Bridging the Skills Gap: The Role of Modular Project Management in Medical Sciences Graduate Training

Status and scope of project management in the hospitality industry

A Review of:
 Serrano, S. C. & Avilés, R. A. (2016). Academic librarians and project management: An international study. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 16(3), 465-475. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/pla.2016.0038
 
 Abstract
 
 Objective – To investigate academic librarians’ project management education and training, project management skills and experiences, and perceptions of project management courses within the library and information science (LIS) curriculum.
 
 Design – Online questionnaire.
 
 Setting – 70 universities worldwide with LIS programs and at least one project management course. 
 
 Subjects – 4,979 academic librarians were invited to complete the online questionnaire; 649 librarians participated.
 
 Methods – From the identified institutions, the authors invited academic librarians to participate in a 17-question survey via e-mail. The survey was available in both English and Spanish and was validated via a pilot trial. A total of 649 individuals participated, for a response rate of 13%. The survey included questions related to geographic region and institution affiliation, university education and librarian training associated with project management, project participation and use of project management software or methods, and project management courses in LIS curriculums, and a final open-ended comment section. 
 
 Main Results – Of the 649 librarians who participated in the survey, 372 were from North and South America (58%). The next highest number of responses came from Europe (38%), followed by low response rates from Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Respondents reported working in a variety of library departments and identified themselves as being one of a director or manager, assistant librarian, or library page. Of the 436 respondents who reported having a university degree, 215 attended an LIS Master’s level program, and 12 studied at the doctoral level. The majority of respondents indicated they have had training in project management, participating in formal coursework, conferences, webinars, or other self-directed learning methods. Of the 459 academic library staff responding to the question, 40% considered project management courses of “high importance in the university curriculum” and 26 % responded that project management courses were “extremely important in their field of expertise and working environment” (p. 472). The consensus among participants was that project management courses should be included in both undergraduate and graduate level LIS curricula.
 
 Conclusion – The high participation of librarians in project management, compared to the limited formal education received, suggests that courses in project management, including software and methodology, are needed in LIS university curricula. Additionally, less than 40% of academic librarian survey respondents were trained in LIS; other professions are working as librarians and therefore may have insufficient knowledge and skills to manage the projects they direct. The research results confirm the relationship between strategic planning and project management skills. The authors conclude that universities should revise their LIS curricula to include and require additional project management courses.

Engineering Leadership in Civil Engineering Project Management CurriculumThe NAE, Industry, educators, and professional engineering societies communicate the need forthe 21st century engineer to understand the principles of leadership and to be prepared to lead in avariety of venues, including government. While many engineering schools support thisproposition, many also lack an explicit functional mechanism by which to achieve it. Someschools may seek implicitly to foster leadership development in students through co-curriculargroup activities. Some existing engineering course curricula may contain implicit and explicitleadership components.The search for life in our solar system has begun with an exploration of the planet most likely tosupport life: Mars. Similarly, the search for existing leadership content in the system ofengineering courses should begin with an exploration of the course most likely to support thiscontent: project management.While leadership may exist in various facets of engineering curricula, civil engineering projectmanagement courses serve as a likely location to gauge the presence and prevalence of suchcontent. The ASCE Engineer of 2025 suggests leadership should exist in civil engineeringcurricula, challenging academia to provide “a more robust educational path for civil engineersthat prepares them for leadership and provides the multifaceted non-technical skills to serve onprojects affecting the public good.” For the purposes of this paper, civil engineering projectmanagement will serve as a sensitive litmus test for identifying leadership elements withinexisting engineering curricula.The ABET a-through-k criteria are argued by some as offering windows for integratingleadership into the engineering curriculum across disciplines. Project management coursecontent may include elements of team development and effective communication; it may evenexplore the economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety,manufacturability, and sustainability of a project design and its impact in a global, economic,environmental, and societal context.This paper surveys introductory civil engineering project management course content andidentifies the extent to which explicit and implicit leadership-related content is currentlyincorporated within the curriculum. Syllabi were collected from ABET accredited USengineering schools graduating the largest numbers of BS civil engineers. The syllabi wereanalyzed for implicit and explicit leadership content. Criteria for identifying leadership contentwere developed through a literature survey of leadership frameworks and models. Courses wereidentified as having either no leadership content, some content within a class period, or at leastone class period dedicated to leadership content. The paper discusses the nature and extent ofextant leadership within traditional civil engineering project management courses, and exploreshow leadership topics might be better incorporated within this subject and other engineeringtopics.

