Integrating Social Media Platforms in Construction Education to Increase Student Engagement

Abstract

This study evaluates the integration of Social Media (SM) as an informal pedagogical tool to support STEM, by fostering engagement and increasing interactional competency and collaborative skills. Construction engineering education has been plagued with low engagement levels partially due to its timeworn pedagogical means and ineffective use of technology. SM platforms are convenient, and effective informal educational means that encourage engagement and interactions between peers. Nowadays, construction programs are shifting to online educational forms and this research is geared to understand the interactions between student bodies within different instructional forms. This study focuses on assessing the impact of SM related activities on students’ engagement and professional skills by integration it within Construction Management (CM) courses. The novel contribution of this research is to study the benefit of integrating SM not only for increasing student engagement but also effective communication between online and face to face CM students as well as their soft skill development. This research initiative presents paired t-test and box plots with line plots from pre and post-course surveys of 75 students. Finally, this paper highlights the challenges and lessons learned along with recommendations for transferring this pedagogy to other institutions.

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