NORTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNICAL STATE UNIVERSITY Built Environment Construction Management Robert B. Pyle, Department Chair 2013-2014 Common program outcomes and student learning outcomes for this educational program are as follows: a. Program Outcomes (POs) (1) Program Quality. The BS degree program in Construction Management will achieve excellence and recognition for high quality in teaching and learning, including the achievement of national accreditation. (A&T Strategic Goals 2, 3, and 6) (2) Program Productivity. The BS degree program in Construction Management will meet or exceed the University s goals for research/creative productivity, enrollment, retention, degree completion, and placement of graduates in jobs or graduate education. (A&T Strategic Goal 6 and vision for making a significant difference in the lives of those we educate) (3) Program Contributions to Community Engagement. The BS degree program in Construction Management will contribute appropriately to intellectual climate and creative exchange, professionalism, civic engagement, inclusiveness, cultural awareness, and respect for diversity. (A&T Strategic Goals 1, 2, 4, and 5) b. Program Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) (1) = G3 - Communication Skills. Students completing the BS degree program in Construction Management will exhibit effective communication skills (written, oral, graphic and interpersonal) appropriate for professionals in this field of study at the bachelor s level. (2) = G2 - Critical Thinking Skills. Students completing the BS degree program in Construction Management will effectively use quantitative and/or qualitative analytical problem-solving skills appropriate for professionals in this field of study at the bachelor s level. (3) = G1 - Disciplinary Expertise. Students completing the BS degree program in Construction Management will demonstrate a level of discipline-specific expertise (knowledge, skills, and professionalism) appropriate for professionals in this field of study at the bachelor s level. (4) = G4 - Research/Creative Engagement. Students completing the BS degree program in Construction Management will demonstrate ability to engage productively in the review and conduct of disciplinary research and creative professional activity appropriate for professionals in this field of study at the bachelor s level.
Assessment 2013-2014 and Plans of Action for 2014-2015 Academic Year CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM OUTCOMES PO 1: Program Quality. The BS degree program in Construction Management will achieve excellence and recognition for high quality in teaching and learning, including the achievement of national accreditation. (A&T Strategies Goals 2, 3, and 6). PO- 1: Assessment Measure The CM program will achieve accreditation through the Association of Technology and Applied Engineering (ATMAE) and American Council of Construction Education (ACCE) PO 1: Assessment Method Submit accreditation application to ATMAE and ACCE to meet national standard PO 1: Assessment Results CM program received accreditation from ACCE and continues to maintain accreditation through ATMAE PO 1: Action to be taken Maintain accreditation through ATMAE and ACCE PO 2 Program Productivity. The BS degree program in Construction Management will meet or exceed the University s goals for research/creative productivity, enrollment, retention, degree completion, and placement of graduates in jobs or graduate education. (A&T Strategic Goal 6 and vision for making a significant difference in the lives of those we educates) PO- 2: Assessment Measure The CM faculty will increase scholarly publications by 20% The CM faculty research productivity will increase by 5% as indicated by RAMSES The CM student enrollment will increase by 5% 85% of graduation senior will be employed within 90 days of graduation PO-2 Assessment Method The number of faculty scholarly referred publications The number of proposal submitted and funding received The new student enrollment Employment data
PO 2: Assessment Results Publications by faculty members increased by 15% 12% of proposals submitted were funded Number of new students increased by 8% 92% of graduates for 2013-2014 are employed in field PO 2: Action to be taken Continue to increase faculty publications to meet 2020 target Continue to improve student placement to 100% P0 3 Program Contributions to Community Engagement. The BS degree program in construction Management will contribute appropriately to intellectual climate and creative exchange, professionalism, civic engagement, inclusiveness, cultural awareness, and respect for diversity. (A&T Strategic Goals 1,2, 4,and 5) PO- 3: Assessment Measure Faculty will strengthen their civic engagement through community based projects Faculty will strengthen their international academic engagement through collaboration with international faculty counterpart PO 3 Assessment Method Survey the types of civic projects within the construction management program Survey the types of international collaboration undertaken by faculty in the construction management program PO 3: Assessment Results Special Projects currently underway o 2 FDA Projects o 1 DOT Project o 1 HUD Project International Academic Engagement o 2 international academic engagement projects in Africa PO 3: Action to be taken Continue to increase civic engagement projects Encourage continued international collaboration
