Reflective Practitioner: Grounding the Use of Instructional Technology in Principles, Teaching Philosophy, Course Goals and Disciplinary Values

Necessity, when assigned to teach a large introductory class in Construction Science, required I learn quickly the requisite instructional technology and its application. The title, “Reflective Practitioner” is an anachronism that does not capture the actual chronology: practice, finding a theory and applying it, and reflecting on the practice to find grounds for improvement. Practice was grounded in learning how to learn as the final objective of this course. In the process, objectives, goals, syllabus, assignments, projects, evaluations, lectures, and presentation techniques, had to be created. After teaching the course two semesters, I read the following and received coaching from the Center for Teaching Excellence. This provided an opportunity to reflect on what happened, clarify the theories, examine my teaching philosophy and further clarify the principles that inform the framework for the course. This paper reports on the result of this reflection and is based on the wisdom-of-practice scholarship (Weimer, 2006) therefore experience-based and subjective. This paper captures the flow along these major lines of t professional teaching practice, the motivation, and findings from decisions made in the process. Teaching as a dynamic process assures that there will be an evolution in time. This paper also captures the evolution of the course, the areas indicated for further research and more importantly advocates a method for teaching with instructional technology in need of verification by other institutions on its way to morph into a research scholarship with qualitative studies or quantifiable investigations of a dynamic process or a descriptive research

Is building construction, as a social project organization and production system, complicated or complex?

A recent study of chaos in construction as a project production process and system has raised a valid question: Is construction production really complex or just complicated? More importantly, how do we know which one is the best characterization of construction? The answer to these questions is developed through a systematic story of the following topic headings: Comprehensive literature search of complicated and complex key words; development of complexity theory and complexity science – similarities and differences; behavior of complex systems – as opposite to ordered (complicated) systems; construction as a system – product (object), organization and process (social systems); implication on the project execution; new approaches to project management. Understanding complexity in construction management is important for two reasons: (1) to visualize how both complicated and complex traits exist in a construction project (an object as well as a social systems), and (2) to identify for stakeholders new types of managerial competencies and tools that reflect the understanding of complexity in construction

BSRI (Building Sustainability Rating Index) for Building Construction

Sustainability has been defined by various institutions as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. This is a soft qualitative definition. It has also been defined as “taming the exponential growth of resource consumption and emissions generation while maintaining an exponential growth in affluence growth”. This is a quantitative definition. This paper provides a building sustainability rating system (BSRI) to assess sustainability impacts using both prescriptive (qualitative) assessment tools as well as performance (quantitative) rating tools of resource consumption and emissions generation. BSRI is easy to apply and focuses on macro (strategic design mission, vision and objectives) as well as micro (tactical) levels of the building stakeholder’s sustainability perspectives. The criteria and indices in BSRI are defined in order to reduce ambiguity, confusion and misunderstanding and create a standard for future integration of sustainability (GREEN) with BIM and LEAN platforms. The BSRI platform allows for adaptation and growth in knowledge of the sustainability issues such as embedded energy protocols, through the use of Bayesian Equations

Comparative Analysis of Lean and Six Sigma in Building Construction: Benefits, Obstacles and Opportunities

Lean and Six Sigma have been recognized as innovative strategies that can be used to transform a firm’s management practices to a newer level. However, there is little guidance, or evidence indicating whether Lean or Six Sigma enhance the construction process significantly. This research fills this gap by investigating major obstacles, benefits and opportunities of Lean and Six Sigma as published in journal papers. A structured literature research (SLR) was performed to identify and compare lean and Six Sigma case studies and analyzed their findings and conclusions. This SLR resulted in a matrix that identifies the obstacles, benefits and opportunities of using Six Sigma and lean practices to assist industry practitioners adopt and implement these strategies

A STRUCTURED LITERATURE REVIEW: VALUE STREAM MAPPING (VSM) IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

For the past few years, almost every sector of the manufacturing and service industries have applied some form of lean methodology. Likewise, lean-based tools have been applied to simple and complex construction projects. Value stream mapping (VSM), as a lean tool for manufacturing, is used as a basic graphical tool that aims to describe production processes and to identify and reduce types of waste. In its current state, VSM is not being implemented as successfully in construction as it is in manufacturing due to fundamental differences between manufacturing and construction. This paper’s methodology uses a structured literature review to summarize the current state of VSM application in construction industry. By finding the connection among the current research will enable the adaptation of VSM for use in the construction industry and provide a theoretical framework of the applications of VSM in construction for further research

