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This paper discusses the redevelopment of MSc Civil Engineering and Construction Management of a modern university in the Midlands of the UK in recent years, with the aim to offer flexible future learning opportunities for built environment professionals and address the sector's skill shortage concerns (Augar Review, 2019 and 2021; Department for Education (DfE), 2020 and 2021; Foresight Review, 2017).

The research method is insider action research and a case study approach. It involves interviews with external and internal stakeholders who contributed to this redevelopment and review of relevant documents related to the development.

The research finding showed that both the internal and external stakeholders welcome the proposed redevelopment of postgraduate courses in Civil Engineering and Construction Management. They found the course offers opportunities for civil engineering and construction professionals to further develop their skills and to address government initiatives on flexible and future learning. The online offer of the course is attractive to potential students. It has brought a substantial financial return to the university and created a new international presence of the course and the university.

It has been argued that an insider research approach may have an advantage in accessing information compared to other research methods. The case study approach may have limitations on generalisability.

This research can be used as an example for other universities that aim to enhance their existing offers to address government initiatives and enhance financial viability.

This paper is a pilot study examining a university's response to skill shortage and government proposal on flexible learning for adults through redevelopment and enhancement of the offer of the existing postgraduate courses.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the relative importance of factors that influence the overall satisfaction of postgraduate built environment students and also examine the extent to which demographic backgrounds affect this.

The data used in this paper have been collected through Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey in the UK. Descriptive and statistical analysis methods were used to analyse student satisfaction variables and identify the extent to which demographic factors influenced overall student satisfaction.

Factors related to teaching and learning have the most statistically significant importance for postgraduate built environment student satisfaction in the UK. Other factors imposing statistically significant influence on student satisfaction are related to assessment and feedback, organisation and management, skills development and information related to the course as all factors of these categories have a significance value of 0. On the other hand, students showed a lower level of satisfaction to factors related to Dissertations or major projects although it is not statistically significant. Gender is the only demographic factor, which has a statistically significant influence on student satisfaction for built environment students.

The sample includes data only from a single university. Therefore, it may impose restrictions of generalisability of this research.

This research identifies the factors that affect the satisfaction of postgraduate built environment students. The built environment course directors can use the findings of this research to make recommendations on the redesign and redevelopment of their courses in order to enhance the quality of the programmes in order to make them more attractive and appealing to students.

This is pioneering research that provides a comprehensive overview of the factors affecting postgraduate built environment student satisfaction in the UK.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the extent to which universities’ strategic plans affect the level of incorporation of sustainability within the curriculum design and property portfolio.

This research adopted a case study approach. The case study institution was Deakin University in Australia. This paper used a qualitative research method. Desk-top study included the review of the University’s Strategic Plan, policy agenda on sustainability and the documents on sustainability courses and units. Semi-structured interviews were held with academics who have course development and management responsibility within the university, colleagues who have a sustainability-focused role on estate management and colleagues whose roles are to manage sustainability initiatives at the institution level. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. Content analysis was used to analyse the interview data.

Despite the University having clear strategic aims and initiatives on the incorporation of sustainability within the curriculum design and property portfolio, there is disconnection between policy development and policy implementation. As a result, the incorporation of sustainability varies largely between curricula within the institution. The incorporation of sustainability within the property portfolio is clear and effective. However, within the curriculum, it is polarised. The level of incorporation depends on the nature of the course or unit and is largely driven by the initiatives of the individual academic. Good practice identified in the incorporation of sustainability within the curriculum is to use a problem-based approach supported by real life projects to enhance the students’ authentic learning experience. A good practice for successfully incorporating sustainability into the property portfolio is to have clear vision of what it has planned to achieve and to ensure that there is a balance between sustainability and value for money.

This is pioneering research to investigate the incorporation of sustainability into higher education in a more comprehensive way. This paper considered the impact of strategic planning on the incorporation of sustainability within a higher education, on both curriculum design and property portfolio management.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) accredited real estate courses in the UK have equipped real estate graduates with sufficient relevant employability skills to embark on a career in the profession. This paper considers the perspectives of four stakeholders – employers, human resource managers, graduates and course directors of RICS-accredited real estate courses – in the UK.

