从课堂到现场，建筑管理毕业生采取动手的方式来教育

BRISTOL, R.I. – 高年级学生克里斯蒂娜·马拉(Christina Marra)称自己是一个“亲力亲为的人”,不难想象丹伯里大学建筑管理专业的学生, Conn., on a construction site with a hard hat.

“I like walking the site with the superintendent, watching the laborers do their work, 把图纸和现场的东西匹配起来, and making sure everything’s right,” Marra said.

After graduation, 马拉将搬到北卡罗莱纳，在PC建筑公司工作，她将在一家污水处理厂工作，这对充分利用RWU体验式学习机会的人来说是很自然的下一步.

在2023年11月，Marra作为团队的一员，在商业类比赛中获得了第三名 第34届年度建筑联合学校(ASC)第1区学生竞赛和会议. Over the course of the weekend competition, 该团队针对一个假设的问题创建了施工和设计解决方案, including estimates and safety plans.

“它让我把我在课堂上学到的内容，并将这些知识运用到我们必须在比赛中交付的工作中,” Marra said. “It’s a great experience. 你的时间很紧张，压力很大，但这就是这个行业一直以来的情况.”

Over the past three summers, 马拉曾在全球工程公司阿卡迪斯(Arcadis)工作，负责纽约市的项目. The experience helped her figure out her next steps, 证实她喜欢在现场工作，而不是坐在桌子后面, 并帮助她将课堂上的课程应用到阅读建筑图纸和规范上, she said.

Marra has also delved into more theoretical work. She served as a research assistant to Jon Gomes ’19, M’20, a lecturer in the Construction Management program, and Professor of Construction Management Amine Ghanem, 帮助准备了一份关于建筑行业学校观念变化的报告，该报告于4月在阿拉巴马州举行的建筑联合学校国际会议上发表. 基于对当前文献的回顾和对数百名行业专业人士的调查, 马拉和其他学生研究人员发现，人们的看法比过去更加积极, though Marra said she would like that to change further.

“I see vocational education as a super positive thing, especially because not everyone enjoys the reading, sitting down type of stuff. They learn better with their hands,” Marra said. “I’m definitely like that in some aspects, too.”

马拉还辅修了商业和可持续发展研究的双学位, 她说，随着公司开始采取更可持续的做法，这两点都将对她未来的职业生涯有所帮助.

Outside of the Construction Management program, 马拉曾担任RWU人类家园分会的副主席, spending spring break building with the organization. 她说，在该组织做志愿者是她从严格的专业学习中“很好的休息”, 同时也允许她建立和回馈社区.

Marra对建筑和实践经验的兴趣可以追溯到她在RWU的时间之前. “It really started when I was younger; I always was fascinated by construction, the construction process, and everything like that,” Marra recalled. “和三个哥哥一起长大，我总是亲力亲为. We were always doing makeshift stuff at home, 我们总是帮爸爸做房子里的东西，修我们的棚屋.”

Now, 运用她在建筑管理项目中获得的知识, 马拉说，她已经准备好充满信心地进入这个领域.