Development of a measurement tool to assess sustainability in the built environment curriculum using psychological constructs

The concept of sustainable construction is increasingly being recognised, not only as a way to reduce the environmental impact of construction, but as a valuable business strategy. Stakeholders such as companies, professional bodies, government and the education sector all have the ability to have an influence on sustainability as it is being incorporated into agendas by the government and firms. Educational institutions can take it one step further by preparing future construction professionals to enter into a changing-and hopefully sustainable industry. This research focuses on the impact that education can have on this preparation with the use of psychological constructs. This thesis contributes to original knowledge by outlining the development of a measurement tool designed specifically to tap into sustainable construction attitudes. This tool was also used to assess the level of sustainability within built environment curriculum. The research was conducted in four phases, with phase four making the contribution to knowledge. All phases were carried out using a sequential mixed methodology where quantitative data was collected in phases one and two and qualitative interviews were carried out in phase three. In phase four, quantitative data was collected before and after the intervention and subsequently analysed. This was followed by qualitative data in the form of reflective student essays. A phenomenographic approach was used to analyse qualitative data, which investigates the different ways individuals can experience or understand something. The conclusions drawn from phase four were that the quantitative results indicated that student attitudes did not improve positively after the project. However, phenomenography revealed that all students experienced increased knowledge and attitudes did indeed change. With relation to psychological constructs, it was determined that the personality traits 'conscientiousness' and 'agreeableness' were associated with sustainabilitv the most. Emotional intelligence was found to be most significant with social issues of sustain ability followed by environmental issues which lends support to the view that emotional intelligence can extend from caring about others to caring for the environment