Academia and Industry Perceptions of Construction Planning and Scheduling Education

Abstract

For construction management students completing the construction planning and scheduling course to meet work expectations and provide effective benefit to their employers, the course curriculum should accurately reflect the needs of industry. The objective of this research is to identify the scheduling knowledge/expertise/proficiency that practitioners expect to see in a new hire and to compare this with what is currently offered in construction planning and scheduling courses. First, the syllabi of planning and scheduling courses offered in 55 construction management programs were collected and evaluated. Then, 35 critical topics and six student learning outcomes were identified by inspecting the accreditation requirements and the literature at large. Two survey questionnaires were developed and administered to instructors and industry practitioners to record the priorities they attached to those 35 topics and six students learning outcomes. The levels of importance and the degree of association reported by instructors and practitioners were analyzed. The result indicates that instructors’ and practitioners’ priorities concerning scheduling topics and learning outcomes are not in sync. Recommendations are provided to help instructors who teach construction planning and scheduling to design their syllabus accordingly, to improve their curriculum by understanding what practitioners expect from professional schedulers, and to encourage practitioners to update their knowledge and expectations.