Transcript Middlesex presentation - Higher Education Academy

Professional Practice in Construction
Management
Innovation in curriculum design, learning, teaching and assessment
Background and context
• Level 5 Higher Apprenticeship in Construction Operations Management
• An integrated approach to developing knowledge and competence through a work-based
Foundation degree
• RICS welcomes the innovative approach of Middlesex University to providing Higher Apprenticeship
routes through to professional membership. Higher Apprenticeships that are built on workbased degrees have the potential to open doors for aspiring professionals while maintaining
professional standards (RICS, April 2013)
• The revised SASE introducing:
• Higher Apprenticeships at level 6 and 7
• Full inclusion of HE qualifications and degrees
• Significant emphasis on a requirement for professional recognition
• Level 6 Working Group and Higher Apprenticeship in Construction Management
• Work-based Honours degrees in key specialist areas
• Construction Site Management and Quantity Surveying pathways (Civil Engineering to follow)
Who has been involved and how?
Construction
Employers
Professional
Bodies /
Standards
HEIs / FECs /
UVAC
CITB / CIC
Level 6 HA in
Construction
Management
Higher
Apprenticeship
Projects
Consultation with industry
A series of consultation events, meetings and activities across the country with a wide
variety of representatives from (large and small) organisations in the construction industry
• Lovell Partnerships Limited
• Seddon Construction Limited
• Loach Construction and Development
Limited
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Freemont Limited
Mark Woodman Associates Limited
HJ7 Consulting Limited
CAIP Limited
Gower Homes
Carillion
Soul Sustainability
Michael Rowlinson Associates Limited
Lend Lease Corporation
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HCA International Limited
Webb Associates Limited
Laing O'Rourke Construction
Cabinet Office - BIM Task Group
Skanska UK PLC
Federation of Master Builders
CIC
CITB
RICS
CIOB
ICE
Professional competence
• Recognising knowledge, understanding and skills
• Professional associations and higher education providers
• The perceived limitations of competence for higher education
• ‘Academic competence’ and the focus on mastery within an identified disciplinary knowledge
domain
• ‘Operational competence’ and the emphasis on outcomes and skill performance (Barnett 1994)
• The perceived limitations of academic qualification in assessing competence
• Apprenticeships, ‘knowledge’ and ‘competence’ qualifications
• NOS as the “highest common denominator benchmark for the competence and learning of
professional, managerial and technical roles” (Cracknell 2013)
• The idea of professional competence
• “professional competence integrates knowledge, understanding, skills and values”
(Engineering Council 2013)
• “proven ability to use knowledge, skills, and personal, social and/or methodological abilities in work
or study situations and in professional and personal development” (European Commission 2008)
A lack of effective working
practices in the construction sector
• Gluch (2009) found that the effectiveness of relationships between environmental
professionals and construction site managers are hindered by established
organisational structures and modes of communication.
• Abdel-Wahab et al, (2008) argue that policies to increase training in the sector alone
may not lead to the productivity improvements desired as a consequence of the
fragmented nature of practice in the construction sector.
• Fulford and Standing, (2014) argue that there exists a fragmentation of practice in the
construction sector and that collaborative working is impeded by a lack of trust
and shared values across different areas of practice.
Transforming Construction
Management Practice
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Interdependence of ‘Site Manager’, ‘Quantity Surveyor’ and ‘Site Engineer’ roles
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A need to focus on developing an understanding of complimentary job roles to
enhance sector practice
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Inter-relationship and/or differentiation of professional practice?
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RICS Professional Competencies and CIOB Education Framework outcomes
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JBM Output Standards Statement
The consideration of common management themes that are central to practice as the
starting point for development
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‘Holy Trinity’ themes rather than discipline focused approach
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Quality (Customer specifications, Standards, Output)
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Money and Resources (Budgets, Cash Flow, Cost Control)
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Delivery (Planning, Scheduling, Co-ordination, Process)
Overview of the approach
• Integrated work-based programmes of 120 credits at level 6
• Building on progression from the Higher Apprenticeship in Construction Management at
level 5 or other appropriate level 5 qualifications equivalent to 240 credits
• Three specialist pathways leading to Honours degree qualifications
• BA (Hons) Professional Practice in Construction Site Management
• BA (Hons) Professional Practice in Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management
• BSc (Hons) Professional Practice in Civil Engineering (currently not in the Level 6 HA)
• Designed-in professional recognition
• CIOB Education Framework Learning Outcomes
• RICS Professional Competence pathways – ‘Quantity Surveying and Construction’ and ‘Project
Management’
• JBM Output Standards for Engineering programmes
• Reflecting Construction industry National Occupational Standards and relevant NVQs
at level 6 (Construction Site Management, Construction Contracting Operations)
Construction Site Management
pathway
A three way engagement in
professional learning - 1
Employee
University /
Employer
Education
Provider
Professional
Work Based
Learning
A three way engagement in
professional learning - 2
Practitioner
Learner /
Apprentice
Learning
Development
Tutor
Workplace
Mentor
Professional
Work Based
Learning
A three way engagement in
professional learning - 3
Undertake
Negotiated
Work Projects
Review
Professional
Competence
Develop and
Assess
Learning
Professional
Work Based
Learning
How is professional learning
developed? - an illustration
• Introductory Module workshop, f2f and/or online – Blended learning
• Meetings with Workplace Mentor to:
• Agree work projects/activities that can generate the required learning outcomes (Activity Plan)
• On-line and/or f2f learning activities that embed work-based knowledge and learning individual and group support and feedback from Learning Development Tutors
• Master-class workshops that target specific professional competencies, f2f or online.
• Learners produce formative work that is evaluated and commented upon by Learning
Development Tutors to support further development of their learning.
• Mid-point review - evaluation of individual progress and development workshop(s)
• Meetings with Workplace Mentor to:
• Review the development of professional competencies, completion of Learning Log as evidence
(sign off by WPMs) in Professional Development Portfolio (Portfolio assessed by LDTs)
• Work submitted online for assessment against Module learning outcomes
• Work assessed by Learning Development Tutors - developmental feedback
What are the benefits?
• For practitioner learners
• Academic credit for learning undertaken at, through and for work
• Direct access to Professional Membership on completion of the programme
• Earning while learning ‘on-the-job’ to gain a University degree
• Professional development and career enhancement
• For employers
• Employer control of the work context for learning – negotiated work projects and assessments
• Less time off site and high degree of flexibility of delivery approaches/schedules
• Benefit (including financial) from actual work/practice improvement projects
• Professional status recognition of workforce enhances human capital
• For the Construction sector
• Sector led curriculum development process grounded in professional practice
• Integration of professional standards and academic qualification
• Professionals that work more effectively together - broader understanding of practice contexts
• Consistent National approach to the professional development of Construction Managers (HAs?)