Accelerating Project-Based Learning in Management Contexts: An Examination of ImpactEd

Abstract

With greater demand for business educators and students to focus on 21st-century skills, project-based learning (PBL) has become increasingly important. The PBL method complements existing curriculum by enabling direct transference of course concepts into real-world application. Despite known benefits, some management educators may shy away from PBL because of the difficulty of finding and maintaining projects on an ongoing basis. This article evaluates ImpactEd, an education platform providing virtual access to management projects that are codesigned with leading organizations and educators. By providing educators with new PBL content to enrich directed management applications in their courses, this model moves beyond traditional learning management systems, which often simply replicate existing classroom practices in a digital format, and traditional case study methods that only simulate application. This article is thus targeted to management educators interested in using a PBL platform technology to provide real-world project applications in management education.