We are delighted to have been invited to write the Editorial for this Special Issue of the International Journal of Construction Education and Research which contains a selection of articles developed from submissions to the Innovations in Built Environment Education (iBEE) Conference held at the University of Bath, UK on 3-4th September 2015.
iBEE is the flagship event for the UK based Council of Heads of the Built Environment (CHOBE) (http://www.chobe.org.uk/) and is an annual event at which we, at CHOBE, hope to encourage academic exchange, research into teaching and learning and, perhaps most importantly, build a real ‘community’ of built environment academics: a chance to network and grow friendships as well as learn from one another.
CHOBE is an association whose purpose is to support and represent with a voice of influence those with strategic responsibility for the development and delivery of graduate and postgraduate education and research within the disciplines of construction, property and surveying (including Real Estate). Comprising the Heads of Schools/Departments in UK Universities, CHOBE’s aim is to work with colleagues to ensure that our disciplines are well supported within our institutions and to act as a representative body for our constituents. As such CHOBE provides input to government consultations on policy matters concerning teaching, learning and research as they can be applied to the built environment, as well as maintaining close relationships with professional bodies which recognize, through their accreditation processes, our programmes of study.
This year, the emphasis on how to best engage with students and ensure effective learning has been drawn into sharp focus as never before with the introduction by UK government of the so-called Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) which rates Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) according to quantitative metrics around elements of student satisfaction, completion rates and subsequent employment data. This framework, together with the established Research Excellence Framework (REF) will increasingly be used as determinants of HEI funding. So far this is at institutional level, but possible penetration down to the discipline level is under consideration.
Whilst the articles presented in this edition of the Journal long pre-date the very recently announced first results of TEF, its genesis was much in the minds of the organising Committee of iBEE 2015, of which we were both members, as the then extant Chair (David Proverbs) and Joint Executive Officer (Sarah Sayce), when the theme was agreed as ‘Inspiring the Learner Journey’. The conference presenters in their many different ways reflected on the need, not only on how to attract and develop the next generation of built environment professionals, but on how to adapt to the impending TEF. From the some 50 articles presented over two days, selected authors were invited to develop their presentations into articles for the Journal. This issue, the first collaboration of its kind that CHOBE has entered into, is the result.
Examples of ‘Inspiring the Learner Journey’
Volume 13, Issue 3 contains four articles which collectively address some key issues of the learner’s journey. Morton et al. start at the beginning of the journey and explore ways in which, as members of a national pilot project, they recognize that the journey starts before the student arrives. They conclude that careful interventions at this stage will ease the transition from school or college to the very different expectations placed on students when they study at degree level, thus helping them to develop the self-confidence to engage and learn effectively.
During the journey one of the key characteristics of many built environment programmes is interdisciplinary project work. MacLaren et al. argue that the ability to operate as part of an inter-disciplinary team is now fundamental to many built environment professions, particularly those working in the design stages. Through exploration of case studies, they conclude that, for students to successfully learn such skills within the HEI environment, the many challenges can only be overcome by adoption of a mindset which is willing to embrace risk and risk failure; this may be difficult within highly structured institutional frameworks.
Towards the end of the journey most undergraduates are asked to undertake research; for many this is daunting. Tucker et al, investigated how to better prepare students for this challenge and discovered a mismatch between the actual and perceived benefits from the student perspective. As a result they developed a ‘gradual learning journey’ over three years combined with greater awareness raising of the benefits of research skills for success.
Finally, it is recognised that for some the journey is on-line, not face to face. E-learning is increasing and Moore and Fisher’s article explores some of the difficulties that are faced by academics asked to support this type of learning, which calls for very different approaches to those which work in a classroom setting. Motivation was found to be a key issue and the article explores practical ways in which this was successfully addressed within their University department.
Collectively, the articles present well developed initiatives from which, as a community of practice, we hope we can all learn. We commend them to you and look forward to further developing links between CHOBE and IJCER.