Working collaboratively in a group assignment using a Mediawiki for an architecture and construction management undergraduate unit

This paper describes an architecture and construction management unit which implements Mediawiki in teaching and learning. The main objective of using the Mediawiki is to engage students to work collaboratively online in a group assignment. It also aims to further develop student information technology skills and thus enhance their learning experience. One of the learning objectives of the unit is to develop the ability to communicate the results of student research in construction technology using appropriate digital media from which Mediawiki was chosen. This paper outlines the challenges and issues faced in the implementation of Mediawiki as a collaborative tool in a group assignment of an architecture and construction management unit. It also discusses how academic staff and students were supported through the process of learning to use the Mediawiki. Finally, potential future directions of using Mediawiki in teaching and learning are explored based on students’ comments and feedback.

A comparative study of effectiveness of peer assessment of individuals’ contributions to group projects in undergraduate construction management core units

In recent years, various forms of group work have been introduced in university courses across various subject domains, including construction management courses. Although the use of group work in higher education has sound pedagogical reasons and advantages, group work has its own drawbacks. Therefore, the acceptance by students and the success of group work critically depend on a fair and credible assessment of the group process. In this paper, the implementation of different approaches to peer assessment (PA) of individuals’ contributions to group projects in two core units in an undergraduate construction management course in an Australian university is reported. The effectiveness of the adopted PA approaches have been evaluated and validated by students. It has been found that contrary to doubts of the sufficiency of a simplistic approach to PAs, the fairness of a PA approach does not necessarily depend on its complexity. Besides, voluntary group discussions, learning and collaboration are found to aid in improving each of the group’s camaraderie. Hence, it is recommended that academics should develop both a structured methodology to progressively encourage group members to work cohesively in teams and effective PA approaches that measure individual member’s contribution.

Measuring pathways to university : success factors in construction management education

Past research has shown that many students find navigating pathways from TAFE to university difficult. This paper proposes a framework for evaluating the success of the pathways. Student enrolled in higher education courses responded to a questionnaire on the nature of their experiences in VET and how this impacted on their decision to articulate to university. The survey covered a sample of three universities across Australia. The results showed that students generally had positive experiences, but that some pathways had better outcomes than others. The framework developed in this research is capable of identifying issue that lead to poor outcomes. The results indicate that matrix developed contained three factors that were good measures of the success of the pathways. The paper concludes by suggesting that universities need a greater awareness of the impact of pathways on identifying pipelines for their students.

Hurdling the barriers : enabling student pathways from VET to higher education in building and construction management

Building effective pathways for students to transfer from and between education sectors and qualifications has been the subject of extensive research, policy development and practice over the last 20 years, both in Australia and internationally. Different researchers and policy-makers have examined this topic from various angles, but all from the perspective that improved pathways constitute an essential feature in a more flexible and integrated tertiary education system.

Encouraging more students into construction management

The construction industry is plagued by the persistent, long-term problem of skill shortages and skill gaps, especially in construction management. Evidence indicates that the industry will not have enough flexible, qualified professionals able to exercise skills to match changing work requirements especially in new technology, over the coming decade. Upskilling existing workers and individuals with vocational education qualifications into higher education could provide an important solution to skill gap problems. Currently less than 16% of all individuals with vocational qualifications in construction undertake upskilling into higher education. This project investigated the factors that supported upskilling and transfer from VET to higher education (HE) in the construction industry. Interviews were conducted with 36 students who were upskilling from vocational education into higher education in eight Australian universities to elicit “enablers” of upskilling. The results, which identify a number of key enablers as seen through the eyes of students who have made the transition, provides the industry with insights into solving current and future skill gaps. These insights will benefit both the construction industry and the wider national population.

Pathways to university : enabling factors in construction management education in Australia

Past Australian and international research has shown that many students find transition and navigating pathways from vocational education to university difficult. This paper proposes a framework for evaluating the success of these pathways in construction management education. Students enrolled in undergraduate degree courses responded to a questionnaire on the nature of their experiences in vocational education and how this impacted on their decision to articulate to university. The survey covered a sample of three universities across Australia. The results showed that students generally had positive experiences, but that some pathways had better outcomes than others. Utilising an existing outreach-developed matrix the research identified three factors that were good measures of the success of pathways models. The paper concludes by suggesting that universities need a greater awareness of the impact of transition issues for their pathways students. This research is significant in that it considers pathways as an organised and systematic process, which is capable of being defined and measured.