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT SPECIAL NOTE: The Construction Management Program area is required by the University to transition from WEAVEonline (2009-2012) to Digital Measures (2012-2014). During 2012-2014 all courses were monitored for Communication Skills SLO 1 and Critical Thinking Skills SLO 2. During 2014-2015, SLOs 3 & 4 will be assessed relative to each of the SLOs for each course. 1. Oral Communication: CM 100 This is the beginning level course which promotes oral communication through presentations. A majority of the students had problems in presenting information in a logical order and keeping the class attention. Also, maintaining eye contact was a problem because they read directly from their slides. However, throughout the course they continue to improve on these deficiencies. The faculty will attend to these weaknesses by giving more assignments which student will be presenting and receive precise feedback through the rubrics provided for the course. Also, faculty will provide more data on how to write and logically present information which others can follow. 2. Written Communication: CM 150 A majority of the students had problems in demonstrating full knowledge of the subject and using graphics to reinforce and explain various aspects of their topic. Also, they had problems in presenting their assignments. Generally, 92% of the students exceeded the minimum requirement of 35/50 (70%). Most students had good grammar and appropriate content. A few students had little or no organizational patterns and it was difficult to deduce their central message when reading their 3-page paper. Also, some students did not follow the format and layout requirements. 3. Oral Communication: CM 150 88% of students during oral presentations were the lack of eye contact and confidence, most probably because this is a freshman level class. Also, some students used irrelevant graphics that did not adequately contribute to their presentation. A few students were unable to provide detailed descriptions which was an indication of their lack of knowledge of the subject matter. Continue to emphasize the need for students to own a textbook and the complete set of prints. Provide students with tips to improve their written and oral communication skills. Faculty will spend more time explaining the requirements of assignments and their relevance to their career. Students will be given the opportunity to explore the internet (photos and videos) to enhance their understanding of construction materials and specifications. This should improve their ability to read and interpret blueprints. Teamwork and peer teaching will be implemented regularly using case studies. The Construction Materials class should be made a pre-requisite to this class. It will be more effective and efficient to teach students who already have some
basic knowledge on materials and methods. It will be easier and faster to teach a student about the symbol for a steel beam, if they already know what a steel beam is compare that to spending the next 3 minutes to explaining what the steel beam is and then moving on to the course objective itself which is, how does the steel beam look on a floor framing plan? 4. Written Communication: CM 160 - This is the second time that this course has been offered. Emphasis was placed on scope of work and specifications. Overall, students seemed to have increased their ability to read blue prints. In regard to the writing assignments, 100% of the students exceeded the minimum requirements (35/50= 70%). Most of the students conducted detailed research and complied with the assignment requirements. A few students did not follow the format and layout specified in the assignment. 5. Oral Communication: CM 160 95% of the students exceeded the minimum requirements for this assignment (28/40=70%). Students were well prepared and effectively delivered presentations in a professional manner. A few students struggled with eye contact and low confidence levels. Continue to make it mandatory for students to own their own textbooks and blueprints. Also, provide students with a lot of blueprint reading practice assignments in class. Continue to give students the opportunity to work and conduct presentations in class as teams and as individuals to increase their confidence levels and promote teamwork. This class should always be offered in a classroom with computers. This provides students easy access to photos and videos of materials and methods that they may see in their blueprints and specifications. 6. Oral Communication: CM190 Most of our students are able to complete oral presentations. But there are still some students (16%) who continue to struggle with the mechanics of the presentation, especially with grammar. Also, during the study in this course, students had the privilege to visit a construction materials store and to experience some laboratory tests on materials. They had enough materials to meet the objective. 88% of the students made a C+ or better. The faculty will address these issues by giving more assignments that emphasize writing skills and also promote a better understanding of the subject matter by letting students select topics from among several for their presentations. The Faculty will add some YouTube video on precise topics to enhance student learning. Students made a C+ or better in the course. 7. Written Communication: CM 215 - Although students seemed engaged in class, the overall class performance was not good. Students were not studying regularly on the course material on their own. Ninety-two percent of the students met the minimum
requirements for this assignment (28/40 = 70%). One major challenge with this assignment was the lack of compliance with the APA style. Also, some students did not include adequate graphics to support the text. 8. Oral Communication: CM 215 Some students continue to show lack of confidence and were not knowledgeable of the content of their own presentations. This is an indication that they probably waited to the last minute to complete this project. Students should be required to have the pre-requisites before taking this course. Require the introduction of assignments that will entice students to view and reflect on the content of the construction related videos. This will allow them to actually see some of the common materials, methods and codes commonly used in light construction. More time in class for students to work on their final project under direct supervision may have to be considered. Allowing students to complete their final project on an individual basis, rather than as a team effort, may also have to be required. 9. Written Communication CM 216 The students did not perform as well as expected. Only 72% of the class met the minimum requirement of 70% on this assignment. Although, students were given adequate time, many of them submitted incomplete papers. Their descriptions were too simple and scattered; with insufficient references. They did not include adequate graphics, nor did they comply with the APA style of writing. 