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A Way Forward: Assessing

the Demonstrated
Leadership of Graduate
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Civil Engineering
and Construction
Management Students
LEIGHTON A. ELLIS, M.SC.; AND

ANDREW K. PETERSEN, PH.D., C.ENG., MICE

ABSTRACT: The year 2007 was a year for visionary change in the field of civil engi-
neering in the United States. This vision did not go unnoticed in the Caribbean. At the
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of the West Indies,
the M.Sc. programs have been restructured to meet the U.K. Joint Board of Moderators
requirements for academic accreditation and to fulfill the mandate of the vice chancellor
to develop 12 desired attributes, with leadership being among them. A model was devel-
oped in a course, Practical Team Project, to measure the learning outcome of leadership
by combining the Project Management Institute body of knowledge areas and the Insti-
tute of Civil Engineers (ICE) development objectives. The course prepares students for
professional review at the Incorporated Engineering (I.Eng.) level with the ICE and gives
them similar standing in other Washington Accord signatory countries. This new initia-
tive for the university required innovative assessment techniques, such as 360-degree
feedback and zero tolerance, to evaluate the demonstrated leadership of the graduate
students. Analytical tools such as ANOVA and t-test were used to justify the effectiveness
of the chosen model.

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E
ngineering education is intended to with new technologies and rapidly changing current
prepare students for a career in a profes- practices (ASCE 2007). A similar vision was described
sion that plays a vital role in society by E. Nigel Harris, vice chancellor of the University of
(McCuen 1999). This vital role includes the West Indies (UWI), in the 2007–2012 strategic
the exercise of leadership. Hilton (1996) plan (UWI 2007). The plan calls for 12 desired attrib-
indicated that “engineering schools utes to be developed in graduates, with leadership
must better train engineers for leadership roles.” being among them.
Industry leaders have been calling on educators to pro-
vide a more holistic education geared toward strong
interpersonal skills and application of systems think- RESTRUCTURING THE UWI ENGINEERING
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ing (American Society for Engineering Education DEPARTMENT


1995); engineering educators have been blamed for To enact this vision, UWI’s Department of Civil and
emphasizing “scientific theory over practice, knowl- Environmental Engineering, hereafter referred to as
edge production over applied critical thinking, “the Department,” has undergone changes in the pro-
mechanical analysis over business applications and grams it offers at the graduate and undergraduate lev-
technological advances over project management de- els. The vice chancellor’s desired attributes were
velopments” (Bowman and Farr 2000). woven into the M.Sc. programs—civil engineering,
Leadership has been described as one of the most civil with environmental engineering, and construc-
observed and least understood phenomena on Earth tion management—and became the learning out-
(Burns 1979). Extensive research has been conducted comes for the various courses within each program.
in academia and industry at large to further under- This was the first introduction of learning outcomes
stand this phenomenon in an attempt to narrow the into the programs in the history of the university.
gap. The research has been ongoing for over 50 years, The Department’s leadership values its current
and much is still to be learned as cultures and situa- international accreditation but is mindful of the global
tions change in modern environments. changes that must be considered if that accreditation
Leadership courses are taught widely in universities is to be preserved. Globally, accreditation of engineer-
and colleges globally, with an emphasis mainly on the ing higher education has converged under the
leadership abilities demonstrated by politicians, busi- Washington Accord (an agreement among worldwide
ness owners, and business theorists. In attempting to accreditors of engineering educational programs) to a
determine the leadership abilities of students, re- process that measures the learning outcomes of both
searchers have used various techniques developed in undergraduate and graduate degree programs, with
industry, such as 360-degree feedback (Rao and a requirement that candidates have a bachelor’s degree
Rao 2005). Although this information provides good and 30 North American (U.S.) or 120 European
knowledge to students, an actual assessment of their Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)
demonstrated leadership would give a clearer indica- graduate credits to satisfy the educational base for pro-
tion of their abilities to lead in the real world. This fessional qualification.
paper addresses the problem of assessing the demon- In many ways, the degree programs in the Depart-
strated leadership of graduate civil engineering and ment are structured using North American guidelines,
construction management students in an academic particularly in terms of the credit system, in which 3
setting that mirrors the real-world environment. North American credits are equivalent to 3 hours of
In “The Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025,” lecturing (USAeducation.us 2009) as opposed to the
ASCE (2007) noted that civil engineering education ECTS, in which 5 credits equate to 10 hours of learn-
and early experience have been reformed. It also stated ing (Europa 2005). The Department could seek
that this change was driven in part by the recognition accreditation from the Accreditation Board for Engi-
that academia and industry need to cooperate and neering and Technology (ABET); however, during a
partner in the delivery of school, university, and life- weekend seminar ABET held in Trinidad in Septem-
long learning educational activities. Industry has ag- ber 2007, ABET noted that it planned to initiate
gressively brought real-world issues into university accreditation of the Caribbean accreditors an estimated
classrooms and has implemented broad steps to ensure 3 to 4 years following the date of the seminar.
the continuing professional development of engineers However, the Department has a long history of
throughout their careers. The academic–industrial being accredited by the Joint Board of Moderators
partnership has enabled formal education to keep pace (JBM 2010) in the United Kingdom, which acts

