News & Notes
TEACHING
is an Art and a Science HOW CO-TEACHING AIMS TO IMPROVE AND ALIGN STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES. Francois Jacobs and the University of Wyoming College of Engineering and Applied Science Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management are building a pipeline across Wyoming—a co-teaching pipeline. This co-teaching pipeline between UW, Casper College and Pathway Innovation Center high school has allowed instructors from different campuses as well as industry practitioners to team up and coordinate their curriculum for CM 2300: Construction Safety to ensure students receive a quality education, even during a global pandemic. “The Construction Management (CM) Program at the University of Wyoming is steering this initiative, allowing
Guest instructor Jesse Henderson with Black Hills Energy instructing across three campus platforms. PHOTO COURTESY OF FRANCOIS JACOBS
Casper College and the Pathway Innovation Center to align their curricula to mimic,” says Francois Jacobs, a UW associate professor in civil and architectural engineering and construction management. “Planning in support of this initiative has taken more than a year to schedule courses on the same days and time slots across different campus settings. Each campus has its own instructor of record, who are listed as co-instructors on the course syllabus.” 20 • Foresight
According to Jacobs, education-to-work transitions can be a difficult time for students to navigate, often because of the differences in expectations between the two domains. “The main factor causing this disconnect is that academic faculties and industry practitioners differ in their perceptions of the characteristics of a learning environment that leads students to be successful in their future careers,” says Jacobs. “This inspired the UW Construction Management Program to adopt a Teaching with Industry (TWI) methodology where industry practitioners play a fundamental role in the design and delivery of construction course content taught in the program.” In the TWI model, the original curriculum and assessment methods are not significantly altered with the inclusion of industry practitioners as co-instructors. Rather, the intent of this model is to have the original curriculum interpreted by the industry practitioners in ways they feel would be like the industry perspectives which they represent and give voice. Although deliverables and material content can be requested from the instructor of record, it is the entire responsibility of the industry practitioners to conduct the class as they see fit. “Despite the lack of experience in educational teaching, students generally enjoy classes taught by industry practitioners, since many real-life examples and insights about the practice of professions are discussed,” says Jacobs. “By having a close interaction with the students, our industry partners can also benefit with their recruitment of our students to their companies.” The CM 2300: Construction Safety course is mandatory for all CM students to take in order to graduate. The course introduces students to the importance on safety in the construction sector, teaches students how to write a safety plan and provide students with the opportunity to obtain their OSHA 30-hour certificate, which has become a requirement for construction workers in the industry. With a total of five industry practitioners, with representation at the state level, such as Meredith Towle,
