An industry/academia partnership for construction project control education

The effective and efficient education of construction project control engineers requires the integration of industry practice with academic theory. In 2008, AACE corporate sponsor Parsons Corporation and the Construction Engineering and Management Program in the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University partnered to develop a graduate level Engineering Project Control course. The course uses an actual Parsons project as the basis for repeatedly bridging from construction project control theory to practice. Case studies repeatedly place student teams in realistic project control practice circumstances in which they apply a variety of project control tools and methods to the Parsons project. Post-case discussions transfer learning across teams and link practice and theory. The critical roles of deep understanding of an actual project, streamlined project information, and creating safe places for experimentation for learning have been revealed over four years of teaching the course. Future work can use other actual projects, develop computer based tools to accelerate project control learning, and develop similar approaches for practicing project controllers.

An industry/academia partnership for construction project control education Conference Paper