Leadership and Management in Engineering 89 APRIL 2011

Leadership Manage. Eng., 2011, 11(2): 88-96


on behalf of the U.K. Standard for Professional Engi- and competent leaders and team players, IT and infor-
neering Competence in accrediting civil, structural, mation literate, socially and culturally responsive,
and highway engineering degree courses. Because ethical, innovative, entrepreneurial and lifelong learn-
ABET is not ready to accredit Caribbean degrees ing” engineering graduates who will enhance the
yet, there is no alternative but to continue seeking quality of life and face future challenges within the
accreditation from the United Kingdom. Caribbean and beyond (UWI 2007).
The most recent JBM accreditation report, dated
2004, asked the Department to demonstrate, through
a paper submission, among other things, how learning ASSESSING THE LEARNING OUTCOMES
outcomes are assessed and the range of industrial This evaluation process in turn led to a redefinition of
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involvement. This was done in the summer of 2007 the Department’s learning outcomes. On completion
and gained approval. This departmental review of of the M.Sc., according to the revised definition, suc-
its graduate programs led to a review of the kind of cessful civil engineering candidates will be able, at
graduate the Department wished to produce and threshold (pass) level, to
the capabilities students should have to satisfy the de-
1. Lead and work within teams to identify and
mands of industry. Acknowledging that the Depart-
solve technical, business, social, cultural and
ment was accredited by the JBM led to a review of ethical issues in Civil Engineering both system-
what they would be looking for in a future accredita- atically and creatively, make sound judgments
tion process. The Quality Assurance Agency for in the absence of complete data, and communi-
Higher Education (QAA) document “The Framework cate their conclusions clearly to specialist and
for Higher Education Qualifications in England, non-specialist audiences;
Wales and Northern Ireland” (QAA 2009) noted 2. Demonstrate self-direction, critical thinking
the following: and originality in tackling and solving
Typically, holders of an MSc qualification will be problems, and act autonomously in planning
able to: and implementing tasks using Information
Technology.
(a) deal with complex issues both systematically 3. Continue to advance their knowledge and un-
and creatively, make sound judgments in derstanding, and to develop their new skills
the absence of complete data, and communi- to a higher level. Candidates will have the com-
cate their conclusions clearly to specialist petencies, qualities and transferable skills neces-
and non-specialist audiences; sary for employment requiring: the exercise of
(b) demonstrate self-direction and originality in initiative and personal responsibility; deci-
tackling and solving problems, and act auton- sion-making in complex and unpredictable si-
omously in planning and implementing tasks tuations; and the independent learning ability
at a professional or equivalent level; required for continuing professional develop-
(c) continue to advance their knowledge and un- ment as a practicing Civil Engineer.
derstanding, and to develop new skills to a
high level; and will have: To achieve these learning outcomes, students must be-
(d) the qualities and transferable skills necessary come involved in working in teams (Outcome 1),
for employment requiring: undertaking a design-oriented project (Outcome 2),
and undertaking a research project (Outcome 3), in
• the exercise of initiative and personal addition to and supported by the taught units. This
responsibility; paper focuses its attention on Learning Outcome 1:
• decision-making in complex and unpredict- work in teams.
able situations; and
• the independent learning ability required for
continuing professional development.
THE WAY FORWARD
As a result, the Department’s mission must be to The program learning outcomes in Learning Outcome
provide quality education at the undergraduate and 1 were woven into the course entitled Practical Team
graduate levels in order to produce the vice chancellor’s Project, which is compulsory for M.Sc. students in the
desired attributes: “critical and creative thinkers, prob- construction management, civil engineering, and civil
lem solvers, effective communicators, knowledgeable with environmental engineering programs. At the

