Teaching lean construction for university student(s) (original) (raw)
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Teaching Lean Construction – Perspectives on Theory and Practice
This paper builds on the IGLC paper, "Different Perspectives on Teaching Lean Construction," presented last year by Tsao et al. that documented teaching approaches from three different Lean Construction (LC) university course offerings. It aggregated the approaches taken by the course offerings, the Lean Construction Institute (LCI), and the Associated General Contractors of America to develop recommendations for learning modules, outcomes, and strategies for an introductory LC university course. This paper provides four additional distinct perspectives to continue the conversation about teaching LC in a university setting. It illustrates the authors' differences in teaching approaches, experiences, and lessons learned from course offerings in the United States and Lebanon. The paper offers additional ideas for providing "proof of concept" to students and further illustrates how teaching LC effectively requires a combination of readings, lectures, discussions...
The Evolution of Lean Construction Education (Part 1 of 2): At US-Based Universities
26th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction, 2018
Effectively transferring lean knowledge and skills to owners, architects, engineers, and constructors (OAEC) requires behavioral changes within an industry that has been legitimately criticized for entrenched practices and low productivity. Documenting how successful that knowledge transfer is taking place can be helpful to those wishing to efficiently introduce lean into their own OAEC organizations. Lean educational efforts within academic settings have been brought to light through earlier publications. This research identifies the content of lean construction courses from five US-based universities to add to the seven previously documented. Tabulated results revealed that: (a) the content of lean curricula is evolving as grading formats, types of readings, and numbers and types of simulations have grown; and (b) lean curricula as defined by the Associated General Contractors (AGC) lean certification program is starting to permeate academic coursework. This may be a testament that AGC lean certification is providing some advantage in career placement for students. Investigation of the evolution of lean education within academia helps us better understand a driver of change as students enter the OAEC industry following graduation. The intent of this paper is to document this moment in time, as well as to raise a question about the potential impact of curriculum standardization on future continuous improvement initiatives with respect to lean construction philosophy, methods, and tools, in the OAEC industry.
Some directions for developing construction management training programmes on lean construction
The consolidation of the Lean Construction theory depends on the application of its principles and concepts by practitioners. Only feedback from the construction industry itself can support further research on the analysis and adaptation of the Lean Production principles to the construction process. Therefore, it is necessary to work on construction managers education in order to incorporate the lean production concepts and approaches in their daily practice. This paper describes an ongoing research project concerned with the development of construction management training programmes on lean construction, aiming at fostering changes of paradigm in process management. An exploratory study on the learning process of undergraduate students was carried out, focusing mainly on the relationship between teacher and students along lectures dealing with lean construction concepts and principles. The study has indicated that it is relatively straightforward for the students to understand and to apply some basic concepts like process, operation, conversion and flow activities and the general concept of waste. But it has also pointed out that it is not so easy for them to understand and comprehensively incorporate the lean construction principles and approaches. This paper discusses the complex problem connected to the change of paradigm and the learning process involved in the introduction of the lean construction theory in construction management training programmes.
This is a short and rather hasty review of the implications of some educational and management learning theories for the implementation of Lean Construction (LC).
LEARNING HOW TO LEARN LEAN CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES
This paper discusses some theoretical issues concerning an ongoing research project which aims to develop directions for learning Lean Construction concepts and principles. Among the reasons for carrying out this study is the need to introduce such concepts and principles into construction practice, in order to foster the development of a Lean Construction theory.
TEACHING AND LEARNING LEAN CONSTRUCTION IN SPAIN: A PIONEER EXPERIENCE
Proceedings IGLC-22, June 2014 | Oslo, Norway
This paper presents the origins, approach and outputs of a course on Lean Construction developed at the Universitat Politècnica de València within the Master of Planning and Management in Civil Engineering: a unique experience in the Spanish academic system so far. This course takes into consideration most of the key issues of lean construction: historical evolution, flow and value stream mapping, pull management, last planner system, standardization, optimization of construction operations, building information modelling, and integrated project delivery, among others. The main element of the course is the last planner system of planning and control. An average of 30 students per year has attended this elective course in the M.Sc. degree since its implementation in 2011, indicating the extraordinary success of the course. The teaching and learning method is dynamic and is based on lectures, exercises, games in the classroom, and a project course. This paper presents this pioneer introduction of this graduate course in the Spanish academic system and some of the outputs obtained.
