Developing And Delivering An Online Course In Construction Estimating

Because of an increase in demand from students for online courses in construction management and engineering, North Dakota State University has recently launched a fully online Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Construction Management. While an online program can expand opportunities for faculty to use new course delivery methods, the benefits are primarily for the students. It allows nontraditional students to take classes at their convenience while retaining their full-time jobs and maintaining their commitments to family and community. This paper reports the process and results of the development and delivery of an online construction estimating course. The major components of this paper include the hardware and software used to develop and deliver an online estimating course as well as the lessons learned. Some snapshots of the course delivery are included in the paper. The student rating responses for this course are discussed, in general, as well. It is expected that this paper can provide some useful information for construction education programs which are migrating toward the distance education environment.