Increasing the Effectiveness of Active Learning Exercises in the Construction Management Classroom

This article discusses ways to assist faculty in increasing their effectiveness in providing Construction Management (CM) instruction using an active learning model. The authors write that the active learning model is particularly effective with CM students who are often action and results oriented. The authors believe this model engages students because they remain physically and mentally active through group activities, reflection, and drawing their own analogies to construction management. The article includes a list of key components for increasing active learning effectiveness, which can be applied to any CM course. The authors utilize a qualitative evaluation survey of students from two CM Management classes to support their position. 

 Key Words:  Active Learning, Experiential Education, Leadership, Team Building, Construction Education

Introduction 

Many Construction Management (CM) students are kinesthetic learners and prefer to learn by doing.  They are often drawn to the CM profession because they like things, which are concrete, real, and above all “doable.”  Simply reading or listening to a lecture does not engage these students --CM students must experience it. “To learn something well, it helps to hear it, see it, ask questions about it, and discuss it with others. Above all students need to “do it” – figure things out by themselves, come up with examples, try out skills, and do assignments that depend on the knowledge they already have or must acquire.” (Silberman, 1996). The authors of this article put this position to the test in two CM Management classes of fourth year students during the spring and fall 2003. Each class had twenty students. Their intent was to learn how to increase effectiveness in accomplishing learning objectives through active learning exercises..

Approaches to Active Learning 

The author is a Construction Management faculty member who believes in the power of active learning to engage CM students in the learning process. In his management classes, he prefers to provide his students with learning experiences.  This study focuses on the teaching of leadership and team building which he believes are important for preparing future leaders. Two essentials are “know yourself and know your people”. To that end, he and the co-author collaborated on a one-day workshop at the University’s “Chumash Challenge”, Outdoor Leadership and Team Building Course and four one-hour sessions during regular class time. He wanted his students to “know themselves” first hand by identifying their own strengths, weaknesses, and leadership style. He also wanted his students to learn to “know their people” by understanding what motivates others to follow them. 

The co-author is an Outdoor Leadership and Team Building course facilitator trained in experiential education. With this background, she conducts workshops and in-class sessions on the fundamentals of effective leadership. She does so using group initiatives and hands-on activities wherein students must work together to overcome a physical or mental challenge. After each activity, she and the students discuss how they did, what they could have done better, and how this lesson may be applied to a construction project.  

“…university teaching is not to be an abstractor of encyclopedias, but to teach students to learn and think.” (McKeachie, 2002). Experiential education is based on the theory that our brains and bodies are indeed connected, that new information is best retained in the brain when the body experiences it. Students retain information longer when their whole being is engaged. Our brains alone simply comprehend the information for the moment. Our brains and bodies combined retain the information for future applications. For example, most people can go twenty years without riding a bike, then get on one, and ride it without any problem. However, to recall what’s in the Preamble to the US Constitution or other information from their high school civics class is difficult. 

Method: Building Trust 

The students had met in class only a couple of times prior to the Outdoor Leadership and Team Building course and did not know each other very well. The author accompanied them and participated in the workshop with his students. After a couple of icebreaker exercises, the co-author began activities wherein the students had to physically help one another.  Initially, they took turns being blindfolded and guiding a partner through a forest of oaks and sycamores alongside and over a creek. It was clear who had been an effective leader by how dry (or not) their partner’s shoes remained after crossing the creek. 

Analogy Training

 From this initial “trust walk”, the co-author asked the students to evaluate their partner’s leadership style. She asked, “What did they do that made following them easier? What things did they do that helped build trust?” From this point, she asked the students to apply this experience to managing employees on a construction project. “What would make you want to follow the directions of this person if they were your boss? What are they doing well that they should keep doing when they are in the workforce? What could they get better at?” This activity lays the groundwork for learning what kind of leaders they are.  Students experienced the activity first, discussed what happened as a group, and then gave their leader written feedback. They were instructed to let their partners know what they were doing well and where they could improve.

 Later in the day, the students took turns leading the entire group in more complex exercises, which were analogous, to what might be experienced on a construction project. In one activity, they wore harnesses and were attached to ropes as they worked in pairs to climb a giant cable ladder four stories tall. This activity is almost impossible to do without climbers helping each other. Some of the rungs are five feet apart and move all over the place when climbers attempt to do a pull-up to the next rung. Students had to ask for and offer help. If they did not, they struggled on their own as two individuals, climbed separately, and eventually became too fatigued. The majority of these “individuals” did not reach the top. Successful participants, however, planned beforehand how they would help each other and improvised new ways to do so on the ladder. In the discussion afterward, students drew the analogy of how management and employees are a partnership working toward the same end in construction. The only effective way to finish on time and in budget is to help each other. The final lesson was that asking for help is integral to success, instead of just trying to tough it out on one’s own.  

