Construction management experiential learning: views of employers and University of Technology academics

Academic curriculum change in the main is driven by policy, industry or faculty. In South Africa, several policy initiatives are directed at influencing changes to the curriculum. The White Paper on Transformation of Higher Education (Republic of South Africa. Department of Education, 1997) stresses the challenge to redress past inequalities and to “transform the higher education system” to serve a new social order, to meet pressing needs, and to respond to new realities and opportunities. Institutions serving the higher education sector have a major role to play in providing the technological and business capability to underpin modern industrial and services development (Frain, 1992). Construction management education at South African Universities is delivered via either a co-operative learning programme or a full academic programme. This article presents findings of research into the views of employers and academics of value that experiential learning adds to the construction management programmes.