Teaching in the Built Environment: Creating Transformational Active Learning Experiences

Teaching in the Built Environment: Creating Transformational Active Learning Experiences offers a blueprint for teaching success from an award-winning team of educators, with classroom-ready strategies for maximizing undergraduate learning in built environment disciplines. Drawing on the authors’ years of experience as education researchers and faculty at one of the nation’s top design and construction schools, this primer empowers instructors to implement high impact teaching practices in any educational setting, from intimate seminars to "mega classes" of hundreds of students. Chapters on internships, study abroad, and field experiences equip faculty with teaching tools guaranteed to work on or off campus. Just as importantly, this book identifies the teaching tactics that don’t work. The authors’ candid reflections on their own failed pedagogical experiments help instructors avoid confidence-shaking missteps and encourage them to turn teaching struggles into future successes. A thorough review of the latest education research provides theoretical context and empirical support for strategies direct from the authors’ award-winning classrooms, studios, and labs. Features: Classroom-tested strategies for maximizing undergraduates’ learning in built environment disciplines Adapted teaching methods from the authors’ award-winning classrooms, studios, and labs to any higher education setting An ideal resource for built environment faculty, from first timers to veteran educators The latest research on teaching and learning in design and construction disciplines A must-read for built environment educators, from first-time faculty to classroom veterans, Teaching in the Built Environment: Creating Transformational Active Learning Experiences inspires teaching that will resonate long past the semester’s end.

About the Author

C. Ben Farrow, PhD, is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and International Programs in Auburn University’s College of Architecture, Design and Construction. Prior to his administrative role, Ben had fifteen years of experience in industry primarily as a practicing structural engineer and eleven years teaching in Auburn’s McWhorter School of Building Science. He served as undergraduate program chair in Building Science for four years, held both the Aderholt Professorship and the Hunt Professorship within the School, and was the 2020–21 president of the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) which represents over 170 construction management programs worldwide. He has multiple teaching awards collected at the School, College, and Regional levels. He holds a doctorate in adult education, and his primary research areas of interest include student engagement within construction education and recruitment of students into the built environment.

Eric M. Wetzel, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Auburn University’s McWhorter School of Building Science. He is the recipient of multiple teaching and service awards from academia and industry, including the 2021 Atlanta Alumni Building Science Fund for Excellence in Service Award, 2020 Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Alabama 40 Under 40, and the 2019 Auburn University Alumni Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award. Eric is currently serving on the American Council for Construction Education Standards Committee and is an active member in the Associated Schools of Construction. He holds a doctorate in construction management, and his primary research interests include active learning within construction education and robotics in construction. Outside of the university, Eric has over 12 years of experience as a construction consultant, specializing in project controls for the water and wastewater industry.

Tom M. Leathem, PhD, is the JE Wilborn Associate Professor in Auburn University’s McWhorter School of Building Science. He is the Proceedings Editor for the Associated Schools of Construction and has held leadership roles with the organization since 2013. He serves on the American Council for Construction Education Training Committee and facilitates numerous professional development workshops in teaching and learning. He is the recipient of multiple teaching awards including the Associated Schools of Construction 2016 Excellence in Teaching Award, and the 2019 McWhorter School of Building Science Outstanding Faculty Award. He holds a doctorate in curriculum and assessment, and his main areas of research interest include construction education and assessment, collaborative education in the built environment, and innovation in construction education. Before entering the academic world, he worked in the commercial industrial construction industry for 11 years in various management roles.