The results of a mixed-methods study, involving two online surveys with real estate employers and recent graduates of RICS-accredited real estate courses, and two sets of interviews with human resource managers of real estate surveying firms and course directors of RICS-accredited real estate courses, are presented.

The employers and graduates of the RICS-accredited real estate courses do not think the courses sufficiently equip graduates’ with employability skills. On the other hand, the human resource managers are very impressed with graduates’ technical skills but have concerns about their soft skills and attributes. Human resource managers and course directors of RICS real estate courses commented that commercial awareness is an important employability skill but graduates are not well developed in this area. Course directors also noted that practical experience is vital to employability, commenting that students can only obtain real-life practical experience if employers offer them opportunities.

This paper makes an original contribution to the existing literature on employability skills for real estate graduates. It describes pioneering research considering the perspectives of four types of stakeholders and evaluates whether real estate courses sufficiently develop graduates’ employability skills.

The purpose of this paper is to report further on research funded by the Centre for Education in the Built Environment (CEBE) into real estate programmes of study in UK universities (Poon and Hoxley). The aim of this paper is to identify human resource managers’ view on the employability skills of real estate graduates. It also compares the views on the employability skills of real estate graduates between human resource managers, a large sample of real estate employers and real estate course directors.

This paper presents the research findings of eight interviews with human resource managers who work in different types of surveying firms. The approach for collecting their view of the employability skills required by real estate graduates was through gathering their opinions on three charts. These charts compare what employers feel graduates require and what they feel graduates demonstrate in 31 knowledge areas, 20 skills and 21 attributes, alongside a list of additional competencies made by graduates and employers which was developed as part of an earlier study.

The human resource managers identified the key employability skills for real estate graduates as soft skills, in particular report writing skills, communication skills, presentation skills, client care and professional standards. The human resource managers of real estate consultancy firms also voiced their concern regarding graduates’ lack of commercial awareness, which echoed the same view from real estate employers and real estate course directors mentioned in the previous research (Poon, Hoxley and Fuchs). Therefore, it is necessary for universities to embed these soft skills, such as commercial awareness in the curriculum in order to enhance the employability of graduates.

This paper makes an original contribution to existing literature on the identification and discussion of employability skills for real estate graduates. It describes pioneering research focusing on the human resource managers’ perspective of the real estate graduate employability skills.

The aim of this paper is to identify the competency expectations for property professionals in Australia. It further discusses differences in competency expectations between property professionals who have different professional backgrounds, such as valuers or non-valuers, and property professionals who work in different sectors or different-sized companies and who have differing amounts of experience. The competencies identified in this paper include knowledge areas, skills and attributes.

This paper presents the research findings of a questionnaire survey sent to Australian Property Institute members, which aimed to gather Australian property professionals' views on the knowledge, skills and attributes required to perform their roles effectively. The percentage of the respondents who provided different choices of given answers for each of the 31 knowledge areas, 20 skills and 21 attributes was identified and discussed. The professional backgrounds of the respondents were also identified to see whether these impact on competency expectations for property professionals. Content analysis was used to analyse written comments collected in the questionnaire.

The most important categories of knowledge, skill and attribute for Australian property professionals are valuation, effective written communication and practical experience, respectively. The least important are international real estate, second language and creativity. Knowledge of rural valuation is very important in Australia, although this has not been mentioned in previous studies. Professional backgrounds have a large influence on Australian property professionals' views on knowledge requirements, but less so on skills and attributes.

The findings of this paper can be used as guidance for property professionals in their professional development plan. In addition, property course providers can use the research findings of this paper to inform their curriculum development and redesign.

