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Session 2457

Using Project Management Skills to Improve the Outcome of Student Projects Charlie P. Edmonson Donna C.S. Summers

University of Dayton

Abstract

Does your course require the completion of a project? Do your students put off their project assignments until the end of the term? Do they cram all their efforts into a very short period of time only to finish with an inferior project? Do you have to deal with teamwork and cooperation issues? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, then you may find the information in this paper of interest.

In order to meet accreditation requirements and the needs and expectations of future employers, Engineering and Engineering Technology programs nationwide have added projects to a large number of their courses. These projects range in size from weekly lab activities to term projects. The use of projects enables students to learn to work together in teams. The nature of a project also allows them to combine their skills and knowledge from a variety of areas in order to apply creativity in the design of systems, components and processes. Unfortunately, the use of projects also brings with it complexities related to the management of these projects.

In the work world, cross-functional teams strive to complete major projects on time, within budget, and to customer specifications. These projects benefit from the application of project management techniques. In a structured project management course, students are taught tools and techniques to use in order to successfully complete a major project for a business. These same tools and techniques can be used to aid student teams in the successful completion of a term project regardless of the course. An added benefit to requiring students to use project management skills for every project is that it reinforces the project management concept as a key business skill. Consistent use of project management techniques also helps students develop their organizational skills.

Project management skills enable students to guide their projects from inception to completion. These skills are useful regardless of the course. However, integrating project management skills into all project requirements can be challenging for the educator. Just how extensively project management skills are used in courses other than project management courses often depends on the expectations and experiences of the instructor. The purpose of this paper is to provide information about how to integrate basic project management skills into any course project regardless of the topics covered in that course.

Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition Copyright  2004, American Society for Engineering Education

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Edmonson, C., & Summers, D. (2004, June), Using Project Management Skills To Improve The Outcome Of Student Projects Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--13508