The research–teaching nexus: using a construction teaching event as a research tool

Abstract

In principle, the research–teaching nexus should be seen as a two-way link, showing not only ways in which research supports teaching but also ways in which teaching supports research. In reality, the discussion has been limited almost entirely to the first of these practices. This paper presents a case study in which some student field-trip construction projects, originally designed as a teaching tool, were also used to undertake environmental research. The research consisted of testing the implementation of a tool for assessing the environmental impact of construction sites. It was conducted at the Imperial College London Constructionarium Field Module 2012 at the National Construction College, in England. The findings highlighted the unexploited research potential of the Constructionarium teaching tool specifically and of field-trip teaching events generally. To a lesser extent, the students also learned about the research content and process. This experience could be extended to other field-trip teaching events.

Keywords:

• research–teaching nexus
• teaching–research nexus
• teaching and research links
• research/teaching
• engineering education

Acknowledgements

Authors would like to thank the technicians, the graduate teaching assistants and the students who volunteered from Imperial College London; the John Doyle Construction team and the Constructionarium team for their collaboration on the research held at the well-developed facilities at the National Construction College.

Additional information

Funding

Funding. This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the [grant number BIA2006-15471-C02-01] project and the Spanish Civil Engineer Association.