Knowledge creation and innovation in a civil engineering course for the first-year university students

摘要

This article examines the application of knowledge creation learning and innovation to higher education in construction. The objectives are to demonstrate the application of the course based on knowledge creation learning to mass teaching and to analyse whether knowledge creation learning improves student motivation and learning. The empirical data (n = 120) consist of the results of a student survey from two university-level courses. The first course, Basics of Construction Management and Economics (n = 79), was developed on the basis of knowledge creation, and the second course, Building Project (n = 41), was implemented using the case-based learning method. The results, based on student self-assessments, showed that case-based learning supported the learning process more effectively than did the course based on knowledge creation. On the other hand, the results showed the relevance of applying knowledge creation-based learning to the mass teaching of construction in higher education. The findings of this empirical study suggest that more attention should focus on developing students' metacognitive skills in engineering education.