APRIL 2011 90 Leadership and Management in Engineering

Leadership Manage. Eng., 2011, 11(2): 88-96


time of this research, a total of 45 students had taken toward the completion of the plan of action that
the course over 2 years. The course aims the leader has established. A leader needs to effectively
motivate subordinates to successfully achieve the
• To simulate the project management activities of established goals. In Successful Professional Reviews for
professionals;
Civil Engineers (Steels 2006), the Institute of Civil
• To provide students with an opportunity to broaden Engineers (ICE) defined leadership as being capable
and deepen their understanding of the nature of the
of “setting the direction of a project or activity and
project management process through practical ex-
encouraging and guiding people towards that
perience; and
• To develop competence in the technical, manage- direction.”
rial, organizational, communicative, and teamwork With these concepts of the engineering leader in
mind, the authors sought the attributes that would
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skills required in professional practice.


best suit the criteria. The authors selected several
attributes identified by Rao and Rao (2005), who as-
Learning Outcomes sessed the leadership attributes of a group of students
To achieve these aims, four learning outcomes were in India, and developed others. These attributes are as
introduced: On successful completion of this unit, follows:
students should be able, at threshold level, to • Takes initiative to organize the team and ensures
1. Lead and work within teams; that uncertainties are clarified,
2. Identify technical, business, social, cultural, and • Helps peers define clear objectives;
ethical issues for a given project; • Delegates authority and encourages independence;
3. Solve technical, business, social, cultural, and • Is decisive in taking action when needed;
ethical issues for a given project, both system- • Exhibits a high level of self-confidence;
atically and creatively, and make sound judg- • Consistently looks for better ways of doing things;
ments in the absence of complete data; and • Is open to ideas from all quarters to find new ways of
4. Communicate conclusions clearly to specialist solving problems;
and nonspecialist audiences. • Strives to create an environment of collaboration,
team spirit, and trust;
• Is able to work with team members of diverse back-
Leadership Focus grounds while maintaining the quality and quantity
As was the case in many other engineering education of their interactions; and
institutions, leadership had been neglected in the cur- • Is able to meet objectives set by the employer or
riculum. Bowman and Farr (2000) believed that the client.
key to embedding leadership in the formal education
process is to mirror the real world. Project-based learning
(PBL) refers to the theory and practice of using real- Learning and Teaching Strategy
world work assignments on time-limited projects to The overall objective of the M.Sc. program and this
achieve mandated performance objectives and to facili- course in particular is to help prepare the students
tate individual and collective learning (Smith and for corporate membership in the Institute of Civil En-
Dodds 1997). Bowman and Farr stated that leadership gineers or a similar professional body internationally.
skills are developed when students embarking on a As a result, the students are exposed to a learning
project are atmosphere that is as close as possible to the experience
of working on a real project. This course is a “capstone
• Required to develop project proposals, project,” which calls on all the skills (learning out-
• Organized into and lead project groups as is com- comes) of the other courses in the program and
monly accepted in industry,
emphasizes self-learning, creativity, project teamwork,
• Held accountable for each group’s performance, and communication skills, as well as judgment and
• Evaluated on their ability to lead a team, problem solving. The projects that the students
• Required to coordinate with clients, and consider are deliberately chosen to be suitable for
• Tasked to give oral presentations. interdisciplinary work, with students from other
According to McCuen (1999), leadership consists of departments in the university being involved, and
the knowledge and skills that the individual possesses with input from experienced, practicing professionals
and uses to persuade others to enthusiastically work in addition to the academic supervisors and tutors.

