlation heat map, train-test split, and cross-validation to develop a logistic regression model. The results indicated that factors such as comprehension of traditional and alternative project delivery methods as well as construction experience significantly influence student’s inclination towards mastering skills in alternative technical concepts. Moreover, the CM students also reported that the integration of such advanced contract delivery methods in CM curriculum will provide an edge in their professional careers. The study demonstrates the feasibility of reforming core construction management curricula to incorporate current practices of the construction industry as well as nurture advanced skills and knowledge, which better prepares and equips our future workforces in their professional careers.

Citation
Format

Elzomor, M., & Pradhananga, P., & Rahat, R. (2021, July), Renovating Contract Delivery Education to Bridge the Gap Towards Current Practices Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--37663

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - With the growing adoption of innovative practices, accelerated construction methods, and technological advancement in the construction industry, curriculum reform is necessary to provide nexus between the current practices and construction management (CM) education. Although construction practices have evolved throughout the last decade, CM education has not yet revolutionized which sparks questions about the relevancy and efficacy of the current programs and curricula. Generally, in complex construction projects, traditional contract delivery methods have been found to limit innovative construction practices and extend the construction schedule as well as seldom provide the best value to the owner. Despite the shortcomings of the traditional contract delivery methods, the education of such delivery methods is still being taught as mainstream in CM education. To this end, an alternative technical concept (ATC) coupled with accelerated construction technique is currently being implemented to address the issues related to conventional methods of project delivery during construction. These methods have been effective to successfully replace the deteriorating infrastructures, incorporate an innovative design that fosters faster construction, and ensure delivery of the project without interruption of critical transportation services. Unfortunately, CM students are rarely exposed to such accelerated construction means as well as advanced contract delivery methods that are currently being more adopted in practices. Thus, there is a pressing need to consider a pragmatic contract delivery education in construction to bridge the gaps towards current practices. Such curriculum reform focuses on disseminating recent advanced practices while fostering the development of critical skills among CM students. To achieve this, approximately 59 undergraduate and graduate students are introduced to an advanced contract delivery module on ways of gaining competitive benefits during procurement and construction project delivery of infrastructure projects. A questionnaire survey evaluated the necessity of integrating recent, novel, and advanced construction practices in the curriculum. The obtained data is analyzed through Ordinary least square regression analysis by utilizing machine learning techniques such as Pearson’s correlation heat map, train-test split, and cross-validation to develop a logistic regression model. The results indicated that factors such as comprehension of traditional and alternative project delivery methods as well as construction experience significantly influence student’s inclination towards mastering skills in alternative technical concepts. Moreover, the CM students also reported that the integration of such advanced contract delivery methods in CM curriculum will provide an edge in their professional careers. The study demonstrates the feasibility of reforming core construction management curricula to incorporate current practices of the construction industry as well as nurture advanced skills and knowledge, which better prepares and equips our future workforces in their professional careers. 
AU  - Mohamed Elzomor
AU  - Piyush Pradhananga
AU  - Rubaya Rahat
CY  - Virtual Conference
DA  - 2021/07/26
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Renovating Contract Delivery Education to Bridge the Gap Towards Current Practices
UR  - https://strategy.asee.org/37663
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--37663
ER  -