Method: The Active Learning Exercises

 For the next four weeks, the author, co-author and the students met for one-hour sessions during regular class time. The co-author introduced the students to additional, more complex active learning exercises at outdoor locations near the classroom. Frequently, the facilitator assigned students to formally observe the group and record their observations. They were prompted from a prepared observation sheet to look for such things as whether the group took time to plan and establish roles, whether they did any contingency planning, and how they treated one another in general. At the conclusion of the four exercises students filled out a qualitative evaluation survey. They were asked to rate the effectiveness of each exercise on a five-point scale from High, Medium-High, Medium, Medium-Low, to Low, plus make constructive criticisms and comments. The description, purpose, and a summary of the student evaluations for each of these activities follow. 

The Bucket 

Description--Half the group is designated as “laborers” and left in a designated spot out of sight of the problem.  The other half is designated “managers” and led to the problem. They are also told that the laborers will be blindfolded and the only ones allowed touching any tools and attempting any solutions provided by the managers. Their problem is to seize a five gallon bucket full of water which is precariously perched on a stump fifteen feet away and bring it back without spilling any of the water. No one may cross this distance, so the team is provided with different length boards, bicycle inner tubes, and a rope. When the managers have a plan, the blindfolded laborers come over and are told what to do. The managers instruct the workers to line up near the boards and tie the lengths together using the bicycle inner tubes. The managers tell the laborers to make a support, which can go under the handle, lift up the bucket, and bring it back. One tube is tied to the end of the board to provide a grip to keep the bucket’s handle from sliding off. Repeated attempts to go under the handle only succeed in knocking the handle over. The co-author then has the blindfolds removed and the laborers start coming up with solutions of their own.  

Purpose--This activity was designed for students to see the behavioral changes, which occur in employees when they are able to participate in generating solutions. In the beginning, the managers were the only people who could “see” the problem. Employees trusted the methods and procedures they were instructed to perform and gave no input. When the laborers were allowed to see the problem, they started contributing their ideas—some of which the managers had not considered. It was important to show that managers do not always have the best vantage point from which to make procedural decisions. Sometimes, they can get valuable input from their workers. The students also experienced what it is like when managers don’t ask employees for their ideas and how that affects morale. 

Student Evaluation--The students wrote that the managers need to “see” or “know” their employees’ abilities and attributes in order to best utilize them in particular projects. They also wrote that managers need to communicate with employees at all times when coordinating a challenging operation.   

They added that the exercise gave them “a good idea how it feels to take command blindly [and] how it is necessary to involve your whole team in the planning process." When the employees were blindfolded, they did not contribute any ideas to the plan and they continued to be quiet even when the managers clearly didn’t know what to do. This lack of communication hurt the overall performance of the team. When the employees’ blindfolds were lifted, they contributed their ideas and all involved were able to contribute to the end goal. There was a greater feeling of teamwork and a drive to succeed.   

One student recommended that the exercise be videotaped so the blindfolded students could see the whole activity. 

The students rated the effectiveness of this activity a “Medium-High” and wrote they learned the importance of communicating the "big picture" to employees to get the most use of their ideas and productivity. 

The Tent Pole 

Description--The class was split up into managers, laborers and one supervisor. The managers were told that the laborers would be standing on both sides of a long and very lightweight tent pole. It would be resting on their outstretched index fingers and no laborer could lose finger contact with it as they lowered it to the ground. The managers viewed the operation from an elevated position but could not talk to the laborers. The managers communicated through the supervisor who could move between the two locations. The laborers were told to do as the supervisor instructed. The laborers attempted to lower the pole from waist level to the ground, yet, as if possessed the pole rose higher and higher. It would not go down. Each time the laborers made sure their fingers were in contact with the pole, their movements, though subtle, made the pole go up. At first, members watched their own index fingers and blamed others when the pole went up. The laborers became frustrated because at the outset the task looked easy. The group became successful when they all tuned into the supervisor’s voice and watched his hand as a visual aid, somewhat like an orchestra conductor, cuing them to lower the pole to the ground. 

Purpose--This activity showed the effectiveness of having one person coordinate the execution of a plan.  

Student Evaluation--This activity taught the students how employees’ morale and productivity suffer when they are told what to do and not allowed to contribute during the planning or execution of a project. 