Project management skills have become increasingly important for information systems (IS) professionals. Like most skills, project management skills are developed through practice. This paper describes an innovative solution for integrating a structured project into an information systems curriculum project management course. The innovation applies best practices drawn from the experiential learning literature to the design of a course project. Our solution enhances students' project management knowledge and provides opportunities to apply that knowledge to develop project management skills. The paper presents the underlying theory, describes how that theory is incorporated in the project, provides and discusses the actual project so that others may use it as-is or adapt it to their courses, presents excerpts of students' reactions and concludes with several suggestions from the authors.

Modern project management approaches focus on maximizing the value realized from project; yet, many project management textbooks and courses do not incorporate this aspect in their curriculum. This paper reports on our experience in developing and teaching project management courses that integrate the element of maximizing project value in their syllabi. The suggested teaching approach uses traditional and innovative models to teach students how strategic and tactical project decisions should be made. Students are introduced to models that support strategic decisions such as matching a project objective to a business case, deciding on a project configuration, and developing a project plan. They also learn about tactical decisions such as ones that are made during project's execution and control, which are also important for realizing all the project benefits. Thereafter, students use an innovative model that links strategic and tactical decisions, implemented in a simulation tool, to experience the various tradeoffs that affect project value. Based on teachers' and students' evaluations, we recommend using the suggested approach in project management education.

An engaging assignment connecting course curriculum to student career paths was created for an undergraduate business (project management) course. The assignment required students to turn either their job search or career path into a project. Learning goals, objectives, and outcomes were developed for academic, personal, and professional growth areas. Comments collected after completion demonstrated the ability of the project to connect with the students. Many students perceived the assignment as useful and even life-changing. Incorporating more business assignments that connect course material with the career path of students has the potential to increase student engagement and content knowledge.

This study was conducted on current practicing construction industry employees who were volunteer students in the Mechanical Contractors Association of America's Institute for Project Management's Managing for Profit two-week intensive project management course. The goal was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Institute for Project Management course and to determine the usefulness and value of an actual ongoing construction continuing education course for practicing construction industry employees. Since there are no published papers on construction continuing education, hopefully, this paper will serve to initiate more studies. Administrators of the Institute for Project Management course extrapolated data on the students' opinion of this construction continuing education program. The results indicated that the students were satisfied with the course and would attend an advanced project management course, if one were offered.

Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) has been widely used in all industries and taught in Project Management courses for more than 50 years. Hall, N.G. (2015, p. 945) points out: “The practice of Project Management has expanded exponentially in the last 15 years,” but this rapid development has not been matched “by a corresponding increase either in research activities, or in the training of academic researchers in project management. The mismatch is creating significant opportunities for academic research management…” This paper provides two tips for teaching PERT for the Project Management or Operations-Management courses: 1) the proposed simplified formulas which can be used in classrooms effectively since they do not require division or truncation when calculating the expected duration and variance. The formulas not only simplifies the calculations, but also generates more accurate results (demonstrated through simulations) than the traditional approach of using truncated estimations; and 2) An approach to finding critical and non-critical activities without drawing a network chart so that a relatively large project can be efficiently demonstrated in a classroom setting. The paper demonstrates that by using only a table and avoiding the graphical presentation of a complicated network diagram, instructors can show relatively larger projects on blackboards and students, particularly those who prefer logic table calculations to drawing graphical networks, can better understand and master the PERT technique.

In addition to in-class delivery of project management courses, many institutions have already started or are beginning to plan the delivery of these courses online. The challenge of offering a course online, especially courses with a heavy emphasis on student interaction and team projects, is well documented in the literature. Therefore, we propose a framework is needed to design and plan an online graduate Project Management course to overcome some of the problems and limitations of online delivery and to take advantage of opportunities online technology can provide. The purpose of this research is to identify components of a framework for online web delivery of a graduate Project Management course by investigating the issues and factors that should be considered in making an online Project Management course effective. The suggested components are based on the literature (which identifies some suggested best practices) and experience presenting an online project management course. Further, a survey was conducted to measure and compare student’s perceptions of online courses in general and project management online courses in particular to traditional in-class courses. Assessment of student work indicates little difference in educational outcomes and the survey results do indicate students had an overall positive experience with online courses. However completing team based projects successfully was somewhat more difficult in the online course

