Survey instrument to facilitate continuous improvement of lean teaching materials: a first-run study

Abstract

Training workshops are a popular means to transfer knowledge of lean construction principles to industry stakeholders. Although numerous workshops are being offered by various members of the lean construction community, the amount of understanding that has been successfully transferred to participants during a workshop is not always measured or known, making it difficult to assess success. The purpose of this research is to develop and test an assessment instrument to indicate the level of understanding that was transferred during a three-day lean construction workshop. Drawing on published and unpublished case studies, we developed lean construction teaching materials for a three-day workshop and tested them on a healthcare facility owner and its most frequently engaged architects, engineers, general contractors and trade partners. To test the effectiveness of the teaching materials, we developed an anonymous, paired, pre-and post-workshop assessment survey instrument. Participants were asked to (a) rate their level of confidence in their understanding of lean construction principles, and (b) provide specific examples of potential application of the named principles. Participants rated their confidence levels in understanding of specific lean principles higher after the workshop than before (all comparisons of means were statistically significant to p<=0.05). Also, participants described twice as many potential construction applications of lean principles after the workshop than before, implying an increased level of understanding which translated into actionable items. Results from this research suggest that the lean workshop format delivered was relatively effective in transferring basic knowledge and application of lean principles. However, there is also clear need to continually improve our workshop teaching materials.