Naturally, the laborers did not receive this exercise as well as the managers. Students wrote they would have liked it better if everyone were able to collaborate, that is, if the laborers could have talked directly to the managers or vise versa. A few of the laborers found that they felt inferior to the managers because they were not allowed to solve the problem themselves, and the managers were watching them from a higher location.  

 Some students rated the tent pole activity “Low” for effectiveness and others rated it “High” depending on their role.  Some laborers felt emotional and frustrated with the managers. 

The Web 

Description—In this exercise the group must lift or carry each of its members, one at a time, through a large “spider” web of rope suspended vertically off the ground. Only two team members may use each hole before it is closed off. Some of the holes are six feet off the ground. They vary in size. No one may touch the web at any time. The first member managed to get through the web on his own by choosing one of the larger openings closer to the ground. With members on both sides, the team passed others through upper portions of the web. Once through the web, members had to stay on the other side. The last member left had to get through it successfully alone. 

Purpose--This activity focused on planning and teamwork. If the beginning, middle and end phases were not planned before execution began, it would be very difficult to get the last person through. At the same time, the team had to be flexible and adapt when the plan didn’t work at particular times. Though the activity seemed to place all participants on level ground, it was helpful for a leader to emerge and organize the game plan. Students felt the activity was beneficial in understanding the need for knowing your goal ahead of time and devising a complete action plan to succeed.   

Student Evaluation--The students liked this activity because the managers and the employees were all involved in the planning process together. Once execution of the plan began, each person had a role and understood how it contributed to the plan. As a result, each member felt important. 

Some of the students felt that the facilitator was “too picky on what counted as a touch" and that there should have been more structure as to when others could talk. 

They gave the web activity a “Medium-High” rating for effectiveness. They felt it brought the members of the team much closer together. 

The Tree Design 

Description—Using ten 5 by 7 - index cards, the team was told to create a symbol or logo, which represented CM. This group elected to shape the cards like a hammer. The co-author told them to place this symbol up high on the trunk of a large tree so they would leave their mark on the campus. In addition, each card had questions on it pertaining to effective leadership, which had to be answered by the team before the symbol was placed up in the tree.  Students organized themselves into three groups based on their own perceived leadership style with each group having a specific task in the completion of the project. The three groups were composed of those students who tended to analyze problems first before taking action answered the card’s questions; those students who tended to verbalize problems before acting created the symbol; and those leaders who preferred a more hands-on approach to problem solving constructed the symbol on the tree. During construction, the rest of the team provided the safety or spotting for anyone off the ground. No ropes, ladders, or harnesses were used. 

Purpose--This final activity tied the concepts of several of the earlier activities together.  Students were asked to work together from within their groups to accomplish a common goal. It was a final activity because it ended with a group symbol, a binding icon that united the class as a team. It was an effective, simple way of showing how things get done. It required everyone to help out and showed that, though a single person may be performing the task at any given time, each person would not be able to succeed without the help of the team.  

Student Evaluation-- The students felt that this activity was a nice way to finish off the quarter. They wrote that it really brought closure to the project and they were able to demonstrate the knowledge they learned. 

A couple of first year students were visiting the class on the day of this exercise. They wrote it was difficult doing this activity with people they didn’t know. Others wrote that the time limit took away some of the benefit of the mental portion of the activity. And lastly, some of them wanted the activity to be more difficult and get more people involved. 

The students rated this activity a “Medium” for effectiveness, but stated that it "left a final mark on our overall class activities," meaning that it helped them integrate the concepts learned in the other exercises. 

Results: Key Components of Active Learning Effectiveness 

From these active learning exercises and the student evaluations, the authors concluded that the following key components could be applied to any CM course. These components will assist instructors who want to improve the overall effectiveness of their active learning exercises. 

1. Build Trust: Conduct a warm-up activity at the beginning of the class.  Student introductions, neighbor introductions, quick, icebreaker-type exercises, all encourage communication and cooperation among the participants. Building trust bonds the students to each other and the instructor. It sets a positive tone for getting the most from the learning exercises that follow. Students wrote:

2. State Purpose: Introduce each exercise by clearly stating its purpose. This provides students with a frame of reference for the activity. Allow for “Think” time and planning. Be available for clarifying questions in the beginning stages. Students commented that: 

§         “Early direction was most helpful to me.”

3. Communicate Value: Communicate the value of participation, i.e. “What’s in it for them…” They wrote:

4. Discuss and Reflect: Always make plenty of time for reflection and group discussion. Have the students connect the activities and its purpose to their studies and career in construction management. Do so with small group discussions as well as written personal reflections.  Students stated:

5. Go Outside: Go outside for the activities when appropriate. Use areas near the classroom, to stimulate and engage students. Most “learning” at universities is experienced inside. Outside activities stimulate other senses and lend themselves to more ‘real world’ connections or analogies,” particularly for CM students. They said: 

§         “It was a great outdoor learning environment.”

