Teaching professional ethics to construction students

The construction industry is affected by incidents of unethical behaviour leading to serious issues. Ethics, which is a significant element of any professional practice, is generally not taught the construction management disciplines. This study examines the design and delivery of a unit taught in the construction management course at Deakin University that focuses on ethics in construction. In doing so, the need for ethics education is discussed and the learning experience of the students is examined. Data is collected from anonymous student feedback on the unit and is analysed qualitatively to examine student perception and learning. Both positive and negative aspects are identified. Subsequently, the findings are discussed drawing upon theories on ethics education as well as the philosophies of teaching and learning. Finally, the contents, delivery, design and the structure of the assessments are analysed to identify ideal delivery of ethics education for construction students.