Abstract:

This study investigates student perceptions of the relevance of academic coursework to workplace responsibilities within cooperative education (co-op) programs in Construction Management. Using a quantitative survey administered to undergraduate students who had completed at least one co-op, the research examined how well course content aligned with the tasks students performed during their work placements, as well as how these tasks aligned with students’ skill sets and career goals. Descriptive statistics, the Friedman test, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance, and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were employed to analyze the data. Foundational courses—particularly those emphasizing Construction Document Reading, Construction Scheduling and Steel, Concrete, and Masonry Design—were rated as most relevant. Tasks were perceived as somewhat aligned with both career goals and skill sets, with no statistically significant difference between the two. The results highlight important insights into the integration of curriculum and construction industry expectations and offer a framework for evaluating the contribution of academic programs to experiential learning.

Keywords:

Curriculum assessment, construction management, cooperative education.