100% of the students exceeded the minimum requirement of 70% on this assignment. All the students seemed to have enjoyed this observation project and were able to share the knowledge gained to the class, with a lot of confidence. There will be more time and increased focus on equipment and tools utilization. More class time will be dedicated to the final project. Also, students will continue to observe actual construction projects that are in progress. This project has been very successful as it exposes students to the real life construction industry environment, as well as to the common materials, methods, equipment and other resources used in the industry 10. Oral Communication: CM256 Significant presentation skills are required from students. Students are required to work in a group and present their findings using PowerPoint software. Over 98% of the students performed very well as measured by the assessment rubric on oral class presentations with all students receiving higher than a 3 on the assessment indicator. The concern observed among all students was their inability to make eye contact and speak with authority during presentation. Overall, students rated themselves 3.5 on a scale of 4.0.
To enhance the students presentation skills, faculty will continue to emphasize the importance of eye contact and authoritative speaking during oral presentations. 11. Written Communication: CM256 students were given various writing assignments order to improve their communication skills. The written assignments given were completed satisfactory by 95% of the students as measured by the assessment rubric. The few exceptions were those students who did not attend class on a regular basis. Overall, students rated themselves 3.4 on a scale of 4.0. Faculty will introduce more written assignments with references and citations using the American Psychological Association (APA) style documentation. 12. Critical thinking and Analytical Skills: CM 256 - Students were again challenged to think outside of the box. Students had to re-engineer their way of assessing a construction problem through the use of 3D software. The tool used is 3D, 4D and 5D software application which students learn in an Open Laboratory Environment. This Building Information Modeling (BIM) software requires intense understanding of how BIM tools and processes are used for analysis and critical thinking for problem solving. The result showed that 25% of the students met the target. The degree to which the faculty and students met the expected learning outcomes was measured at the end of the course. Analysis of Student Self-Assessment of Learning Outcomes showed that students achieved a composite rating of 2.9/4.0. Similarly the faculty achieved 4.09/5.0 as rated by the students Course Evaluation Survey. Departmental acceptable rating is 2.8. Related Action Plan for 2014-2015 Introduction of the BIM tools and processes are needed in the early weeks of the semester. Students will need to have access to a laboratory seven days per week. Faculty will need to expose BIM tools and processes through experimental learning modules. The lecture time period needs to be changed from 50 minutes to 90 minutes and from 90 minutes to 3 hours for lab 13. Oral Communication: CM 318 The students were more knowledgeable of presenting due to their past experiences; however 17% had problems with precise pronunciation of terms and a clear knowledge to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the estimation of construction projects. The faculty will address these issues by giving more assignments and involving other industry leaders to present estimating problems that stimulate better knowledge of the subject matter. More critical thinking skills through various estimation projects will be provided to students during the semester.
14. Effective Use of Critical thinking and Analytical Skills: CM 320 --During the spring 2013, students were given various assignments involving literature review, written assignments and class discussions of current issues and trends in construction safety and health. Students also developed safety program as their terminal project. The result showed that all students met the target. The degree to which the faculty and students meet the expected learning outcomes was measured at the end of the course. Analysis of Student Self-Assessment of Learning Outcomes showed that students achieved a composite rating of 3.6/4.0. Similarly the faculty achieved 3.8/4.0 as rated by the students. Departmental acceptable rating is 2.5. Related Action Plan for 2013-2014 The faculty will place more emphasis on writing mechanics as well as proper citations for papers. More case studies will be included in class discussions to enable students to develop stronger analytical reasoning. 15. Communication Skills: CM 320 - During the spring 2013, students were given various writing assignments in order to improve their communication skills. Assignments included both written and oral. On the terminal written project, over 90% of the students performed very well as measured by the assessment rubric. Also, on oral class presentations, all students received higher than a 3 on assessment indicator. The only minor concern observed among few students was their inability to make eye contact during presentation. Overall, students rated themselves 3.6 on a scale of 4 on learning how to communicate safety concerns effectively for various stakeholders through oral, written, and visual means. Related Action Plan for 2013-2014 To enhance the students presentation skills, faculty will continue to emphasize the importance of eye contact during oral presentation. More assignments requiring oral discussion and presentation will be given in class. To enhance improved written communication skills, more essay-type questions will be given in class as well. 16. Effective Utilization of Information Technology: CM 320 - During the spring 2013, students were tasked with using information technology to identify, evaluate, and use the gathered information to complete certain class assignments. All students met the target as measured by the course success indicator. Related Action Plan for 2013-2014 The faculty will continue to stress the importance of information technology in construction safety and health. The faculty will also continue to stress the need for ethical use of information gathered through online sources.
