Most university students now have access to wireless devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, or laptops). By using an online student response systems (OSRS), students can use those wireless devices to respond to questions and quizzes posted by the instructor. Those questions may have different styles such as multiple-choice, true/false, and open-ended questions. This paper assesses different effects of implementing OSRS on students’ engagement and performance when taking an engineering ethics course by comparing selected measures of effectiveness of an experimental group of students (where OSRS has been implemented) with those of a control group (where OSRS has not been implemented). It was found that implementing OSRS significantly increased students’ attendance rate and ability to function in a group. However, implementing OSRS in an engineering ethics course was found to have no significant effect on improving students’ performance or their level of achieving the course’s learning outcomes or performance indicators. It was also found that students tend to dedicate less time studying for an engineering ethics course than for other typical engineering courses.

Construction accidents, injuries, and fatalities have not declined significantly, despite arduous efforts of researchers, safety professionals, and strongly-enforced safety laws. Safety education is crucial in promoting safe and healthy construction work environments; however, current pedagogical methods and tools at the tertiary level do not sufficiently engage students or provide practical experience to support the acquisition of safety knowledge. This paper aims to address the problem by proposing a novel approach that integrates safety with construction materials and methods education. A system is proposed comprising of three sequential modules: (1) safety and hazard lecture (SHL) module; (2) hazard identification game (HIG) module; and (3) student evaluation and assessment (SEA) module. The pedagogical suitability of the system is evaluated by a series of trials where students interacted with instructors. Interim results indicate that the system offers an innovative medium for experientially improving hazard identification ability, transferring safety knowledge, and engaging students. Insights of matching safety with construction methods are also discussed in the paper.

Disadvantaged/Minority/Women business enterprises (DBE/MBE/WBEs) in construction and professional fields face several impediments that hinder their business growth and overall performance. In this study, a survey was conducted to compare the importance of the factors that most affect business performance of these business enterprises, the impediments they face, and the advantages and disadvantages of being a DBE/MBE/WBE; the survey was conducted with construction and professional firms in the transportation industry. When comparing responses from 259 business enterprises, the results indicated that construction firms placed significantly higher importance to financial issues and safe work practices than professional firms. In addition, construction firms ranked lack of technology, an unskilled work force, and an expensive work force as significant impediments to their business success as compared to professional firms. No significant differences were detected ranking the advantages of being DBEs. However, regarding the disadvantages of being a DBE, construction firms ranked excessive bid shopping significantly higher than professional firms. The respondents provided a set of recommendations to improve the status of DBEs for use by government policy-makers/owners and prime contractors.

Safety is considered as an important area of engineering education, but it is often not addressed adequately in an engineering curriculum. Contents of safety engineering were incorporated in an introductory statistics course through the problem-based learning (PBL) approach. Novices were learning statistical contents via PBL problems from the field of safety engineering. They were divided in two groups according to the partial assessment option they chose: a group with classical assessment and a group with assessment of an independent PBL engineering problem that was designed in accordance with a campaign coordinated by a leading safety agency. In the problem, students analyzed the quality of installation of fire extinguishers in more than 200 buildings, as well as their maintenance. The aim of this study is to find out if the assessment of such a problem can be used to assess students’ holistic statistical knowledge, if students can get new insights in the field of safety engineering, and if such assessment suits the assessment criteria for accrediting engineering programs specified by Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET criteria). Students’ questionnaires also gave information on the students’ perception of the difficulty of the PBL approach in both assessment options.

Engineering mechanics (EM) is considered one of the most difficult introductory courses in undergraduate education in civil engineering, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, and material science and engineering. Built on the foundation and framework of mathematics and physics, the course requires students to have not only strong abstract thinking and reasoning skills, but also solid spatial abilities. However, the role of spatial ability in learning engineering mechanics has not been investigated adequately in the literature. This paper serves four purposes. First, it presents a critical analysis of findings from an extensive literature review regarding the role of spatial ability in solving physics problems and makes connections to relevant problems of engineering mechanics. Second, this paper applies theories from cognition science and psychology to interpret the role of spatial ability in learning abstract concepts and complex motions in an engineering mechanics course. Third, this paper introduces intervention strategies that EM instructors may use to develop students’ spatial abilities. Finally, this paper provides engineering instructors and researchers with the implications for future research and instructional practices to help students succeed in this important introductory course.

To meet clients’ and owners’ multidimensional and changing requirements, construction management consultants (CMCs) ought to possess a diverse and dynamic knowledge structure. In China, although the population of CMCs has grown to the point of their being indispensable in the industry, their knowledge structure has not been explored explicitly. The study presented in this paper investigated this by first conducting a comprehensive content analysis of the curricula of the highest ranked construction management university courses in China. This was followed by in-depth interviews with experts, resulting in the identification of 22 main knowledge areas that can be grouped into technology, economy, management, and law. A questionnaire survey was then conducted among 115 experienced CMCs to evaluate the current level of knowledge in these areas together with their importance and need for improvement. The main findings demonstrate the significance of the identified 22 knowledge areas, and they also need substantial improvement in practice. The research has practical implications for China’s CMCs to develop necessary knowledge and the extent to which they need to be improved to provide a better quality of services in the future.

Since its publication in 2005, the New Engineering Contract Version 3 (NEC3) [ICE (2013). New Engineering Contract 3] has increasingly been promoted as a relational contracting instrument for establishing mutual trust and for facilitating interorganizational collaboration. However, only a few empirical studies have documented the use of this contract in practice. Therefore, the current research investigates the initiation, execution, benefits, and critical factors in the implementation of NEC3-based relational practices. The lessons learned from this implementation are compared with those derived from the application of the integrated project delivery (IPD) approach in the United States. This study also analyzes the NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC) [ICE (2005). NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract] through a case study of the first pilot project in Hong Kong to adopt this new contract. Study findings not only reinforce the usefulness of well-established relational components (namely proactive risk mitigation, efficient change management, and transparent cost monitoring) in the NEC3/ECC, but also highlight local experiences (such as early implementation, joint problem solving, interorganizational team development, and regular partnering review) to enhance relational contracting further. Finally, NEC3 implementation is compared with that of the IPD. These results are beneficial to clients and contracting organizations, particularly inexperienced ones, in terms of the proper implementation of NEC3-based relational contracting for future projects.