Factors Affecting Construction Students’ Satisfaction with Grades in Design Courses

Abstract

The construction and built environment sector is dynamic. It is made up of professionals who are knowledgeable about design, planning, construction and cost estimation. Design is one of several courses undertaken by construction students. Assessing design drawings is demanding for tutors as the assessment criteria need careful consideration. Assessment results may encourage or discourage students. Their morale may be affected if they feel their efforts have not been rewarded. Achieving a balance between the tutors' decisions and students' satisfaction is therefore important. This research sought to identify factors affecting students' satisfaction with grades in design courses. The study was undertaken among year 3 and 4 architecture students in a Nigerian university. One hundred and twenty students were invited to reply to an online questionnaire. Their responses revealed that most of them were not satisfied with their tutors. They felt that marking was inconsistent. This study identified a range of ways students felt assessment could be improved. Chief amongst these was a suggestion that the same tutors assessed the work of all students (rather than for several tutors to be involved). Based on these issues, the paper suggests ways to balance tutors' assessments and students' satisfaction.

Policy barriers to sustainable construction practice in the Nigerian construction industry: an exploratory factor analysis

“…Ametepey et al (2015), Davies and Davies (2017) and Ogunbiyi (2014) have discussed extensively on the need to have actionable and sustainable building regulations within the industry. Ogunmakinde et al (2016) also advised for the use of performance-based building regulation as against the existing prescriptive building regulations. Training for the deliverables of sustainable construction need to be included in the learning processes of the upcoming professionals.…”

“…The government must adopt and enact policies as the regulator of the industry. This will encourage and promote standards, implementation of sustainable policies and ensure that erring professionals are penalised within the construction industry (Ogunmakinde et al , 2016).…”