Workplace spirituality and organizational commitment influence on job performance among academic staff

This study examines the relationships between spirituality in the workplace, organizational commitment and job performance measured in terms of key performance indicators (KPIs) based on a sample of 376 academic staff at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). The methods used in the study are factor analysis and multiple regression analysis. Three factors are found to explain organizational commitment: affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment. Affective and normative commitments are positively influenced by workplace spirituality, which is explained by three factors: alignment between organizational and individual values; sense of enjoyment at work and contribution to community; and opportunity for inner life. The study also finds that neither high commitment nor workplace spirituality among academic staff necessarily manifest in high KPIs. Instead, other staff background variables appear to have more influence on job performance, such as gender, stream, age and rank.

Uses of management control and performance measurement systems by Deans and Heads in Australian universities: their effects on research, teaching and networking capabilities

Invoking a resource-based view (RBV), this study investigates relationships between management control systems (MCSs) use, including information use from performance measurement systems (PMSs), and organisational capabilities in the context of academic units of Australian universities. Increased competition and attention to distinctive capabilities amongst universities, particularly at their strategic operating unit level of a Faculty1 or School2, provides the setting for application of this theoretic perspective. Based on a questionnaire survey of all Faculty Deans and Heads of Schools in all 39 universities in Australia, evidence is provided on relationships between diagnostic and interactive use of MCSs, attention given to imposed and discretionary types of PMS information, the strength of capabilities of the academic unit and, in turn, overall performance of the academic unit. Highlights of findings are that Heads/Deans conceived capabilities of their unit in functional dimensions, not in generic dimensions as found in prior literature; interactive MCS use and imposed performance measures, respectively, direct relate to several types of capabilities and indirectly to performance of the academic unit, but diagnostic MCS use does not. The findings have practical implications for styles of control systems use and performance information use by management in universities.

Servant leadership and follower job performance: The mediating effect of public service motivation

This article advances our understanding of the effects of servant leadership, an employee- and community-focused leadership style, on followers' public service motivation (PSM) and job performance. Based on social learning theory, we argue that by emphasizing to their followers the importance of serving others both inside and outside the organization and by acting as role models by serving others themselves, servant leaders enhance job performance by engendering higher PSM in their followers. A multilevel analysis of three waves of multi-source data from a Chinese government agency reveals that PSM mediates the influence that servant leadership has on followers' job performance. The results are consistent with theoretical predictions that the altruistic behaviour displayed by servant leaders elicits higher levels of the altruistic behaviours that characterize PSM, which in turn increases job performance. Hence, this study contributes to our understanding of how leadership drives institutional change and performance in the public sector.

Employee competency and marketing performance : an empirical investigation

The research found strong support for a systems model of the relationship between marketing competency and marketing performance in Australia and Britain. Although employees perceived that they were less competent than preferable to do the job well, marketing competency, combined with management control, was identified as important to performance.

Benchmarking occupational health and safety performance of Australian construction companies.

It is mandatory for Australian construction companies to provide a safe working environment for their workers and sub-contractors. Consequently, occupational health and safety (OHS) is a major issue for construction firms mainly due to the fear of prosecution. The recent introduction of Zero Tolerance by the Victorian government WorkCover Authority provided even higher OHS safety standards for the construction industry. This has placed a increased burden on construction companies especially small firms that are not in a position of financial strength.

The size of the companies has been found to be a major contributing factor to the OHS performance of construction contractors. This research is based on benchmarking study of 44 construction companies in Victoria, Australia. The results show that the major factors influencing safety performance were; company size, and management commitment to OHS.

Action research : the use of enterprise resource planning system in construction engineering and project management

Although information communication technology (ICT) is long regard as very useful tool in today’s construction engineering and project management environment, organizations must not only operate based upon its original setting, but also requires on-going observation, additional features and fine is a very common phenomenon that organizations purchase the licensed “off their own business need. Due to the incapability of such software and inefficient customization, the possible result is making that ICT tool not user-friendly and sometimes the whole system becomes obsolete.

The purpose of this paper is to review and report those action organization to enhance the performance of its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system launched in December 2002. Such actions include: improving data inputting method; removing the tran the organization’s “Delegation and Limits of Authority”; publishing the “League Table” amongst users; integrating the 3D Mode into the system and upgrading hardware.

Whilst the ultimate goals of such system are well beyond the time limit of this research study, an obvious interim result, achieved by this case studied organization, was winning a landmark project worth US$500 million after the ERP system was functioned prope and effectively. Their experience and success becomes an exemplar which can be borrowed by those companies, from managerial perspectives and as a roadmap, planning to adopt information technology (IT) strategy and use ICT tool in the construction engineering and project management framework. Singapore, where public housing provisions have been a major concern of their citizens as the building stock gets older.