2008
This paper discusses some theoretical issues concerning an ongoing research project which aims to develop directions for learning Lean Construction concepts and principles. Among the reasons for carrying out this study is the need to introduce such concepts and principles into construction practice, in order to foster the development of a Lean Construction theory. The concept of learning is discussed and an overview of some theories on the learning process is presented, focusing on adult education and organizational learning. Some approaches to improve learning processes on Lean Construction concepts and principles are presented: a tool to expose and negotiate meanings, concepts from organizational learning, and experimentation with action and reflection on action.
The Evolution of Lean Construction Education (Part 2 of 2): At US-Based Companies
26th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction, 2018
The benefits of lean projects such as reduced schedules and budgets are well documented; construction organizations accomplish lean project delivery through the practices of project teams, yet the backgrounds of many participants have relatively little involvement with lean methodology due to its relative newness. Many participants in the lean movement such as members of the Lean Construction Institute (LCI) attribute project success to the training that is typically conducted to create an awareness and capability among participants and align the team with the priorities of the project. A study of leading firms was undertaken to examine this linkage by reviewing how training is provided for project teams, including the work force. A cross-section of established construction firms, design firms, and consultants were surveyed to determine the best practices that are currently in use. These organizations are all members of LCI or the Associated General Contractors (AGC). Many important lessons were learned, including: the successful approaches taken by AGC to provide industry training; the best practices of the companies surveyed; and future opportunities for improvement in lean training at the industry level. Notably, some of the approaches used in academia such as simulations, were used, but some companies were developing their own training, emphasizing leadership over tools.
Survey instrument to facilitate continuous improvement of lean teaching materials: a first-run study
Training workshops are a popular means to transfer knowledge of lean construction principles to industry stakeholders. Although numerous workshops are being offered by various members of the lean construction community, the amount of understanding that has been successfully transferred to participants during a workshop is not always measured or known, making it difficult to assess success. The purpose of this research is to develop and test an assessment instrument to indicate the level of understanding that was transferred during a three-day lean construction workshop. Drawing on published and unpublished case studies, we developed lean construction teaching materials for a three-day workshop and tested them on a healthcare facility owner and its most frequently engaged architects, engineers, general contractors and trade partners. To test the effectiveness of the teaching materials, we developed an anonymous, paired, pre-and post-workshop assessment survey instrument. Participants were asked to (a) rate their level of confidence in their understanding of lean construction principles, and (b) provide specific examples of potential application of the named principles. Participants rated their confidence levels in understanding of specific lean principles higher after the workshop than before (all comparisons of means were statistically significant to p<=0.05). Also, participants described twice as many potential construction applications of lean principles after the workshop than before, implying an increased level of understanding which translated into actionable items. Results from this research suggest that the lean workshop format delivered was relatively effective in transferring basic knowledge and application of lean principles. However, there is also clear need to continually improve our workshop teaching materials.
2015
There is a global shortage of competent and experienced individuals able to lead, coach, facilitate, train and provide consultancy support both internally and externally to clients, owners, constructors and designers who want to make a successful lean transformation of their enterprise or their projects. Demand exists within public and private sector clients and owners, as well as among design and construction enterprises and their professional advisers. If the shortage is not addressed there is the potential for the advance of lean thinking in construction to stall and lean construction to get a bad name as constructors and others seek to cut corners and pay lip service to lean as happened in UK (United Kingdom) 15 years ago. The aim of this paper is to begin a discussion of the skills and knowledge required by those who want to succeed in one or more of these roles. This essay reviews past lean construction leadership development actions and suggests a curriculum for those who wan...