§         “[A benefit was that it was] an out-of-class exercise.” 

6. Ask questions: Ask open-ended questions to get the students oriented and engaged. When students start drawing analogies themselves, i.e. experiencing “the ah-ha” moment, they will retain the lesson better because the learning comes from within them. However, instructors need to structure the debrief such that if they “don’t get it,” the lesson of the activity is discovered by the students from the instructor’s more detailed, leading wrap-up questions. Students wrote: 

§         “[It’s] easy to hear a teacher say it or read it. [But you] don’t truly understand it until you live it.”

§         “[What helped me the most were the] small workshops during class.  It helped me understand the need for good communication and planning amongst groups.” 

7. Use Observers: Often times, student learning is enhanced by observing an activity of their peers or from listening to another peer’s observations and evaluation. Document the activity for review by videotaping when appropriate. Both actions can improve the effectiveness of the critique made during the discussion time. They commented: 

§         “[A benefit is that you have a] better understanding of your peers.”

§         “It really helped seeing things from another side.” 

Discussion 

From the authors’ experience, simply lecturing CM students on construction management topics is clearly less effective than getting them actively involved in the learning process. Learning is physical and mental. Our whole being must be involved for the lesson to be retained. Holding a pen and sitting in a chair while listening to a lecture is passive learning. It has its place for some curricula and some types of learners, but in general CM students prefer getting involved in the process and taking action.   

It is best that they are naturally that way, because as construction managers, they will be expected to act, make decisions, solve problems, manage people, and build projects. They will benefit from being taught the same way. “Students in college now will face changes and advances in the workplace and in the world at large that we cannot even guess at today. It is thus more important than ever to switch from an emphasis on rote knowledge of content, which is quickly outdated, to an emphasis on the processes of thinking, learning, and questioning. This switch from content to process is required by the massive changes in what college students need to know and need to be able to do when they leave school if they are to succeed at a time when the only certainty is the rapidly accelerating rate of change.” (Halpern, 1994). 

Experiential Learning, like all approaches to education, has its limits. In teaching people-based topics such as team building, leadership, and management it is much easier to implement than with the fact-based topics found in accounting, law, engineering, or math courses. But, all courses can benefit to some extent from actively engaging the student in the subject material during class time. “Much of the maturing power of experiential education is due to its integrative potential. Unfortunately, in most traditional classrooms a student passively sits and inefficiently absorbs information that is not integrated with his experience. As wise educators have always known, a critical educational principle that furthers healthy growth is to provide reflection upon experiential types of learning.” (Kraft, 1985). 

The experiential learning approach can serve as a “guiding framework for effectively responding to three key challenges facing diversity education – providing a holistic education, addressing the dilemma of individualism and equality in the classroom, and providing a safe climate for learning. The dual knowledge theory of Experiential Learning Theory depicts learning as a holistic and integrated process that attends to what learners think as well as what they feel, perceive, and do.” (Sims, 1995) 

Many CM Faculty already use project or problem-based learning in their classrooms. Problem-based learning is only one form of active learning. The activities themselves can be as varied as peer teaching, pair sharing, collaborative group learning, skill development, full class discussion or debate, etc. Student participation in active learning exercises can be individual based, peer-to-peer, or in small groups. They can last from only a couple of minutes to the entire class period, but generally average 10 to 15 minutes. The exercises are usually bracketed between a brief introduction and a follow-up lecture and discussion on the significant concepts for that class period. 

Active learning exercises are meant to engage the student during class time, where as homework assignments reinforce the subject concepts and principles with practice outside class. Activities, projects, group discussions, debate, role-playing, and case study discussions can all be used as active learning exercises. Many educational references exist that describe the variety of active learning exercises that can be used effectively in the CM classroom. Mel Silberman’s book, “Active Learning: 101 Strategies to Teach Any Subject”(Silberman, 1996) has been particularly helpful to the authors. 

Conclusion 

CM instruction is most effective when it includes simulations of real world scenarios and activities. Just as commercial pilots train on flight simulators before actually flying commercial aircraft, CM students must practice leading others, solving problems, and making decisions, as much as possible before they graduate. They need to be “experienced” to become successful leaders in the construction industry. The effective use of the active learning model in the CM classroom can give them this “experience.” 

References  

Kraft, Richard J. and Mitchell Sakofs. The Theory of Experiential Education. 1985.

Silverman, Mel. Active Learning: 101 Strategies to Teach Any Subject. 1996.