The project title is…
Scaffolding and redesigning the group activity and individual assignment in Project Management Principles. The project team is Lecturer Amela Peric and Subject coordinator Leila Moslemi Naeni.
Where the idea came from…
This subject was originally developed as the introductory subject at the start of the Master of Project Management course. In a nutshell, lecturers with industry experience introduce students to the principal concepts and fundamental tools of project management in ten areas including scope, time, cost, quality, risk, communication, human resource, stakeholder, procurement, and integration.
Over the past few years, this purpose of this subject changed. It is no longer part of the PMP program, but it is instead offered to other faculties as part of Project Management major, and as an elective. As this subject evolved into the new role – being now offered to students from a variety of fields such as business, health management, and property development – the content and assessment focus evolved as well. The learning experience design grant provided the opportunity to further redesign the subject and the assessment details to make it more suitable for the current cohort.
In the project we’ll be…
We’re reviewing and updating two assessments (group and individual assignment) for the subject. Group assignment involves in-class teamwork which covers development of a project plan for a project chosen by the students. Teams work on their project over the 4-day workshop, applying knowledge learned in each lecture to their assignment. Students are expected to work together and produce a project plan document and present it to class at the end of the workshop.
Group assignment modifications included adjustments to lectures to include more effective activities to support students in their project efforts. It also included development of appropriate case studies to be offered to student as project choice. These case studies are developed with students’ background in mind. For example, health and science students might find a case study covering logistics for a hospital move to be close to the type of projects they might work on in a hospital management role. Business students might choose a conference organisation case study closer to their interests, while property development students might enjoy working with a case study that focuses on a house construction. In addition, providing a template of Project Plan will assist and direct students to practice collaboratively in a more structured way. Occasionally there is a confusion on what should or should not be included in the Project Plan.
The individual assignment is about developing a Professional Development Plan (PDP). This assignment is highly useful for students to not only achieve a better understanding of project management tools but also to apply it to their own career – by treating it as a project. The PDP preparation is revealed as a great tool to improve the employability of those students who answered the assignment’s requirements entirely in a correct way. To assist students in maximising the value of this assessment, adjustments were made to the way students are expected to reflect on their competencies and evaluate their learning progress. Also, with some students sometimes struggling with the best template to present the PDP, the document outline is also presented to students, to ensure they do not miss anything.
This project will be on show at the LX Grant Showcase, so don’t miss out and register via the links below for this and other innovative LX Grant projects.