Lessons Learned form Client Projects in an Undergraduate Project Management Course

1. INTRODUCTION The motivation for this paper comes from two driving forces: (1) growing industry demand for competent and qualified project managers and (2) efforts of universities to develop innovative project management courses and degrees that graduate students with a combination of project management knowledge and real-world skills that meet increasingly demanding industry needs. The purpose of this paper is to look at the subtle blending of three teaching methods instructor-centered education, learner-centered education and project-based learning-to create a highly effective learning environment for project management students and the student experiences achieved from delivering the course over a period of several semesters. Different forms of learning in the classroom can impact the extent and quality of the academic and practical knowledge and the depth of lessons learned by students in their individual and group classroom experiences. These different types of learning typically fall into three main categories: (1) instructor-centered education, (2) learner-centered education and (3) project-based learning. To accommodate the growing demands of employers who are increasingly seeking new university graduates with project management skills and competencies (i.e., teamwork, leadership, communication skills, ability to effect change), learning methods are evolving to place a greater emphasis on student participation and involvement during the learning process. Interest in these more active and experiential learning-centered pedagogies, has increased dramatically during the last several years (Young & Dieklemann 2002; Elam & Spotts 2004, Camarero, Rodriquez & San Jose 2010), resulting in a changing role for educators. Student learning, rather than teaching, is becoming the defining element of the instructor's role (Elam and Spotts 2004) and the educator's role in the classroom is changing from the 'Ringmaster' who is focused on maintaining order to a 'Conductor' who encourages learning (Kraft, 2010). To meet the requirements of this new role, innovative educators are introducing a broader set of learning activities into their classroom, including an increased emphasis on active and experiential learning, such as client projects (Tynjala, Pirhonen, Vartiainen & Helle 2010; Camarero, et al. 2010; Keys 2003). Cooke and Williams (2004) propose that experiential learning offer numerous advantages over lectures and objective exams by creating opportunities for students to apply concepts and theories learned in the classroom to solve 'real world' problems. Hard skills, such as the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK[R]) methodologies, processes, and project management tools/techniques are critical requirements for project management, and are best taught in an instructor-centered setting. While these hard skills are necessary capabilities for project managers, they are not sufficient (Jewels & Ford 2004). Supporting this opinion, Petter and Randolph (2009), stress the importance of training future project managers in the art of interpersonal 'soft' skills. Jewels and Bruce (2003) go so far as to say that statistically "most projects fail because the 'soft science' portions of the project have not received enough attention the human factor has not been adequately addressed". In the classroom, these soft skills, which include communication skills, critical thinking, leadership, collaboration and teamwork, socio-political demands, and the ability to analyze a situation and develop an effective solution, are best taught in a learner-centered environment and particularly in a real-world situation where students gain hands-on experience managing a project. It follows, therefore, that if educators rely solely on an instructor-centered education paradigm for teaching project management, their students will not gain the full set of hard and soft skills they need to compete in the job market. …