Students experienced hands-on learning by building a house

Imagine having to build a house for a class. Now imagine building it in the basement of the polytechnic building. For some students at Southeast Missouri State University, this was a reality.

John Dudley is an instructor in the industrial engineering department and has been with Southeast since the fall of 2007. His class, CM-243 construction methods of materials, got to experience hands-on learning this past fall semester when it comes to building a house in the basement of the polytechnic building.

Before coming to Southeast, Dudley was a design engineer for Schaefer Electrical Enclosure in Advance, Mo.

CM-243 is a building materials and processing class for construction management majors offered in the fall. Dudley said that the previous instructor for the class taught the class using small modules to help students learn familiarization with residential construction. Dudley said that having hands-on students building a house would help give them the experience they need.

Jared Bush-Howe (left) and instructor John Dudley (right) outside the house. Photo by Brittany Myers

"This past year I thought it would be really cool if we could build an entire house," Dudley said. "So there's all sorts of benefits to that just so that students can see how everything comes together."

Thirty-three students in the class took part in building the house. Dudley said it was a good opportunity for students who had never experienced construction from start to finish. However, with 33 students, it made the class a bit hard for students to experience the best of it.

"I don't need 33 people to put in a toilet," Dudley said.

Dudley said that he plans on building another house this fall with a different plan. This time, Dudley said that he would like to have the class put into two groups of 12 and have each group work on opposite sides.

The class met two times a week for an hour and 50 minutes. It took approximately 12 weeks to complete. With time running out, Dudley said that during the last four weeks of class, they exclusively worked on the house.

"Meaningful lecture tied in with meaningful lab," Dudley said. "It got tough. We were scrambling to get as much done as possible."

The materials for the house cost nearly $7,700. Dudley said that he does not plan on making a profit from it, but to sell it and return the investment money.

"It's a regular house," Dudley said. "It has full plumping, washer and dryer hook-ups. The only thing lacking is the heating insulation and air condition stuff in it."

The house is being left unfinished in the inside so that the new owner can decide how he or she wants to complete it. Once inside the house, there is a living room and kitchen tied together. To the left, two doors lead to a small bathroom and a small bedroom behind it. On the outside, the house measures 12 feet by 24 feet.

Dudley said that he expects someone to live in it and that it is simply no different than a small trailer. He also states that there have been people interested in using it as a hunting cabinet.

"I've actually had some faculty members express some interest in it," Dudley said.

Jared Bush-Howe is a student at Southeast majoring in construction management who took CM-243.

"I learned quite a bit," Bush-Howe said. "I wouldn't say I'm an expert in one area, but I had a broad experience in a lot of areas that was very beneficial in that aspect."

Bush-Howe said that his favorite part was when the roof was put on. He said that was when it finally all came together and started to look like a house.

"Dudley was an awesome instructor," Bush-Howe said. "I had experiences with different groups of people who had different experiences in construction and people who didn't know how to swing a hammer."

At the beginning of the fall semester, Dudley teamed up with Pierce Supercenter, located at 621 S. Kingshighway, and informed the business about the class.

Owner Tim Pierce of Pierce Supercenter agreed to help out the class in getting their investment back by selling the house.

Pierce Supercenter has been in operation since November 2010, according to their website, piercesupercenter.net. The business sells similar buildings such as gazebos, storm shelters, carolina carports and play sets.

"When I talked to Dudley, we discussed that the flooring should be kept as plywood, that way whoever purchases it can choose whatever they want," Pierce said.

Pierce said that he plans on having a delivery truck pick up the house by the middle of March. He hopes that a buyer will be interested by then so that the delivery truck will pick the house up from Southeast and deliver it directly to the customer.

To learn more about this house, contact Dudley at jdudley@semo.edu.