Elsevier

Computers & Education

Volume 102, November 2016, Pages 172-187
Computers & Education

Student evaluation of a virtual experience for project management learning: An empirical study for learning improvement

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.08.005Get rights and content

Highlights

  • A framework designed to facilitate learning in Project Management is presented.

  • The adopted student-centered approach is supported by the use of ICT tools.

  • The methodology based on situated learning increases the students' performance.

  • Students are, in general, more satisfied with the new methodological approach.

  • Some correlations between students' satisfaction and their final marks were found.

Abstract

Project management education was designed traditionally according to an expository paradigm. However, it needs to be redefined to engage students in higher order thinking and to facilitate effective learning. This study proposes a student-centered approach that is aligned with situated learning theory in virtual teams and explores its impact on student satisfaction and learning outcomes. Using a quasi-experimental design, 122 undergraduate and master's degree students enrolled in project management courses at two universities in separate locations. They were separated randomly into two groups, an experimental group in which students used the proposed student-centered approach and a control group in which students followed a more traditional course design. Data analysis indicated a higher level of satisfaction and performance with the proposed methodology. These results suggest that the presented methodology, which was based on project-based learning in an authentic context that offers opportunities for students to experience virtual teamwork, was more effective than traditional teaching approaches. Furthermore, there were some positive and significant correlations between students' satisfaction and their final marks. In this matter, the most relevant aspects to facilitate students' academic performance were (1) positive expectations of future professional development, (2) clear learning objectives that consistently relate to the content of the course, (3) positive feelings induced by teachers' support in resolving doubts, and (4) academic self-perception. The findings of this study suggest that motivational and affective states influence student learning in higher education. This is consistent with current learning theories.

Introduction

Project management education was designed traditionally according to an expository paradigm and accompanied by exercises to apply a particular technique or use a specific tool. However, exercises or case studies do not provide sufficient stimulus to engage students adequately to facilitate effective learning (Barron, 2005). Recent literature indicates that teaching and learning project management has grown in interest and popularity (Berggren and Söderlund, 2008, Ojiako et al., 2011, Salas-Morera et al., 2013). Indeed, it is well accepted now that new and non-traditional initiatives are required. It is important to ensure that students engage in higher order thinking and learning (Roger, 2008).

This need for change in the teaching methodologies in higher education is also promoted by the Bologna process of creating a European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Thus, consistent with the principles underlying this process (promoting the mobility of students, teachers and research and ensuring high-quality learning and teaching), the adoption of a new training model that is focused on learning (Prague Communiqué, 2001) is remarkable. In placing learning at the center of attention of higher education, a need arises to readjust the teaching methodology to the needs and conditions of the students.

In this new period of reflection, it makes little sense to insist that the future of Europe will be a society of lifelong learning – the first strategic objective established by the “Strategic Framework for European Cooperation in Education and Training (ET 2020)” (European Council, 2009) - if teachers that are responsible to transform the new educational theory into practice continue to guide the cognitive activities of students to simple processes of repetition of concepts. Therefore, within the ‘ET 2020’, the adoption of student-centered teaching approaches has led to an important change in teachers' methodological practices. This is necessary to respond effectively to the need to ensure that there is a quality learning environment in the educational systems (ENQA, 2010; European Commission, 2013, ESU, 2012). More specifically, it has questioned the value of the dominant transmission model in higher education (Zabalza, 2011, p. 78), which emphasized the need to redefine to a great extent the traditional roles of teachers and students (European Commission, 2005, p.4).

Undoubtedly, all this constitutes a powerful motor for innovating and improving the quality of teaching and learning processes in higher education in the field of project management.

As part of the process of acquiring the skills needed to become project management professionals, a learning process should provide students with experiences that are similar to what they will encounter in the working world, i.e., an authentic context, (Caulfield et al., 2011, Ku et al., 2011). This is in line with the theory of situated learning (McLellan, 1996, Orgill, 2007, pp. 187–203), which is based on the proven idea that meaningful learning by the student cannot be considered outside an authentic context in which it occurs. Therefore, the teacher's function can no longer be limited to transmitting decontextualized curriculum content to students (Ginns et al., 2008, Navaridas, 2004, p. 48, p. 177). Instead, the instructor's role is to design relevant learning situations (Huber, 2008, Jonnaert, 2002, Niemeyer, 2006) to enable students to build applications or refutations of knowledge and also to develop contextualized skills in their immediate social, cultural and professional environments. Thus, with the teacher's expert help, the students become the main actors and are responsible for their own learning process.

However, the ability to work in teams and to communicate effectively in visual, written and oral form is deemed to be an essential skill for a project management professional. This is particularly important when design team members are dispersed across multiple locations and meet in a virtual environment (van Rooij, 2009). In this sense, project-based learning (PBL) promotes teamwork (Kloppenborg & Baucus, 2004) and the development of skills in communication, negotiation, and collaboration (Bell, 2010). PBL has proven to be particularly effective when combined with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) (Edelson et al., 1999, Solomon, 2003). In this sense, it is worth mentioning that ICT offer different benefits and educational opportunities in the teaching and learning process. For example, the use of ICT can address students' individual learning needs and provide personalized guidance and support (Mama and Hennessy, 2013, Santos and Boticario, 2015). Furthermore, recent studies have identified significant relationships between the use of ICT and students' perceived learning achievements and satisfaction (Paechter et al., 2010, Valentín et al., 2013).

