Project management learning: Key dimensions and saliency from student experiences

Abstract

Drawing upon literature, this study seeks to understand what the key dimensions of student experiences of project management learning are and what saliences students attach to such dimensions. Data is obtained from a sample of management and engineering students studying project management across four universities in the United Kingdom. We employ multidimensional scaling to extract the salience placed by students on the key dimensions. The results of the data analysis suggest that there are six dimensions of student experiences of project management. We also find that students attach markedly different levels of salience to these dimensions based on a number of demographic factors. More specifically, in terms of salience, we found that gender had the strongest relationship while prior experience of project management had the weakest. The implications of our findings are discussed from the perspective of andragogical congruence (compatibility) in teaching and learning.

Project Management Learning: A Comparative Study between Engineering Students’ Experiences in South Africa and the United Kingdom

“…This study focuses on two of these research streams: critical dimensions of students’ learning experiences and the relative salience of these dimensions. However, this study's contribution to literature is that, although prior studies on critical dimensions of learning experiences and their saliences (1) significantly contribute to the development of a theoretically rigorous discourse on project management pedagogy and also (2) attribute significant student “voice” to learning experiences and expectations in project management, the majority—if not all—of prior studies exploring critical dimensions of learning experiences and their saliences have been restricted to single‐country cases (Ashleigh et al, ; Bredillet et al, ; Chipulu et al, ; Ojiako et al, , ). This forms the major point of departure of this study in that, as an across ‐country rather than a within ‐country comparative exercise, this study is likely to produce much larger variance in level of perceived salience, thus providing researchers with a much stronger statistical imperative to identifying how specific factors impact on students’ learning experiences.…”

“…An examination of the relevant literature suggests that a number of interrelated research streams are available to facilitate an understanding of the current challenges facing teaching and learning in both engineering (e.g., Kember, Ng, Tse, Wong, & Pomfret, ; Zhou, ) and project management education (Chipulu et al, ; Ojiako et al, , , ; Ashleigh et al, ; Louw & Rwelamila, ). In the case of engineering education, there are five such interrelated research streams: (1) studies focused on the expansion of pedagogical imperatives, particularly those related to teaching and learning approaches and outcomes (e.g., Marton, Hounsell, & Entwistle, ), who conceptualize learning approaches as descriptions of courses of action available when tackling specific learning tasks); (2) studies focused on improving teaching skills and increasing employer engagement; (3) studies focused on developing students’ “transferable” as opposed to “inductive” and “intrinsic” understanding skills (see Bruneel, D'Este, & Salter, ); (4) studies focused on how to balance student workload, study time, and learning approaches against academic outcomes (e.g., Kember et al’s [] study, which found perceived workload and academic outcomes to be dependent on student motivation); and (5) studies addressing questions of relevance for all the foregoing streams of research.…”

Percepção da experiência de aprendizagem em termos de motivação, engajamento e desenvolvimento de competências: um estudo no ensino de gestão de projetos por simuladores para pós-graduandos no Brasil

“…Contudo, a área de ensino em gestão de projetos ainda carece do entendimento de como competências exigidas nos profissionais são adquiridas pelos estudantes no processo de aprendizagem Ojiako et al 2014). Contudo, conforme aponta Dixon (2011), metodologias mais participativas e experienciais de ensino tendem a gerar bons resultados no desenvolvimento de habilidades requeridas no mercado de trabalho.…”

“…Apesar dos trabalhos mencionarem o processo de ensino e fatores relevantes nesse processo Ojiako et al, 2014;Mengel, 2008;Ashleigh et al, 2012;Chipulu et al;2011) ou de contar com a aplicação de técnicas múltiplas no ensino (Dixon, 2008;Stoyan, 2008), não há uma ligação entre técnicas de ensino, processo de aprendizagem e competências adquiridas pelo estudante.…”

“…A inclusão de variáveis demográficas para complementar o perfil de preferência por técnicas de ensino, já que sua relação na experiência de aprendizagem já se mostrou relevante (Ojiako et al, 2014) é também uma das sugestões que essa pesquisa faz para a exploração dos desdobramentos dos resultados aqui relatados. O candidato tem uma vasta experiência e um bom registro desta experiência obtida com a responsabilidade de gerenciamento de projetos de diferentes tipos, na maior parte ou em todas as fases desses projetos.…”