BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
PEDAGOGY
Construction management courses are taught using a variety of pedagogical models. These include theory-led teaching, case-method education and project-based/team-based teaching.
Teaching based on exposition of theory is applied to engineering and construction science. Fundamentals in math and physics, statics and dynamics, mechanics of materials, estimating, scheduling, planning, and construction operations are necessary prerequisites to the development and application of construction management skills.
Case-method teaching utilizes real-world business experiences in order to demonstrate the application of general principles and to apply them to specific problems posed in the course of instruction. This pedagogy is used in the teaching of construction contracts and administration, safety and business law.
Project-based and team-based education is experiential; students learn by doing, much as they would in a natural sciences laboratory class. Project-based education also provides students an opportunity to learn how to assemble and coordinate necessary information, assert authority and delegate responsibility. This is particularly important in construction management, in which the essential tasks are the management of people and information.
It is very common in construction management courses for all pedagogical approaches to be employed. The construction management faculty brings together theory-based instruction and an intimate understanding of state-of-the-art construction management practices.
The City of New York provides a universe of projects of all types that are readily available to students to serve as a virtual laboratory. Drawings and specifications are made available to students for classroom study and before visiting project sites. Faculty who are actively involved in those projects discuss the many unique and special problems encountered on these projects, as well as potential solutions. Field visits to project sites are an essential part of the educational process.
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Pedagogy
