A Review and Comparison of Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Capstone Course Content

9 pages•Published: May 15, 2022

Luciana Debs, Brad Benhart and Fernando Romero Moraes

Abstract

A capstone course is the apex of a bachelor’s degree. It is an integrative course that embeds professional and business skills and it is based on the application of knowledge to real-world situations. Despite its importance, there is a lack of information about how construction programs organize their capstone offerings and what is included in these offerings. To this point, the present exploratory study surveys construction programs to determine basic course characteristics. To obtain this information, we reviewed 127 ASC-affiliated undergraduate programs in the United States to find that 112 programs had a capstone or capstone-related course. Most programs require only one capstone course, offered for a median of 3 credit hours. Through content analysis of course descriptions, the authors provide the main topics addressed by construction capstones. Main findings suggest oral communication and collaboration as main soft skills covered in capstones; project management, estimating, and scheduling as the top three technical content; and, simulation as the most frequent course format. Findings provide a comprehensive view of how capstones are being offered in construction undergraduate programs in the United States and can be helpful to construction programs’ instructors and administrators looking to improve their students’ capstone experiences.

Keyphrases: capstone, course descriptions, curriculum, undergraduate education

In: Tom Leathem, Wes Collins and Anthony Perrenoud (editors). ASC2022. 58th Annual Associated Schools of Construction International Conference, vol 3, pages 560-568.

Links:	https://easychair.org/publications/paper/3McM
	https://doi.org/10.29007/vp46

BibTeX entry

@inproceedings{ASC2022:Review_Comparison_Associated_Schools,
  author    = {Luciana Debs and Brad Benhart and Fernando Romero Moraes},
  title     = {A Review and Comparison of Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Capstone Course Content},
  booktitle = {ASC2022. 58th Annual Associated Schools of Construction International Conference},
  editor    = {Tom Leathem and Wes Collins and Anthony Perrenoud},
  series    = {EPiC Series in Built Environment},
  volume    = {3},
  publisher = {EasyChair},
  bibsource = {EasyChair, https://easychair.org},
  issn      = {2632-881X},
  url       = {/publications/paper/3McM},
  doi       = {10.29007/vp46},
  pages     = {560-568},
  year      = {2022}}

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