Impacts of teaching approaches on construction engineering education: A comparative study between Hong kong and Mainland China

Teaching approaches are largely reflected by course content, curriculum, and classroom climate, all of which interact with students' approaches to learning. The teaching and learning contexts influence the learning process and, finally, determine the learning outcome or product. Teaching approaches may vary across different engineering and science courses and students. This study was aimed at understanding the differences in teaching approaches between two regions (Hong Kong and the Mainland) and their relevant impacts on the learning process in Construction Engineering education. Four teaching approaches (transferring, shaping, traveling and growing) are contrasted in the paper. The first two teaching approaches emphasize a teacher-centered orientation, while the latter two concentrate on a student-centered orientation. An exploratory survey was given to construction engineering students in China to investigate relationships between teaching approaches, learning approaches and students' satisfaction. Results indicate that both the transferring and shaping approaches are perceived as popular teaching approaches used in the 1st and 2nd class universities in the Mainland. In comparison, transfer-ring and traveling are popularly applied in Hong Kong. In general, teacher-centered teaching is correlated to a surface learning approach amongst students at Hong Kong universities but correlated to a deep approach for students in the Mainland. Students at universities in Mainland China show their satisfaction with all the four teaching approaches; while students in Hong Kong only significantly satisfy with the growing teaching approach. The results indicate that students in the Mainland have their own aspirations in the learning process. Other factors such as student characteristics and economic situation are proposed for further study in relation to construction engineering education in the Mainland.