Recent studies specifically consider the difficulties that students experience in learning project management topics (O'Dowd, 2013, Salas-Morera et al., 2013). Even when they are focused on international students' performance, most of their analyses are fully applicable to the general situation. It becomes quite clear that a combination of knowledge and a constructivist approach would provide some kind of experiential learning environment that would help to address the challenges of training successful project managers from the halls of academia.

An interesting initiative was proposed by (Nooriafshar, 2013). That author demonstrated the relevance of simulated life-cycle environments for learning project management. The present work extends his proposal by not considering replication on different campuses, but by getting participants to work together, even when they study at different campuses. Thus, an additional layer of complexity is created by the use of virtual teams in an attempt to enhance collaboration and a cooperative learning experience (Johnson et al., 2002, van Rooij, 2009). It is important to note that globalization and the rapid development of ICT have increased the use of virtual teams in current organizations (Hertel et al., 2005, Peñarroja et al., 2015). Using virtual teams not only promotes knowledge sharing and application, but also enhances the acquisition of special skills. The latter include an understanding of human dynamics across functional and cultural boundaries, which is necessary to lead and work in virtual teams in many organizations (Duarte & Snyder, 2006).

Another interesting framework is presented in (Warin, Kolski, & Sagar, 2011). These authors discovered that students experience difficulties in identifying the usefulness of certain theoretical knowledge in the professional context when teaching methodologies consist mainly of lectures or seminars. The lack of activities that promote the acquisition of interpersonal skills, such as motivation or teamwork, cause students to be less attractive to prospective employers in the future. Since companies currently seek engineers who have both acceptable expertise and the abilities to “connect” with other company employees, these authors propose some principles that encourage the addition of professional, methodological and meta-cognitive competencies to knowledge acquisition modules. Thus, students are provided with more appropriate courses. Because we have identified the same deficits as Warin et al. (2011), the proposed methodology is based mainly on those principles. As explained in the next section, each principle has been adapted to the learning objectives of the subject, as well as to the affiliation of students and teachers involved. The present work is considered to be innovative because it extends the proposal by those authors to include a new method for evaluating technical and interpersonal skills (competence monitoring), and to enhance the use of ICT tools that are most often used by professionals who manage real projects.

In summary, this study presents a framework that is aligned with the underlying principles of the new educational model that is proposed in the EHEA. Students are situated in a project development process that is interesting and useful to them and in which their individual differences are considered. Furthermore, self-directed learning, learning by doing and a sense of responsibility are fostered. Also, our work extends previous investigations by including virtual teams and competence monitoring. Because of the importance of all these contributions to innovation and improvement of the quality of teaching and learning processes in higher education in the field of project management, our research questions were:

RQ1 - Does a methodology that is based on PBL in an authentic context that offers opportunities for students to experience virtual teamwork improve the overall level of student satisfaction with the teaching and learning of the subject?

RQ2 - Does the use of an innovative methodology that is based on virtual teamwork improve students' academic performance significantly?

Section snippets

A framework for project management learning

As a result of the challenges that are mentioned in the previous section in regards to the instruction of project managers, it is clear that transformational leadership and/or reciprocal, shared leadership process “knowledge” is not well represented at present in project management education programs. A second set of needs that have not been well-addressed, is “social architecture” development, including a culture of shared values, a powerful vision, decision making, team development, and team

Design

A quasi-experimental study was conducted to evaluate the proposed methodology for project management learning. The theoretical content of the course was the same for all students and was based on Prince2™ methodology (Office of Government Commerce, 2009) and IPMA competences (IPMA, 2006). Thus, all students acquired the same project management theoretical knowledge. However, in order to conduct this study, two different sections of the same course were used for the practical activities. One

Student satisfaction (RQ1)

Descriptive statistics of each investigated dimension appear in Table 5 to summarize the student perceptions that were collected in the satisfaction survey. Although these results indicated a high level of satisfaction in both groups, the scores for the experimental group are slightly more favorable with a mean value of 4.016.

Based on the descriptive statistical data, the most valuable component for students in the experimental group was the responsiveness dimension (mean value of 4.304), i.e.,

Discussion

In this study, we empirically examined the impact of a virtual experience for project management learning on student satisfaction and learning outcomes.

Conclusions

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of a teaching program that integrates educational technology from the perspective of situated learning by students' performance and satisfaction. In particular, this work examines students' perceived levels of satisfaction and students' performance in a virtual experience that was created for project management learning.

Limitations and future work

Although this study was conducted for a particular context and discipline, our findings can provide a base of knowledge to support other proposals for the improvement of higher education. In any case, caution should be exercised in generalizing these results to other universities. Despite an important theoretical framework for the topic under study and the development of a rigorous research methodology, contextual and personal differences that characterize different universities can influence

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to recognize the financial support of the “Vicerrectorado de Profesorado, Planificación e Innovación Docente” of the University of La Rioja, through the “Dirección Académica de Formación e Innovación Docente”.

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