Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

By Kelly Strong and Rhonda Wiley-Jones

The first learning community in the CCEE Department started this fall: the Construction Engineering Cornerstone Learning Community. Learning communities are student development programs to help students develop stronger connections early in their academic careers, especially to their industry, and to succeed in their early course work.

Kelly Strong, associate professor, and Rhonda Wiley-Jones, academic adviser, designed the learning community and co-teach Engineering 101 and Construction Engineering 110, the two-course sequence that is the foundation for the learning community.

The Cornerstone Learning Community is partially supported by proceeds from an endowment set up by employees of the Weitz Company in the early 1990s. This level of industry support is unique for leaning communities.

How it works

Thirty-two students in Engineering 101 are put into five learning teams based on other courses they are taking. For example, those taking Engineering 160, Math 165, and Chemistry 167 are in a learning team together.

Jim Kurth says, "This is such a great program. It allows new students the chance to develop a strong network with their peers that can be carried into their professional lives."

How it helps

Students tackle professional skills early in their college career through the learning community by

• giving a two-minute presentation on leadership or initiative,
• learning to work in teams by understanding personality differences through the Meyers-Briggs Typology Index,
• understanding how to accommodate and expand their own learning styles through the Index of Learning Styles, and
• setting goals for themselves before the semester starts and then revising them later in the semester.

In addition, industry representatives helped them prepare for the Engineering Career Fair and listened to their experiences.

Students also learn how to negotiate college. Two undergraduate peer mentors, Julie Halvorson and Jim Kurth, facilitate weekly study times and spend one-on-one time with each student to answer any questions. Pizza or sub-sandwiches are served (often supported by industry) during their study time to keep the setting casual and informal.

Students are required to attend

• at least one Associated General Contractors (AGC) field trip,
• one student organizational meeting,
• two open houses in other engineering departments, and
• a class where recent ConE graduates visit to tell about their everyday work or describe the different types of emphases in Construction Engineering.

Julie Halvorson says, "On numerous occasions, students have expressed how helpful it is to have people from industry come in and talk to the group. The speakers let the students know what they can expect from an internship or a full-time position. It really gives them a good sense of where they are headed in the next few years."

The student chapter of AGC also encouraged participation by extending complimentary memberships to all in-coming students during their first semester.

Strong says, "Warren Bennis, one of the nation’s leading experts on developing effective leaders, says the key to success is not to focus on training people to become great leaders but to focus on helping them to become themselves. I think this philosophy sums up what we are trying to accomplish in the Cornerstone Learning Community. If we can help first-year students understand themselves better as independent thinkers and learners, they will naturally evolve into industry leaders."