2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Construction cost estimating is an integral part of preconstruction planning, critical to the success of any construction company looking to provide a competitive bid and to bring in work while maintaining a reasonable profit. Learning the art of construction cost estimating is invaluable to a construction student’s overall understanding of the construction process and in promoting workforce readiness. Proficiency in cost estimating takes time and practice, contributing to the challenges presented in designing a Construction Cost Estimating course that provides students with the experience and skills needed to launch a successful career.
With limited contact hours each week, it can become demanding on students trying to learn and faculty trying to educate. Construction Cost Estimating is customarily taught later in a program’s curriculum with students having completed prerequisite coursework and potentially gaining some industry-specific work experience. Often, prerequisite work may consist of transfer credits, leaving the program and faculty members with little or no oversight while adding to the complexity surrounding varying degrees of students’ foundational knowledge when entering the course.
Traditionally, a lecture is prepared and presented to students covering new material along with a review of some requisite work. Students are then expected to complete assigned work outside of class and to some degree on their own. A well-designed course adopting this approach could also include some aspect of problem-solving or active learning in the course to promote student engagement and understanding, but limited time in the class is still a struggle along with competing student needs based on their level of understanding.
In an effort to better serve students and make the most of the time allotted for the course, a flipped learning approach was adopted to foster increased student engagement in guided active learning experiences encouraging student-to-student and student-to-faculty interaction. A flipped learning approach provides students the time it takes to acclimate to new material at their own pace before the planned class activity. This not only empowers students, providing them with the ability to fill possible gaps in their own educational experiences, but it also allows students more time in class to invest in problem-solving, collaboration, and application while under the guidance of the instructor. This report will discuss the pedagogical approach to flipped learning along with the technology used to support its implementation. Direct assessment data includes assigned homework, labs, quizzes, a final project, and overall course grade as a culmination of student performance in the course. Students also complete a course survey specific to a flipped learning environment as an indirect form of assessment. In addition to the immediate course assessment, direct and indirect assessment data is also obtained when students complete their capstone project in their senior year.
The outcomes include students having higher levels of achievement, a stronger understanding of course material, increased student-to-student interactions, and a stronger student-faculty relationship.