Project Management in Real Time: A Service-Learning Project

Abstract

This article describes a service-learning assignment for a project management course. It is designed to facilitate hands-on student learning of both the technical and the interpersonal aspects of project management, and it involves student engagement with real customers and real stakeholders in the creation of real events with real outcomes. As such, it helps students internalize project management principles and value project management tools. Student teams design and implement plans for events intended to result in significant contributions in support of various charitable organizations. They create the planning and execution documents required of project management teams. The article describes the assignment and its results and discusses some cautions and alternatives.

“Your Professor Will Know You as a Person”

“…Although active, experiential, and collaborative learning strategies have become more common over the past 15 years or so, there is little scientific, controlled, empirical research examining their effectiveness in improving learning outcomes (Stewart, Houghton, & Rogers, 2012). Management educators have offered many innovative and thoughtful classroom exercises and activities; however, they acknowledge their claims that (in)effectiveness is based on less systematic, more informal analyses or personal experience (e.g., Chavez, Ferris, & Gibson, 2011; Dehler & Welsh, 2014; Larson & Drexler, 2010; Lund Dean & Fornaciari, 2014; Schultz & Quinn, 2014; Stewart et al, 2012). In addition, this research tends to focus on and support increases in students’ satisfaction, liking, enjoyment, and perceptions of learning (e.g., see Chavez et al, 2011; Larson & Drexler, 2010; Schultz & Quinn, 2014).…”

Exploring Project Management Education

“…As noted before (Larson & Drexler, 2010) some call the creation of a project plan a project (Kloppenborg & Baucus, 2004). Some call a theoretical case study or even the writing of an essay a project (quite often a 'capstone project').…”

Integrating Global Poverty Into Mainstream Business Classrooms

“…They are set in contexts of civic engagement, which furnish students with a broader and richer educational experience (Godfrey, Illes, & Berry, 2005). Service-learning activities have been shown to be tailored to fit a wide range of different business courses-such as accounting (Oddo, 1998;Still & Clayton, 2004;Hocking, 2008), information systems (Rose, Rose, & Norman, 2005), marketing (Easterling & Rudell, 1997;Metcalf, 2010), human resource management (Madsen, 2004), project management (Larson & Drexler, 2010), and executive programs (Rhee & Sigler, 2010). Braun (2004) reviewed how critical thinking skills are taught in the business curriculum from a number of perspectives.…”