Download C5.1

Teaching teamwork and project management
using virtual projects
Peter Goodhew FREng
University of Liverpool
The Future of Engineering Education: CDIO conference, Singapore 2009
1
Some
background
For all Engineering programmes at Liverpool:
 Management is taught via one module each year
 2nd year students receive MNGT202 “Project


and Risk Management”
Until 2006/7 this was taught via 18 lectures
and a conventional exam
The class is typically 250 students
The Future of Engineering Education: CDIO conference, Singapore 2009
2
The problems
 It was boring for the students
 It was boring for the lecturer
 It was totally inactive
 …. But the students need this topic
for employment, and for projects
within their programme.
The Future of Engineering Education: CDIO conference, Singapore 2009
3
The solution - 1
Three additional learning outcomes
 Use of Microsoft Project
 Ability to work in a team
 Ability to work to deadlines
The Future of Engineering Education: CDIO conference, Singapore 2009
4
The solution - 2
Virtual projects:
 Accessible to every student
 Five intermediate team deliverables –
every 2 weeks
 Reduced number of lectures (now 6 or 7)
 Hard deadlines (one minute late = no
marks)
 All delivered via VLE
MCQ exam
The Future of Engineering Education: CDIO conference, Singapore 2009
5
The bargain
Presented to the students:





Deadlines are firm, no excuses
Deliverables will be marked in 2 days and
feedback given at next lecture
All team members take turn as chairman
(PM) and secretary
Team minutes assessed
In case of problems, if it is not recorded
in the team meeting minutes, we do
nothing about it!
The Future of Engineering Education: CDIO conference, Singapore 2009
6
The teams
 Mixed disciplines (first run), same
discipline (second run)
 5 persons (first run), 6 persons
(second run)
 Teams determined by me (random but
no all-same-minority or all-female
teams)
The Future of Engineering Education: CDIO conference, Singapore 2009
The projects
 Setting up a restaurant, or
 Providing a building for a third-world
village
 Every team has different data
 During every project a change order
is issued (no warning of this!)
The Future of Engineering Education: CDIO conference, Singapore 2009
The tasks
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
SMART objective and SWOT analysis
Work Breakdown Structure and Gantt chart
Change order so revise plan, critical path, slack
Stakeholders, risk register, mitigation
Depreciation, discounted cash flow and overhead
absorption calculations
[(MSc only) requirements document, reflective
analysis of process and effectiveness of team]
An on-line test in similar MCQ format to exam
The Future of Engineering Education: CDIO conference, Singapore 2009
Assessment
 60% on MCQ exam
 40% on tasks (5 x 6% + 10% for on-line



test)
No peer marking or moderation of marks (a
pity, but …)
Coarse (3-point) mark scale for each part
of each task
Markers (2 or 3) switched among project
teams
The Future of Engineering Education: CDIO conference, Singapore 2009
How it went
 It was hard work! (especially marking 60

teams in 2 days, five times)
Students liked it:
 07/08: 87% “enjoyed VP”
 08/09: 94% “enjoyed VP”
 Marks went up:
Class ave
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
62
57
60
55
61
64
71
71
The Future of Engineering Education: CDIO conference, Singapore 2009
Some comments
“It illustrated to me that even a minor project (in our case was
the village barn) can be complex and highlights the
importance of planning, management and control to the
success of the project .”
“I just realised that management is not easy as I thought.”
“I think use of VITAL was exceptional and that the team
projects were an interesting and practical way of learning.”
“The virtual projects were useful because it enabled us to apply
what we learnt in the lectures to a real-life situation. It
also enabled us to build on our team working skills and
allowed us to use industry-standard tools for project
management”
The Future of Engineering Education: CDIO conference, Singapore 2009
Changes in response to
feedback
 No mixed discipline teams (a pity!).
 Smaller class size for lectures (120 vs 300).
 Each lecture videoed and put on VLE.
 Shared teaching (Goodhew plus Murphy)
The Future of Engineering Education: CDIO conference, Singapore 2009
Conclusions
 VPs delivered benefit to students
 Dull subject which appeared
irrelevant to many students is made
both relevant and lively
 It took 5 TA-months to prepare VPs
 Matt and I enjoyed it
The Future of Engineering Education: CDIO conference, Singapore 2009