Renovating Contract Delivery Education to Bridge the Gap towards Current Practices Conference

Elzomor, M, Pradhananga, P, Rahat, MR. (2021). Renovating Contract Delivery Education to Bridge the Gap towards Current Practices .

cited authors

  • Elzomor, M; Pradhananga, P; Rahat, MR

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.

publication date

  • July 26, 2021