Developing teamwork skills: AEC students writing reflective journals and using action research

Construction is a collaborative endeavour. Therefore, AEC students should learn to critically reflect on interpersonal issues and how they act in teams alongside their technical and scientific training. I teach the required skills and knowledge to attain this, within a master's level course in green building design at a German university, which revolves around a training project. Students design a building in interdisciplinary teams. First, I encourage the students to develop a project schedule and assign responsibilities. Subsequently, they use an action research approach to improve their project management skills. They keep a personal reflective journal throughout the project, enabling them to critically reflect on how they perform individually and how they interact as a group. This journal writing helps them to identify problems and subsequently improve their practice by employing action research. Therefore, my account of how to engage AEC students in critical reflection reveals the challenges and opportunities of this process. Students on my course can struggle to identify the value of reflection and hence problematising their practice. They grab the most readily available solution to their organisational problems without more in-depth investigation. Often tight project schedules restrain their willingness to reflect and make it hard to get them engaged. However, after overcoming initial obstacles, they start to write and use their insights to feedback into their action research projects. Conflicts in the teams are particularly challenging for the students but also unique learning opportunities.