Interdisciplinary team building as part of the construction education process

The paper presents a study on using experiential training methods in teaching interdisciplinary team building. The basis of the paper is the results from conducting three interactive adventure learning workshops. Attendees of the workshops were students from construction management, architecture, and engineering programs. The study demonstrates that experiential training methods can be an alternative way of instructing students on how to work in interdisciplinary teams. The results of the post survey attest that most students find the workshop a positive training experience over the traditional lecture format. The paper makes recommendations to other design and construction programs interested in developing alternative methods of teaching interdisciplinary team building. The paper also recommends that industry could develop experiential training workshops in developing interdisciplinary project teams during partnering sessions or in team development on design-build projects.