Disaster Preparedness Education: Construction Curriculum Requirements to Increase Students’ Preparedness in Pre- and Post-Disaster Activities

Abstract

Students are one of the vulnerable groups of people affected by a disaster, as they suffer both physically and mentally. Concerns are rising, as educational institutions lack adequate emergency programs to prepare students for disasters. Moreover, the integration of disaster preparedness in the coursework is rarely done for students with majors such as construction. This study performs a comprehensive literature review to integrate the research related to students’ disaster preparedness and provide strategies to increase students’ disaster preparedness. To fulfill this aim, 83 of the most recent scholarly articles were collected and scrutinized. The current trends in disaster preparedness curriculums in construction programs, as well as other majors, were studied, strategies for enhancing these programs espoused by researchers were investigated, and challenges/barriers to providing disaster preparedness education were analyzed. It was concluded that the integration of hands-on practices of rescue activities into construction curriculums, along with theoretical knowledge of disasters, significantly helps students to be prepared for a disaster and for post-disaster mitigation efforts hence should be included in the disaster preparedness curriculum. Lack of resources and trained personnel is one of the major causes of insufficient integration of disaster preparedness materials in the course curriculum. This study will assist in updating the existing programs, enhancing construction students’ disaster preparedness, addressing potential challenges to the advancement of knowledge, and reducing damages.