Project management (PM) is increasingly important in both corporate and academic venues. Its importance has been recognized for several decades, but has recently received more attention because effective project managers are in high demand and short supply. University computing and engineering programs are being pressured by employers to better prepare students for project management positions and this has often resulted in student exposure to project management concepts in one or more courses. More graduate and undergraduate courses in project management are also being offered at colleges and universities because Information Systems (IS) curricula models specify exposure to project management. The present investigation focuses on how exposure to a project management course affects student perceptions of the overall importance of project management and the subject areas that project management subsumes. Student perceptions were assessed by surveying undergraduate students at a regional institution in the southeast U.S. at the beginning and end of a Project Management course. The results suggest that students exit the project management courses thinking that the subject matter is important and will contribute to career success. The results also suggest that the project management course has an especially strong impact on the perceptions of female students and that the course and that it significantly increases the perceived importance of multiple ”hard” and “soft” course-related topics.

Dieser Datensatz stammt aus Studie 1 des ValCom2 Projekts. Das Projekt untersucht die Aktualgenese von Erfolgserwartung und subjektivem Aufgabenwert bei unbekannten Lerninhalten. Es handelt sich um ein experimentelles Survey Design mit einer Randomisierung auf eine von zwei Gruppen (Projektmanagementkursen mit einer mathematischen versus sprachlichen Ausrichtung). Der Fragebogen bestand aus Fragen zur Demographie, schul- und studienfachspezifischer Motivation (Fähigkeitsselbstkonzept, intrinsischer Wert und Anstrengungsüberzeugungen), Motivation bezogen auf den Projektmanagementkurs, Vorwissen zu Studienfächern und zu Projektmanagement, Need For Cognition sowie wahrgenommene Ähnlichkeit zwischen Schul- und Studienfächern bzw. den Projektmanagementkursen.

As an important specialized extension course for undergraduate students who major in telecommunication engineering, the Project Management (PM) course is vital for the students to meet the requirements for engineering practice and project management skills in their future career. The course is rich in content, but with limited class time. Besides, it is both highly theoretical and practical. Lack of effective practice opportunities for students is the biggest challenge that is difficult to overcome in the traditional teaching background. Therefore, we integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the teaching process of PM to overcome the challenge and promote teaching effects by providing students with virtual practice opportunities of project management. The integration of AI into PM courses offers personalized instructions, dynamic content recommendations, tailored project simulations, case-based learning, automated assessment and real-time feedback. AI facilitates the theoretical learning process and improves the learning efficiency of students. Furthermore, AI provides diverse virtual project environments tailored for students to practice their PM skills. Moreover, AI can take some virtual roles in a project and interact with students. With the aid of AI, more opportunities are available for students to develop their problem-solving skills in projects and to enhance their project management skills. Besides, AI can give some hints or provide suggestions when students are faced with some dilemmas in the virtual projects. There are usually several ways to solve a problem and each solution has its own advantages and disadvantages. Then, discussions among teachers and students are initiated to decide which solution is better. During the process, the horizons of students are broadened and their skills in PM, even their overall competencies, are gradually developed. Thus, by integrating AI into the teaching process of PM, teachers are able to offer more effective virtual practice opportunities to students, effectively conquering the biggest challenge of the course. In the end, it is emphasized that each of us is supposed to realize the limitations of AI and avoid over-reliance on it.

