Damilola Ekundayo

Competency mapping framework for regulating professionally oriented degree programmes in higher education

Recognition of the huge variation between professional graduate degree programmes and employer requirements, especially in the construction industry, necessitated a need for assessing and developing competencies that aligned with professionally oriented programmes. The purpose of this research is to develop a competency mapping framework (CMF) in this case for quantity surveying honours degree programmes. The graduate competency threshold benchmark (GCTB) is a key component of the CMF. Therefore, the CMF contains the mapping process, the template documents and the benchmark. The research adopted literature review, pilot study, case studies (including semi-structured interviews) and expert forum in developing the framework. The framework developed in this research provides new insight into how degree programmes map against competencies. Thus, the framework can be applied more widely, to other professional degree programmes, for monitoring and improving the quality and professional standards of construction degree programmes by accrediting bodies. This should connect construction graduates more effectively to the industry.

Professional, academic and industrial development needs: a competency mapping and expert opinion review

There is a tripartite pull from academics, industry and professional bodies on the development needs of the Quantity Surveyor (QS). At best, there is scope for misunder-standings between the stakeholders as to what is being required and what is being achieved. At worst there may be actual gaps in the education and/or training being offered and some discrepancies between the levels of attainment. This research sought to review the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) QS competencies and their application in the delivery of QS degree programmes. The changing development needs of QSs who satisfy the aspirations of industrial, professional and academic stakeholders were investigated through content analysis of the views of an expert forum consisting of relevant stakeholders and a series of competency mapping case studies. The study revealed that there are considerably different standards right across the RICS accredited QS programmes with respect to coverage of competencies. It is concluded that there is no standard benchmark in achieving competencies and it is open to individual interpretation. Further research in the development of a Graduate Competency Threshold Benchmark is suggested to align the disparate views of the stakeholders to accommodate changing development needs.

Sustainable development in a construction related curriculum- quantity surveying students’ perspective

Higher education institutions (HeIs) across the globe are increasingly aware of the need to integrate sustainability education within the curricula. this triggered a number of studies were conducted by earlier researchers in embedding sustainability education within the curricula. thus, studies have been carried out to evaluate how students perceived sustainable development in their curricula, particularly in engineering and other related courses. few of these studies were conducted in built environment, most especially in quantity surveying. It is against this backdrop that necessitated this study. the purpose of this study is to establish the extent in which sustainable development is embedded in the construction related curriculum using the perception of quantity surveying students. the study adopted literature review, documentary reports among others as a secondary method of data collection. Primary data were collected through online questionnaire survey administered to 330 randomly selected quantity surveying students in a university in the uK. out of which 87 completed questionnaires were retrieved and suitable for the analysis. the quantitative data obtained were analysed using mean score, one-way analysis of variance (anoVa) and regression analysis. the study identified 46 sustainability topics, which were grouped into 6 categories (i.e. A–F). Based on these categories, the study found that students’ knowledge level on sustainability was a little above ‘basic/ limited knowledge with the overall mean score value of 2.38 on a 4 – point likert scale. the study further revealed that the students placed high importance on sustainability education, despite their knowledge level were found lower. The study findings would be used to establish the extent of sustainability within the curriculum in the quantity surveying programme. also, this study would be of great value to academic staff and university management boards to develop a framework for incorporating sustainability education in the curriculum.

Material Waste in the Construction Industry: A Review of the Legislative and Supply Chain Issues

This Chapter, introduces the reader to the legislative and supply chain issues surrounding the re-use of materials with regard to the construction industry. Sustainability is defined and material life cycle phases are identified. Key legislative issues are defined that control waste in the environment. Supply chain problems are considered as potential barriers to the use of re-cycled materials. Two case studies are examined that show financial incentives for material re-use and a green supply chain management system is recommended for future work.

Professional competency-based analysis of continuing tensions between education and training in higher education

Purpose The education and training of construction graduates are highly influenced by the higher education institutions which produced them and the relevant professional bodies, which set the competencies that guide both academic and industrial learning. Thus, it is important to ascertain what the key stakeholders perceive construction graduates should achieve in competencies. Construction is a practice-oriented collection of professions, thus, this research focussed on the quantity surveying (QS) profession that is responsible for cost control and management of construction projects, and accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse the expected level of competencies attained by QS graduates, assess the industry perception of the achievement of competencies by QS graduates, and the ranking of competencies in the order of perceived importance. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted three different data gathering phases to include literature review, expert forum, and two surveys – industry and academia. Findings The research revealed unrealistically high expectations by the construction industry of QS graduates achieving a high level of competency in ten mandatory, seven core, and seven optional competencies. The research found that there were significant levels of dissatisfaction with the expected level of achievement of mandatory, core, and optional competencies by the QS graduates. Thus, a perception gap was identified between the academia and the industry. Practical implications This research will provide a benchmarking tool for curricula alignment for the construction degree programmes in higher education. Originality/value The identification of the exact nature of industry competencies requirements and any variations will assist the construction graduates to connect more effectively to the industry. These research findings confirm the need for continued expansion of curricula and diversification of pedagogies.

Executive Project Management Structure and the Challenges Facing its Adoption in the Nigerian Construction Industry

Project management (PM) is a globally recognized discipline and has been widely adopted within the construction industry. Despite advancements in the PM discipline, the ineective traditional management system, typical of the non-executive PM structure, is still widely used in the Nigerian construction industry. The aim of this paper is thus to explore the challenges facing the adoption of the executive PM structure in Nigeria. The paper first assesses the level of growth of PM in Nigeria using UK best practices as a benchmark and identifies the key PM characteristics in the two countries. Focus group interviews were used to collect the primary data for the study and content analysis was used to present the results in a thematic format. The study revealed the key barriers to the adoption of an executive PM structure in Nigeria as a lack of proper awareness, unfavorable policies, skill shortages, the traditional culture of stakeholders and the absence of a regulatory body. It is recommended that the government, as a major player/client in the Nigerian construction industry, should lead the campaign to change the traditional industry approach to project management. This is necessary if construction stakeholders in Nigeria are to be educated and encouraged towards adopting and putting into practice eective PM.