Learning Through Teamwork

The construction industry is project based and yet has a poor record in project management. There appears to be an inability to manage effectively, which often leads to time and cost overruns and inferior quality services/products. This may be due in part to the traditional teaching methods adopted in undergraduate programmes, which foster a surface approach to learning. This case study is an attempt to try to address some of the weaknesses in traditional teaching methodologies, which need to be overcome to provide effective project management skills, principally team building, leadership and budgeting. The case study is based around concepts of experiential learning in a competitive environment, practised through repeating an activity over a number of periods. It relies on a simulation game which provides information sources and a mathematical interactive computer model to generate self learning material and stimulate the learning through teamwork approach. The aim is to manage a company with an existing portfolio of projects whilst competing for new project work. It is introduced in the module , Construction Managementʹ which is offered as part of the final year for the honours degree programmes in Architectural Technology and Management, Building Services and Energy Engineering, Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering. This approach may be modified for implementation in modules which develop both managerial and technical skills.