e-Construction Transformation
This project seeks to resolve some of these challenges and to support Scotland’s economy through the growth and increased efficiency of the Scottish construction sector. This project is one of 6 e-Learning Transformation programme projects funded by the Scottish Funding Council.
Transforming learning & teaching in the scottish construction sector
The booming construction industry in Scotland has led to significant challenges to the sector, including current and future skills gaps and shortages, an ageing workforce, Scottish labour migration to England, an influx of European migrant workers, heritage conservation, ’green’ building needs and the use of new methods and materials. To meet these challenges, there was an urgent need to transform the traditional infrastructure that supports construction learning and teaching.
This is set against a backdrop of issues and problems related to the retention, attainment and motivation of construction learners. For a very long time, construction training has been delivered using traditional methods, which are undoubtedly tried and tested. However, it is now considered that technological developments have presented opportunities to enhance learners’ experiences of education and training.
The e-Construction Transformation Project (eCTP) seeks to resolve some of these challenges and to support Scotland’s economy through the growth and increased efficiency of the Scottish construction sector. eCTP aims to transform the efficiency and effectiveness of the Scotland-wide college delivery of work-based qualifications and learning for Modern Apprentices in construction. The project team expects to enhance and radically change learner and tutor experiences by harnessing technology and sound pedagogy to both develop new content and devise innovative approaches to designing learning activities.
Project aims
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Develop electronic versions of underpinning knowledge for construction Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQ) centred on the Scottish Qualifications Authority (
SQA) Training and Assessment Packs (TAPs), but also encompassing additional learning content. These are to be available for Scotland-wide work-based, home-based, learning centre and college-based use by existing, future and potential construction learners
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Create learning and assessment materials, which are fully developed, validated and are capable of easy updating in order to ensure the quality and consistency of learning experiences and currency of practice
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Produce enhanced interactivity in individuals’ learning experiences in order to encourage them to develop their own skills for learning and to become autonomous users of learning resources
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Enhance college/workplace delivery of SVQs in construction, updating the skills and pedagogy of construction teachers
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Reduce materials development and revision costs
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Reduce the time needed for release from the workplace to college for the development of workbased competence
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Encourage workplace release for learning and the development of learning opportunities, particularly for employees working in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
Moray College, Glasgow Metropolitan College and North Highland College have worked for 2 years as core partners along with Aberdeen College and Inverness College. A strength of the project has been the significant engagement with, and input from, key stakeholders including construction employers, ConstructionSkills, Learndirect Scotland, Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and Historic Scotland. This has ensured that all developments have taken account of different stakeholder requirements and, more significantly, that these partners have ‘bought-in’ and committed to the vision of the project.
Partner colleges have provided subject experts in construction trades and others have been recruited from Telford College and South Lanarkshire College. A senior tutor specialising in ‘designing for learning’ was recruited from York College and a commercial developer (Junction-18) was engaged for the development of high specification materials including the use of games technology.
This wide-ranging group of partners scattered across a huge geographical area added to the complexities of the project. There is, however, no doubt that the cross-sector nature of the project team and the robust project management methodologies will have a positive impact of the sustainability and embedding of the achievements and outputs. The project has already won a major award for innovation from the Sector Skills Alliance Scotland (SSAScot).
The project demonstrates the value of colleges working in partnership to develop one set of high quality materials available to the whole sector, thus helping to ensure the pan-Scotland equivalence of learners’ experiences.