17. Written Communication: CM412 A majority of the students are adept at preparing term projects. There is still one area where only 40% of the students show exemplary skills that has to do with referencing and citing references according to the APA style. The rest do a satisfactory work. The faculty will try to boost the majority of students into doing exemplary work with referencing and citation by issuing additional homework assignments that require the use of the APA-style referencing. 18. Oral Communication: CM450 Most of our students are able to utilize oral communications in their presentations. There are still some students (13%) who continue to struggle with the mechanics of the presentation, especially with grammar. More than half of the class used graphics in their presentations superfluously or used graphics that rarely have any relevance to the presentation. Furthermore, about 8% of the students did not have an understanding of the subject area of their presentations. The faculty will address these issues by giving more assignments that emphasize writing skills and also promote a better understanding of the subject matter by letting students select topics from among several for their presentations. 19. Oral Communication: CM394 A majority of the students improved on their presentation skills. During the final presentations, only 15% of the students had difficulties with their slides and eye contact. Also, 12% had difficulties in pronunciations and grammatical errors. Also, 14% of the students did not respond to questions and elaborate in detail to the questions asked by other students. The faculty will address these issues by improving students presentations and utilize critical thinking skills through more real life problems (case study/research) which should help develop their communication/leadership skills. 20. Oral Communication: CM460 Significant presentation skills are required from students. Students are required to work in a group and develop solutions to case studies. Each solution is presented in a charrette format to a diverse audience of students, academia and industry professionals. Over 90% of the students performed very well as measured by the assessment rubric. Also, in oral class presentations, all students received higher than a 3 on the assessment indicator. The concern observed among all students was their inability to make eye contact and speak with authority during presentation. Overall, students rated themselves 3.8 on a scale of 4.0.
To enhance the students presentation skills, faculty will continue to emphasize the importance of eye contact and authoritative speaking during oral presentations. 21. Written Communication: CM460 This class does not rely on extensive written assignments. Students are required to prepare the content for oral presentations rather than a formal written report. A few written assignments were given and completed satisfactory by 95% of the students. The few exceptions were those students who did not attend class on a regular basis. Faculty will introduce more written assignments with referencing and citation using the American Psychological Association (APA)-style documentation. 22. Critical thinking and Analytical Skills: CM 460 - Students were challenged to think outside of the box. Student had to collect data and to support their research and conclusions. The technique used is a charrette. Charrette development requires intensive analysis and critical thinking for problem solving. Charrette development also requires group dynamics and interaction. The result showed that all students met the target. The degree to which the faculty and students met the expected learning outcomes was measured at the end of the course. Analysis of Student Self-Assessment of Learning Outcomes showed that students achieved a composite rating of 3.8/4.0. Similarly the faculty achieved 4.8/5.0 as rated by the students Course Evaluation Survey. Departmental acceptable rating is 2.8. Related Action Plan for 2014-2015 More Real World case studies will be included in class discussions to enable students to develop stronger analytical reasoning. 23. Disciplinary Expertise Students will demonstrate management skills of scheduling, planning and controlling of construction projects. Related Measures: Management Skills Students will demonstrate their success in a co-op position in the construction industry to the satisfaction of the faculty and mentor from industry. Capstone assignments, summary letters of evaluation measuring mastery and preparation for the field monitored by industry mentor. Source of Evidence: Capstone course assignments are measuring mastery. 80% of the students received a 3.0 out of a possible 4.0 on the portfolio developed during the capstone experience.
Related Action Plan for 2014-2015 The faculty will modify the rubrics that are used to assess the student progress in the Seminar and Capstone to better indicate student success in the internship or co-op programs. CM Assessment Report 9-15-14 (Annual Assessment)