Developing a Knowledge Centric Approach to Construction Education

Abstract

Knowledge management has been an in-vogue management initiative for a number of years but the obvious link to education has not been madeexcept for the use of Web-delivered information. This paper establishes a knowledge centric approach to construction education and reports on theapplication of this to a master's conversion course. The knowledge centric approach develops a capability to work with incomplete knowledge. Incomplete knowledge is a growing problem in the industry as projects and technology become more complex; for conversion graduates it is the critical factor. The knowledge centric idea was based on research into the knowledge of competent practitioners. This highlighted the growing tension between the need for a deeper understanding of construction activity as solution composition, as against the application of technical knowledge. The approach requires abilities—to appreciate self-knowledge, to access different knowledge (technical, organizational and human relational) in situations, to understand the social operation of knowledge, to negotiate action under competing knowledge and to develop new knowledge. The challenge of the knowledge centric approach is to create practitioners who can act effectively with incomplete knowledge.