Leadership and Management in Engineering 91 APRIL 2011

Leadership Manage. Eng., 2011, 11(2): 88-96


In this 15-week course delivered in the final teach- feedback (Mowl 1996, McDowell and Mowl 1996)
ing semester of the program, the nine knowledge areas that can be used to assign a grade to a student. This
of the Project Management Institute’s PMBOK method was used to assess the students based on their
(Project Management Institute 2008) plus an addi- demonstrated leadership.
tional objective (Submission of the Project Plan) de- An objective means of assessment was also incorpo-
fine the weekly objectives that the leader of each rated to assess the quality of work produced by the
team is required to get his or her team to accomplish. team players. In research conducted by Reynolds et al.
Each team consists of five members, one leader and (2004), the researchers developed an innovative idea of
four team players. The roles of each individual change zero tolerance for errors and omissions; zero tolerance
every week: A new leader is selected from the teams assessment is used in evaluating students’ weekly one-
page task reports. The reports are assessed weekly, and
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weekly, while the previous leader assumes the role of


team player on an entirely different project until the up to three errors or omissions are highlighted. The
opportunity is given again to become the leader of that grade awarded to the student is based on the number
new project 4 weeks later. The leader in any particular of attempts required to achieve an error-free submis-
week is required to decide how best the workload can sion. This was found to provide a reliable basis for
be divided among the team players and to motivate assessing students’ academic achievement. The grad-
them to achieve their individual objectives before ing in this application, however, varies slightly from
the start of the class the following week. the work of Reynolds et al. (2004); for this study,
Each week the current leader is assessed, using a grading was as follows: correct on first attempt =
questionnaire, by the “client” and teammates on the 80%, second attempt = 70%, third attempt = 60%,
basis of the leader’s level of success in getting the team fourth attempt = 50%, and fifth attempt = 40%.
to achieve the set goal for that week. The team players Fig. 1 shows the average number of attempts students
are also assessed based on their demonstrated ability to required to achieve an error-free submission on
complete the task assigned to them by their current each topic.
leader.
Because the students’ team roles are changed each Overall Assessment Strategy
week, they get the opportunity to lead a team only
Learning Outcome 1—lead and work within teams—
twice, and hence to learn from experience and to im-
is measured using a 360-degree feedback performance
prove on mistakes made on the first attempt. The team
appraisal. Learning Outcome 2—identify technical,
players are required to produce a one-page document
business, social, cultural, and ethical issues for a given
weekly that is assessed on the basis of zero tolerance—
project—is measured via a project plan developed by
that is, it has to be without errors and omissions and
the team that identifies the issues to be solved; the
has to be based on the task assigned by their leader. teams cannot proceed until the assessor deems this
Each team player is assigned an aspect of the weekly plan satisfactory (zero tolerance). Learning Outcome
objective that, when combined, should give a total 3—solve technical, business, social, cultural, and eth-
picture of the objective itself. ical issues for a given project, both systematically and
creatively, and make sound judgments in the absence
of complete data—and Learning Outcome 4—com-
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER municate conclusions clearly to specialist and nonspe-
In the assessment process for this course, new tech- cialist audiences—are measured by oral presentations
niques had to be incorporated to ensure that the course to industry representatives and a timed written essay
objectives were met. This research incorporated a be- on the project intended for a nonspecialist audience.
spoke method of the 360-degree feedback model used
normally in human resource management. In pilot Assessment Schedule and Strategy
research the authors conducted in 2008, the 360-
degree feedback technique was adapted to include Coursework is graded in percentages divided among
various assessment methods such as self-assessment, five criteria in the following manner:
peer assessment, and the traditional student assess- 1. Group project plan (zero tolerance) = 20%
ment by staff (Ellis & Petersen 2010). This was a 2. 360-degree feedback performance = 20%
subjective means of assessment; however, studies con- 3. Individual industrial interview = 20%
cerning assessment methods have shown self- and peer 4. Individual essay = 20%
assessments to be capable of providing summative 5. Personal ICE development objectives = 20%

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Leadership Manage. Eng., 2011, 11(2): 88-96


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Figure. 1. Average number of attempts to submit an error-free document for each objective by the 2010 cohort.

