Paper submitted to WCPM conference

  
Blend-XL community members John Heintz and Arnold Mühren submitted a paper for the Education theme of the WCPM conference to be held at Delft University of Technology in October 2007.

Heintz, J.L. & Mühren, A. (2007) 'Towards an active learning approach to design & construction management education'

Abstract. Design & construction management has rarely been a popular subject among architecture students. Such courses often have large class sizes and the students may be poorly motivated. The initiative described here is an attempt to apply the principles of active and blended learning to this problem. Modified traditional means of delivering knowledge are combined with web based learning objects and collaboration tools. This provides the learning environment for case study projects which are peer evaluated and from which the students draw lessons to share with their colleagues. The project to date has run through two cycles of action research. The results of both cycles showed improved student performance, and through both informal and formal evaluations, students demonstrated greater enthusiasm for design & construction management. Lessons drawn from the project thus far will inform the design of a third research cycle in the next academic year.

The full paper is currently under review.