A seminal case study on application of last planner system with cash flow data for improvement in construction management practices

A major challenge faced by project managers is balancing the variables of scope, cost, and schedule. Changes in scope usually result in cost/schedule overruns. Variance in either or both of them creates disorder (typically increases it) in the estimated or projected time and cost. Therefore, controlling cost and schedule are two of the most critical aspects of a construction project. This research uses two already existing management theories, specifically Management by Means (MBM) and Management by Results (MBR), and analyzes a case where these two theories are combined with the goal of improving construction practices. This research compares an eight month schedule in a construction project and relates Percentage of Planned activities Completed (PPC) with projected and actual draw (cash) calls. The research analyzes the question of how lean construction PPC captures variance in cost. The research method is based on a literature review, data collection, case study and data interpretation to answer the hypothesis that improvement in PPC over a particular month has a positive correlation with difference between cash calls. Because this research is limited to a time frame of 8 months in a single project, it is not statistically significant. However, this research serves to create a model template or pilot study for a larger study

MORTALITY RATE IN THE USA CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY (2004 – 2014)

Safety remains a major challenge in the construction industry throughout the world. Recent government statistics have revealed a high rate of fatalities in the U.S. construction industry. This study investigates the root causes of this issue and also shows that there is an inverse correlation between mortality rates in the construction industry with respect to time. To address this issue data is gathered from the survey of CFOI, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. This survey comprises of data which focuses on analyzing the reason for the deaths in every US industry. This data is then further categorized into six specific events explained by the BLS. The data obtained was followed by a quantitative analysis, with a subsequent statistical analysis in SPSS. Findings show that mortality rates reduced overall since 2004 and this also reflects the fact that there is an improved consistency in safety awareness programs among employers, suggesting that these programs have been effective

Structured Literature Review of Design-Build/Bridging, Design-Bid-Build & Design-Build

This paper is a systematic literature review of journal papers and articles on the three project delivery systems (PDS), design-build/bridging (bridging), design-bid-build (DBB) and design-build (DB). Mean estimated project cost, project schedule and market share for these three types of PDS were studied and a comparison is shown in this paper. Upon the comparative study, the benefits of bridging over DBB are outlined. The paper finds out that despite the benefits of bridging over DBB, very few projects in the industry have used this system as a choice of project delivery. This is due to lack of information on this project delivery method among the construction industry professionals. Hence, structured literature review, combined with cost and schedule data comparisons, has highlighted the advantages and disadvantages of the bridging method of project delivery. The scope of this research is limited to projects in the United States

DOES DESIGN-BUILD (DB) OUTPERFORM CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AT RISK (CMAR)? A COST AND SCHEDULE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DB PROJECTS AND CMAR PROJECTS

Design-Build (DB) and Construction Management at Risk (CMAR) are two widely used alternative project delivery systems in the construction industry. Previous studies have found inconclusive results on which of the two has better cost and schedule performances when applied in construction projects. This study chose unit cost, change order factor, cost growth, schedule growth, and construction intensity as the metrics to measure the cost and schedule performance of both DB projects and CMAR projects. Two statistical analysis tools, Analysis of Variance and Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, were applied to see if there is any difference between the two project delivery systems’ means of the five measurements. The test results were used to determine which project delivery system has better performance in the real world. The results showed that Design-Build is superior to Construction Management at Risk in construction intensity, while Construction Management at Risk has better performance on the change order, cost growth, and schedule growth. And there is no difference in unit cost

Assessing the Active Living Impacts of Urban Design Improvements: Brenham TX Main Street Program

Literature search indicates that Main Street Program (MSP) is considered to be successful in achieving the goals of ‘preferred place to live’ and ‘increased active living’. The four point approach of MSP, (organization, promotion, design and economic restructuring) reportedly improves businesses by improving the urban character while allegedly improving active living. This paper focuses on the urban improved areas under the MSP. This research links observable design changes incorporated in the MSP of Brenham TX with identified characteristics of active living. Time constraints prevented collecting sufficient data for a statistically significant study. However a framework is hereby established for future work that more rigorously links MSP and active living for statistical analysis. Preliminary conclusions are drawn based on analysis of the limited available data