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Preparing Construction Management (CM) students for their professional lives must include not only training on technical skills, but also a variety of personal interaction skills, from working with diverse teams and solving complex problems to communicating with clients and other project stakeholders. This paper asks the question, "How can CM departments facilitate student learning and interactions that simultaneously develop technical, managerial, communication, and people skills?". Across disciplines, universities have been encouraging curriculum innovation through High-Impact Learning Activities (HI-Activities) – including hands-on learning, problem-based learning, capstone courses, service-learning, and study abroad experiences – in an effort to develop students' ability to apply knowledge and prepare them for their careers. The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between classroom teaching strategies in CM courses and the development of social and learning networks among students. The data include results from a social network survey of four courses to understand how using different HI-Activities in the classroom produced different social and learning networks. The results show that service-learning and study abroad classes are more effective than classes involving project-based learning and hands-on learning activities in developing communication and learning networks among CM students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recruitment of high school student into Construction Management (CM) undergraduate programs is challenging for many United States universities. Often, only students who know someone in the industry are aware of the degree and career possibilities related to CM. A survey of 81 freshmen CM students in one CM program indicates high school counselors tended to have little or no knowledge of CM in Colorado. To gain more insight into this situation and to develop strategies to address it, a needs assessment was conducted to determine Colorado high school counselors’ current knowledge and perceptions of CM career opportunities. Responses from Colorado high schools counselors indicate a gap exists between their knowledge of CM career and degree opportunities and the level of knowledge that CM programs would like for them to possess and share with their students. Survey results also indicate that the existence of a gap in students’ knowledge of CM, along with negative perceived social norms, further limit counselors’ ability to effectively advise student about CM. The High School Counselor Outreach Program (HSCOP) was developed to provide guidance to CM departments on how to address the identified knowledge gaps based on the barriers and preferences identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]