Preparation for Incorporated Professional


Review
Helping undergraduate master’s (M.Eng.) students
start completing their ICE development objectives
is not new, as is evidenced by work done by Langdon
and Petersen (1997) at the Department of Civil Engi-
neering at the University of Portsmouth, England.
What is new is that graduate students with a B.Sc.
who have had a year of experience in industry and
may be completing their master’s degree part time
have the work experience necessary to complete their Figure. 2. Responses to Question 6, “The feedback on the
development objectives for the Incorporated Engineer marked coursework was relevant to my career objectives.”
level. Incorporated Engineer is on the route to Char-
tered Engineer (C.Eng.), the leaders of the industry.

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED


Using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
(SPSS 2009), analyses were performed to verify and
validate the assessment methods. To evaluate the re-
sults of the 360-degree feedback used to assess dem-
onstrated leadership, analysis of variance (ANOVA)
was used. A Student’s (one-sample) t-test was used
to analyze the work of the team players in relation Figure. 3. Responses to Question 7, “The material covered
to the zero-tolerance assessment. A postcourse evalu- in the course was relevant to my career objectives.”
ation was also conducted to gain feedback from the
students on the design and delivery of the course
for possible improvements. Questions were also asked students, no significant difference was found among
of its relevance to their career objectives. The responses the raters in their evaluation of the leaders. This
to these questions are shown in Figs. 2 and 3. justified the hypothesis that the bespoke 360-degree
feedback method could be used to provide a summa-
360-Degree Feedback Evaluation tive grade for the students.
In 2009, the course was offered as an elective with a However, the findings of the 2010 cohort of 31 stu-
cohort of 14 students (Ellis and Petersen 2010). Since dents provided a different result. A significant differ-
then, it has become a core part of the curricula. Based ence of 0.002 (i.e., less than 0.05) was found between
on the analysis conducted with the 2009 cohort of the leaders and the evaluation of their peers based on

