Measuring Impact of a Construction Industry Lecture Series

One valuable resource in the education of students is learning from current industry professionals. The successful partnership between industry and academics can improve learning outcomes for students, and provides a real-world perspective often missing from academia. One source of industry/academic collaboration is through an industry seminar or lecture series. In these lectures, professionals from different groups within the industry can address students on the topics they feel are the most important and pressing issues of the industry. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of these seminars on past students, evaluate the impact on current students, and identify ways to improve these seminars to have the greatest benefit to student learning. A survey of past and current students from a university with a construction management industry seminar has been created. Collected survey data provided insight into the success of these lecture series. This information can be valuable for faculty to understand the types of topics that should be covered in a lecture series, the topics that are in demand from the industry and current students, and lessons learned over more than 20 years of hosting a lecture series. The paper resulting from this study builds upon findings from similar studies within engineering education. The paper outlines the methodologies of an industry lecture series, and includes a discussion of results for an international survey of industry professionals and current university students. Findings show that specific, clearly defined learning outcomes, detailed feedback from students, faculty, and others participating in seminar, applicable course formatting and development, and overall student awareness can and will increase the quality of participation and the overall effectiveness of college seminars.