Project management is the research object of the professional compulsory course of the full-time Science degree graduate students. The paper put forward a simple study on the management curriculum resources. First, we analyze the actual condition of the Project Management course of Wuhan University. And then, we propose some suggestions to develop some new curriculum resources. For example, we try to carry out practice-teaching, establish information databases of studying resources and add more academic discussions. Finally, we should manage to explore curriculum resources to provide better education that matches every individual characteristic. Connotation of Project Management Course Resources The meaning of management curriculum resources is divided into narrow sense and broad sense. And its broad sense is generally defined as the source and the necessary and direct implementation conditions of the factors that form the management Many researchers discuss the connotation and the extension of the curriculum resources from different aspects. Some think that curriculum resources refer to the summation of human, material resources and natural resources all of which can be exploited in the process of curriculum development through each link of the curriculum design, implementation and evaluation. Specifically, it includes teaching materials, all kinds of teaching facilities and practice base, etc. We can also summarize management curriculum resources from a macro point of view, namely project management curriculum resources is referred to the sum of all sorts of conditions which are of rich education value and able to be transformed for the school course or service for the school curriculum. Synthesis of all kinds of definitions about the curriculum resources, we can see the core of curriculum resources is the usefulness, and all conditions and environment that in favour of curriculum implementation and the realization of curriculum objectives can be viewed as curriculum resources. In our country, the course resources of different subjects are different, and we take the management course as an example to carry on the classification to the related curriculum resources. Project management course is a required course of management science and engineering, and it is a comprehensive discipline of management science, engineering technology, engineering economy, construction regulation and so on. As the main purpose of this course is to achieve the maximum comprehensive benefits of the project, so it attracts people's general attention in real life with a strong application and comprehensive. Combined with the existing form of curriculum resources, we divide management curriculum resources into human resources, material resources, and environmental resources. Human resources take teacher resources in management disciplines as the core and other managers with actual combat experience and the foreign scholars from outside as a complementary resource. At the same time, learners are an important part of the learning process, and therefore can be classified as part of the curriculum resources. Material resources, as the name suggests, are the physical form of resources, including the management materials, audio and video materials, tools, newspapers, magazines, television broadcasting, network, library, etc. Environmental resources in the management course mainly refer to the opportunities and places where students are able to carry out the management practice, which can also be included in the material resources from a broad perspective.

Software project management is a sub-discipline of project management in which software projects are planned, monitored and controlled. The software project management course has become the core curriculum of many software Institutes. However, because it is one of the management courses, it has strong practicality. But students lack the background of project practice, which leads to a bad teaching effect. In this work, it presents a teaching mode based on project-driven for software project management course, and describes it from the aspects of training objectives, training mode, teaching cases, teaching process, teaching content, team formation, and assessment mechanism. And finally it provides a summary and analysis of the characteristics of this teaching mode as well as the effect of the curriculum practice. The practices results show that it is a feasible teaching mode for software project management course.

Purpose Investigate distinctive skills, encompassing Building Information Modeling (BIM skills, project management (PM) skills (PMSs), as well as strategic and operational skills (OSs) in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry.Design/methodology/approach The research design adopts a quantitative survey-based approach, utilizing a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).Findings The findings underscore a significant relationship between OSs and both BIM and PMSs, while also illuminating the relationship of strategic skills with both BIM and PMSs. However, intriguingly, the study reveals that although BIM skills and PMSs are indispensable, they lack a statistically significant relationship. Despite this, we have identified a pathway from BIM skills to operational and strategic skills that traverses through PMSs, exhibiting significant indirect effects.Research limitations/implications Our study employs cross-sectional data rather than longitudinal data, which hinders temporal interpretations of the associations between competence building for AEC professionals especially given that BIM skills are still in the early stages within AEC projects, particularly in Latin America. Therefore, a longitudinal study would offer deeper insights into potential causation, allowing for a more robust establishment of underlying associations. Additionally, future research endeavors should focus on capturing longitudinal data through case studies that explore perceptions and observations of the roles of BIM managers and project managers in project-based organizations.Practical implications Our model guides organizations to recognize the importance of BIM management skills as a pivotal role in the AEC industry, bridging operational and strategic levels. While project managers focus on tools that facilitate team and project integration, BIM managers enhance collaboration and communication across different disciplines within construction projects. This synthesis highlights the complementary roles of project managers and BIM managers in driving successful project outcomes, showcasing the synergy between their skill sets in achieving strategic objectives within the AEC industry. Furthermore, it underscores the critical role of indirect and cascading flows of influence among skill domains through multiple interconnected pathways.Originality/value Our study demonstrates that different types of skills are required to manage AEC projects. These skills are interconnected through direct and indirect pathways that warrant attention from academia. The theoretical contribution of the research model is clearly shown in the linking between PM and BIM in the AEC industry. Several scholars recognize BIM as innovative and that drives the success of civil construction projects; however, our study goes further in identifying the significant relationships among variables and the magnitude of their effects on strategic and OSs for BIM management and PM domain.