Innovative initiatives in Construction Education and Training

Abstract

Industry demands for more relevant education and training, coupled with decreasing interest in construction–related university courses, have triggered re-thinks of traditional teaching-learning modalities. This paper draws on innovations from Hong Kong, Singapore and the UK, to give examples of appropriate education and training initiatives to address such needs. A study of learning approaches by construction students in Hong Kong illustrates the importance of identifying appropriate teaching-learning strategies at the outset. Two web-based platforms are presented for stimulating undergraduate learning through virtual site visits; and information & knowledge management of construction industry personnel. Two programmes that promote interdisciplinary teamworking at undergraduate level are also introduced. Two initiatives involving students in Singapore indicate how they may be mobilised to evaluate the work of their peers,including group-mates. The initiatives from the UK aim to improve critical government-industryacademia interfaces, in formulating an ‘innovation generation and diffusion framework’ and ‘knowledge transfer partnerships’. While presenting specific initiatives, this paper does not prescribe any panaceas. Instead, it illustrates the general imperative for significant and continuous changes in construction engineering education and training, provides useful examples from three regions, and indeed this overall example of learning from each other through such consolidated comparisons.