Success Factors in Distance Education: A Case of Master of Construction Management at East Carolina University (original) (raw)
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Distance education has gone through rapid expansion over the years. Many Australian universities are pushing the use of distance education in delivering construction education programs. However, the critical success factors (CSFs) in distance learning construction programs (DLCPs) are not fully understood. More importantly, students' demographic features may affect the selection of distance education technologies. Situation-matching strategies should therefore be taken by universities or institutions with different student cohorts. A survey is adopted in Central Queensland University (CQU) to identify and rank the critical success factors in a DLCP in Australia where there is a significant number of earner-learners and students with low socioeconomic background. The findings suggest that the most important CSFs include access to computers and internet, reliability of web-based learning sites, high relevance and clarity of learning materials and assessment items, the availability of web-based learning sites that can be easily manipulated, and the capability of the instructors to provide well-structured courses. The findings also suggest that students with low socioeconomic background have more rigorous requirements on interface design, instructors' support, and the integration of practical components into courses. The results provide good guidance of the design and delivery of DLCPs and will be useful for universities and institutions that are seeking to implement the distance mode in construction education.
The main purposes of this study were to investigate whether the distance learning would be viable in construction education by evaluating the current learning environment, accordingly to determine the most suitable form of distance learning program. Students' responses indicated that, most teaching assistants gave them careful attention with easy and clear explanation, in addition interaction with other students, they emphasized as close friends without embarrassment and restrictions in communicating. The strength of recorded lectures is time flexibility to better accommodate them with full understanding, on the other hand off-campus notes offered them detailed explanation with practical examples, finally attendance in classes facilitate well and better understanding.
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This paper describes the impact of the change from face-to-face classes to non-face-to-face classes with students of a postgraduate course at the Universitat Politècnica de València. This study is carried out in the subjects of installation, organization and quality assurance in construction and construction procedures of both degree in public works engineering and civil engineering. This course develops the student's skills to integrate into the studies department of a construction company, as Site Manager or Production Director, from a journey through the different phases of the project-construction process. As part of this topic, the methods of scheduling activities on site are discussed. In the traditional faceto-face method, several problems are solved, requiring that students have previously learned programming techniques: arrow networks, precedence networks, and how to apply the PERT method to statistically obtain the probability of completion of a building or the completion of activities related. Due to the current situation of the pandemic caused by COVID-19, face-to-face teaching has changed virtual classes in a very short time. This has required a radical shift towards distance education. This paper explains how this change has been made, what new methods have been used to teach the contents corresponding to the scheduling of assignments, and what the students' perception has been. The quality of the education received and the difficulties encountered in obtaining the knowledge and skills attributed to this subject are analyzed.
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In an attempt to bring the unique talents of various construction industry project participants together in a more productive and integrated manner, the Online Remote Construction Management (ORCM) project commenced in July 1999 proposing to test, field trial and/or evaluate the implementation of various Internetbased Construction Project Management (ICPM) systems and information and communication technologies (ICT) on four case study projects (CS 1 to 4) over a two-year period, aiming, in general, to demonstrate leadership in facilitating the use of online technologies for the design, management and construction of building and civil construction projects. This paper provides (a) final results obtained from two ORCM Surveys implemented on the four CS projects and (b) a list of 'Best Practice Guidelines' that are critical in helping ensure successful implementation of ICT tools and/or ICPM systems on geographically dispersed (remote) civil and building construction projects. These 'Best Practice Guidelines' help reinforce the need for further research and development (R&D) of (a) innovative ICT tools and ICPM systems, (b) identifying ways to overcome industry cultural 'barriers' and 'modifying' traditional work 'habits'; and (c) identifying improved implementation procedures and application opportunities within the construction industry.
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