This project is the first to identify the comprehensive competency expectations of property professionals as a whole in Australia. At the same time, it identifies differences in the competency expectations of property professionals who have different professional backgrounds. Similar types of study have been conducted in the UK, the USA, Hong Kong and New Zealand but not yet in Australia. An understanding of the knowledge, skills and attributes required for property professionals is important for continuing professional development, curriculum development and the redesign of relevant property courses in order to maintain performance and competitiveness in the property sector.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how and to what extent commercial awareness is embedded within the curriculum of the UK Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)-accredited real estate courses. It also discusses the development of commercial awareness taxonomy.

This paper presents the research findings of questionnaire survey and interviews with RICS-accredited real estate course providers in the UK. The questionnaire aimed to gather course directors’ views on the definitions and components of commercial awareness and identify what skills and attributes are required for its development. It also evaluated how commercial awareness has been embedded in the real estate courses. The aim of the interview was to gain deeper insight on how components of commercial awareness are embedded in real estate courses and nine interviews were conducted. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and coded to identify similar themes. The frequency of the answer in the questionnaire and comments from interviewees is presented.

The UK real estate academics agreed the most important definition of commercial awareness as that of a “person's ability on understanding of the economics of business”. They agreed that “strategic” is the most important component for commercial awareness, followed with “financial” and “process”. However, the “financial” component is embedded the most in the curriculum. The most important skill and attribute for commercial awareness development are “ability to define and solve problems” and “ability and willingness to update professional knowledge”, respectively. Commercial awareness was embedded in the overall curriculum and the key element for developing it is through having “practical experience”.

This project is the first to conduct an in-depth analysis of commercial awareness in real estate education. It also develops the pioneer commercial awareness taxonomy.

The purpose of this paper is to review how real estate students perceive and define commercial awareness, which is one of the most important employability skills. This paper also examines students’ perceptions about how their courses support and develop their commercial awareness. In addition, it compares students’ and academics’ views on commercial awareness and identifies whether there are any gaps.

This paper presents the research findings of a questionnaire survey and e-mail discussions with students who are currently studying Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)-accredited real estate courses in the UK. The questionnaire aimed to gather students’ views on the definitions and components of commercial awareness and identify what skills and attributes are required for its development. It also evaluates how commercial awareness has been embedded in the real estate courses. The aim of each discussion was to gain deeper insight on how components of commercial awareness are embedded in real estate courses, and 17 discussions were conducted. The contents of the e-mail discussions were analysed and similar themes were identified and coded. The frequency of the answer in the questionnaire and comments from interviewees is presented. The findings from students’ views have been compared to published research reporting UK RICS-accredited real estate course providers’ views on commercial awareness. In addition to descriptive statistics, Fisher's exact test was used to identify the statistical significance between the academics’ and students’ views on commercial awareness.

The UK real estate students agreed that the most important definition of commercial awareness is a “person's ability to understand the economics of business”. They agreed that “financial” component is the most important component of commercial awareness and it is the largest portion of their courses. The most important skill and attribute for commercial awareness development are “critical thinking” and “ability and willingness to update professional knowledge”, respectively. Although the descriptive analysis shows students and academics have different views on the definition and components of commercial awareness and its incorporation within real estate courses, the Fisher exact test shows that only a few elements are different enough to be statistically significant. This analysis shows that while students and academics have slightly different views on commercial awareness they are not very different. Commercial awareness is an important employability skill, thus, it is still necessary for real estate academics to re-visit the curriculum and to ensure learning outcomes related to commercial awareness have been clearly explained and communicated to students. Furthermore, it is vital for students to obtain practical experience in order to fully develop their commercial awareness.