Leadership and Management in Engineering 93 APRIL 2011

Leadership Manage. Eng., 2011, 11(2): 88-96


their demonstrated leadership. This may have resulted students are expected to achieve, assuming the grades
from the Hawthorne effect, in which persons being are normally distributed around an average of 60%,
assessed tend to project more in the area being assessed and representing the average achievement of an
than under normal conditions; as a result, the leaders error-free submission on the third attempt.
may have evaluated themselves higher than the aver- The results from the 2009 group of students re-
age assessment of their peers. The Hawthorne effect vealed a significant difference in three of the 10
was expected by the authors as it had been predicted topics—human resource management, quality man-
in the work of others (Rao and Rao 2005). The find- agement, and project plan—for the test value (Ellis
ings from 2010 could be used to suggest an adjust- and Petersen 2010), meaning that the students per-
ment to the self-assessment of the leaders. No formed better in these areas than in the others. The
significant difference was found based on the analysis results from the 2010 cohort proved even more favor-
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between the leaders and the clients (members of staff) able, as significant differences were found in seven of
as well as the peers and the client. Therefore, it is sug- the 10 objectives using the 2-tailed test (less than
gested that a truer evaluation was found between these 0.05): all areas except scope, risk, and time manage-
respondents. ment. The data showed a positive mean difference,
During the 2009 delivery of the course, the peers with a 0.07 level of significance for scope manage-
were required to evaluate their leader in the classroom ment; the students experienced difficulty in the initia-
based on a paper version of the questionnaire, whereas tion of the projects, and most teams took four to five
in 2010, an online assessment was used that allowed iterations to produce an error-free document. As the
for greater flexibility on the part of the students. learning curve increased with time and understanding
Although the evaluation is of an anonymous nature, progressed, however, the students were able to pro-
the peers may have been more comfortable completing duce the documents at the required level with fewer
the evaluation away from the presence of the leader, iterations. The remaining seven objectives had a con-
contributing to the difference in evaluation. sistent significance level of 0.000, with the project
plan slightly higher at 0.009.
The mean of the mean represents the average level
Zero Tolerance Evaluation at which the team players achieved an error-free sub-
Each team was required to produce a project plan for mission; it was 3.3 in 2009 and 2.2 in 2010. This may
the course. This plan was divided into 10 main sec- be attributed to the fact that the 2010 group were able
tions, nine of which are based on the knowledge areas to see the project plans produced by the previous
in the PMBOK: group, giving them clearer insight into the expecta-
1. Scope management, tions of the course than the previous group, who were
2. Risk management, the pioneers.
3. Time management,
4. Cost management, Postcourse Evaluation
5. Human resources management,
A postcourse evaluation questionnaire was designed
6. Quality management,
and administered to the students of the 2010 cohort.
7. Procurement management,
The questionnaire comprised 15 questions, two of
8. Communication management,
which were directly related to the impact of the course
9. Integration management, and
on the career development of the students. Because the
10. Project plan.
program took place in the evenings, most of the stu-
As professionals and future leaders of the industry, the dents were able to continue their careers while contin-
students are expected to produce documents without uing their studies part time. As a result, the students
known errors and omissions, as these documents are were able to see the direct impact of the course on their
used by other teams to execute the project. The simple current and future roles in their workplaces.
misplacement of a comma in a bill of quantities could The “academic safety net” allowed students an op-
cause the loss of a project at the tender phase. Hence, portunity to exercise their leadership and team playing
zero tolerance for such practices is necessary. abilities in a less stressful environment that could
To analyze the students’ ability to each produce a facilitate a greater scope of learning. Figs. 2 and 3 in-
one-page document without known errors and omis- dicate the responses of the 31 students to questions
sions, one-sample t-testing was used. A test value of 3 about the relevance of the course and its impact on
was used, representing the average level at which the their career development. More than 70% of the

APRIL 2011 94 Leadership and Management in Engineering

Leadership Manage. Eng., 2011, 11(2): 88-96


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Reynolds, J. H., Petersen, A. K., and Tutesigensi, A.
the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine,
(2004). “Evaluation of a zero tolerance assessment
Trinidad and Tobago. Leighton’s research is in
strategy for incorporating risk assessment into
the area of leadership assessment of graduate
undergraduate construction related courses.”
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students using innovative techniques for student


Mini-project report, LTSN Engineering, ed., LTSN
assessment. He can be contacted at leighton
Engineering, Loughborough, England, 1–10.
.ellis@sta.uwi.edu.
Smith, B., and Dodds, B. (1997). Developing managers
through project-based learning. Gower, Aldershot,
England.
SPSS. (2009). “Statistical package for social sciences.” Andrew K. Petersen is professor, Department
〈http://www.spss.com/〉 (July 15, 2009). of Civil Engineering, FH Mainz, University of
Steels, H. M. (2006). Successful professional reviews for Applied Science, Mainz, Germany. He has held
civil engineers, 2nd Ed., Thomas Telford Publish- positions as senior lecturer at the University of
ing, London. the West Indies and principal lecturer in the
University of the West Indies. (2007). “UWI strategic Department of Civil Engineering, University of
plan 2007–2012. Office of Planning and Develop- Portsmouth, England. Dr. Petersen has intro-
ment.” 〈http://www.uwi.edu/StrategicPlan/ duced a number of new assessment strategies
strategicplan20072012.aspx〉 (July 20, 2009). for assessing student learning in the subject of
USAeducation.us. (2009). “Credit system.” 〈http:// health and safety risk management. LME

APRIL 2011 96 Leadership and Management in Engineering

Leadership Manage. Eng., 2011, 11(2): 88-96

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