Project Based Learning Impact on Positive Affect and Negative Affect

Project based learning (PBL) for construction education has established positive learning outcomes for students in Construction Management programs. Business management research has shown increased Positive Affect (PA) and lower Negative Affect (NA) align with positive business behaviors. The main objective of this study was to investigate whether implementation of PBL in Construction Education using a real-world capital improvement project with requirements for development of pre-construction deliverables would have an impact on student participants’ Positive Affect and or Negative Affect toward the real-world Owner, Customer, and Users of the subject project. Throughout the PBL module, students engaged with project stakeholders through meetings, discussions, and correspondence to develop the capital improvement project deliverables of a project scope, schedule, estimate, and programing documents. Students completed a pre and post survey to see if their PA and or NA would be changed after the completion of the PBL module. At the conclusion of the project based learning module, the researcher found increased Positive Affect toward the owners and decreased Negative Affect toward the owners, requesters, and users.