This paper is a pioneer study focused on reviewing real estate students’ views on commercial awareness, including identifying its definition, components and evaluating the extent to which commercial awareness has been embedded in their courses. It also identifies the skills and attributes that students thought were required for the development of commercial awareness. Furthermore, it discusses students’ preferred ways of enhancing their commercial awareness as part of the course they are studying. It is the first study identifying the statistical difference between students’ and academics’ views on commercial awareness. The understanding of students’ views on commercial awareness, their preferred delivery method and the divergence between students’ and academics’ views on commercial awareness can provide useful insights for course directors on the development and renewal of real estate course curriculum.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report a case study from a project funded by the Centre for Education in the Built Environment (CEBE) on the use of a blended learning delivery approach in property education. “Blended learning” is a combination of multiple teaching styles and delivery methods which aim to complement each other and work to support and enhance student learning. This paper aims to examine the use of a blended learning approach to teach economics to property and construction students with the aim of improving students’ engagement and employability. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents the development and evaluation of a Property and Construction Economics module. A case study approach was used. An end‐of‐year evaluation of the module was conducted which aimed to obtain students’ feedback on the new delivery approach. An evaluation questionnaire was emailed to 164 students who enrolled on this module at the end of the academic year. A total of 82 completed questionnaires were returned, giving a response rate of 50 per cent. An analysis of questionnaire responses and written comments is presented. Findings – The students found that the overall structure of the module, including the lecture, workshops, seminars and the use of the Virtual Learning Environment was integrated well and it enhanced their overall learning experience. The students found the module structure was practical and had a good balance of theory and practice and the use of an issues‐based approach made economic concepts easier to understand. Several suggested changes were also made, focusing on greater use of technology during the module delivery and making it more “blended”. It was suggested a more interactive delivery style should be adopted, which would provide more support to students for learning and developing professional skills. An online discussion platform should be developed to facilitate students’ peer support. Originality/value – This paper is the first study to report both lessons learnt in the development of a blended learning delivery method together with students’ interaction with the blended learning environment in property‐related courses in the UK. The paper therefore constitutes the “best available evidence” on these questions and its significance lies in this contribution to knowledge. Property‐related course providers can use the experience of this case study to inform the design of blended learning in their programme in order to improve students’ learning experience and engagement.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the development of students’ commercial awareness within the curriculum of professional accredited courses. The targeted area of study is the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) accredited property courses. This paper also discusses how the curriculum of RICS-accredited courses can be designed to successfully incorporate commercial awareness within them and suitable delivery methods for developing this within the curriculum. Commercial awareness is one of the most important employability skills, however, employers have expressed dissatisfaction with graduates’ performance in this area.

This paper presents the research findings of two sets of questionnaire surveys, as well as interviews and e-mail discussions with the course directors and current students of the RICS-accredited property courses in the UK. Descriptive analysis was used to analyse the questionnaire data. Fisher’s exact test was used to identify the statistical significance between academics’ and students’ views on the development of students’ commercial awareness as part of the RICS-accredited property courses’ curriculum. Content analysis was used to analyse the texts in the questionnaire survey, interviews and e-mail discussions.

Academics and students involved with the UK RICS-accredited property courses agreed that commercial awareness is an important employability skill in the property sector and they mostly agreed on the definitions of commercial awareness, except in their “understanding of the wider business environment”. They also agreed that commercial awareness has three components: strategic, financial and process. Academics and students agreed that the commercial awareness components and process sub-components are largely incorporated into the curriculum of RICS-accredited property courses but they have divergent opinions on the level of incorporation of strategic and financial sub-components. A suitable way to deliver commercial awareness in RICS-accredited property courses is to incorporate it into the overall curriculum, ensuring that the components of commercial awareness are closely linked to the RICS APC and match relevant competency levels. They also commented that including practical experience in the curriculum is the most useful way to develop a student’s commercial awareness.

This paper is the first to discuss the development of commercial awareness in professional accredited courses such as RICS-accredited property courses and also identifies suitable methods to enhance students’ commercial awareness as part of the curriculum. The research findings can also be applied to other professional accredited courses that have a strong vocational focus, such as nursing, engineering and accountancy. These courses are usually accredited by relevant professional organisations and students studying these courses usually plan to embark on a career in a relevant profession. The design of the course curriculum has a strong focus on equipping students with the essential competencies to develop their careers within the relevant field.