DA6063 - Project Management

You will learn through lectures and IT workshops, tutor guidance and feedback and independent directed and self-directed learning. Importantly, you will also learn at work, through reflecting on your experiences and applying your knowledge from the module to your practice in the workplace. The lectures and IT workshops will introduce you to theories and concepts and allow you to discuss with the tutors and your peers how these relate to your own work based experiences and practice. The workplace provides an opportunity for you to put your own knowledge and skills into practice and review your learning with your manager/mentor and your guidance tutor.

Your learning is supported by a Teaching and Learning Plan, offering guidance on reading to prepare for workshops and help with the completion of the assessment. Within this plan, there are also suggested learning activities, which guide you in your independent learning. These activities allow you to reflect and evaluate your knowledge and skills and in this area.

You will also be given work-based assignments and projects, which will support your learning by providing an experientially based opportunity to apply your learning and evaluate your own practice in this area.

There will be additional reading and online resources listed on the module’s e-learning portal that will permit you to undertake further critical and independent inquiry. Independent learning time is set aside for learning activities, self-identified by you, to gain a deeper and broader knowledge of the subject.

The Teaching and Learning plan will provide a number of prompts and guidance to support you academically. Support will also include opportunities to gain feedback from workshop tutors, guidance tutors and peers.

Your module is also supported by an e-learning portal, which houses all the module learning materials, workshop resources, interactive activities, assessment details and various other support facilities, which are provided by the University.

In addition, in order to assist you in developing knowledge, you will have access to the University’s library facilities, including extensive electronic resources, eBooks and electronic academic journal articles. You will be provided with an electronic reading list, which comprises publications from professional bodies, academic reports, books, conference papers, and journal articles that will inform you about relevant theory and practice of responsible project management in an international context. Quizzes will be made available to you on the eLearning Portal to use for self-assessment of your knowledge and understanding.

Support will also include feedback from tutors during the workshops. In addition, the module leader will respond to questions via the module’s discussion board at the University’s eLearning Portal so that the whole group can benefit. Lecture content and assessment briefing will be captured using Panopto video platform and made available to you to support the main lectures.

You will be provided with formative assessment based on group presentation in your IT workshops. This feedback will support you in writing your individual assignment to be submitted at the end of the teaching semester. Electronic management of assessment (EMA) will be used for assessment of coursework.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge and Understanding
You will demonstrate your understanding of a range of contrasting theory and research about approaches to contemporary project management practice and solutions. (MLO1)

You will engage with a range of professional project management techniques in order to apply knowledge to complex problems and identify appropriate and sustainable project management solutions. (MLO2)

Intellectual/Professional Skills and Abilities
Working on your own and in teams you will develop effective interpersonal communication skills and the ability to apply a range of professional techniques and technologies including specialist software. (MLO3)

Professional Values Attributes
You will develop and reinforce the characteristics of a Northumbria graduate as you reflect on problems and challenge conventional solutions, and show innovation in applying concepts and theories to case studies and your individual project. The Project Management Institute Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct guides practitioners and describe the expectations practitioners should have for themselves. There is a basic obligation of responsibility, respect, fairness and honesty. Acceptance of this code is essential for project managers. (MO4)

Mapping to CMDA Outcomes

2. Project Management
Knowledge– know and understand:

2.1 How a project moves through planning, design, development, deployment and evaluation.
2.1.1 Analyse the key stages of a project and demonstrate the application of these
2.2 Risk management models and reporting, risk benefit analysis and health and safety implications.
2.2.1 Evaluate risk management models and risk versus benefit
2.2.2 Present methods of reporting and monitoring risk, including health and safety, and the mitigation of identified risks

1.1.5 Evaluate risk management models and review own organisations approach to the identification and monitoring of risk

1.1.6 Evaluate quality assurance models in the context of own organisation


Skills – be able to
2.3 Plan, organise and manage resources in order to achieve organisational goals.
2.3.1 Exhibit the effective planning, organisation, and management of identified resources, demonstrating how this contributes to the achievement of project goals

2.4 Identify key outcomes, develop and implement plans and monitor
2.4.1 Identify key project outcomes, developing and implementing plans to ensure that these are achieved
2.4.2 Monitor progress towards the achievement of project outcomes and produce reports that clearly demonstrate this

2.5 Proactively identify risk and create plans for their mitigation.
2.5.1 Select and apply a risk management model to project, identifying and monitoring risks and actions to mitigate of these

2.7.1 Demonstrate the successful use of project management tools.

Formative assessment
Formative assessment of knowledge and understanding, intellectual/professional skills and attributes and professional value attributes will be carried out on a continuous basis within the IT workshops. This will take place through presentations and by individual and group work, assignment discussion and reflection together with theory/practice related discussions.

Summative assessment
The final assessment will be a 3,000-word individual business report (100%). You will review, in the light of your new knowledge and understanding of theory, a project from your placement/employment setting on which you have already worked to apply knowledge to problems and identify sustainable solutions. You will include the following:
i) demonstrate your understanding of a range of contrasting theory and research about approaches to contemporary project management practice and solutions,
ii) analyse how you engaged with project management techniques and methods on your own and as part of a team,
iii) evaluate the use and effectiveness in applying specialist software technology within the context of the module. This assessment will assess MLO1, MLO2, MLO3 and MLO4.

None

None

‘Project Management’ will develop your knowledge and skills as a project management practitioner. You will be able to draw upon a wide range of both traditional and contemporary techniques and approaches to manage projects more effectively. Through experience and reflection, you will challenge current thinking whilst also gaining exposure to alternative and new ideas about managing projects sustainably and ethically in a global society.

You will have the opportunity to work on a real or case study project through your placement or employment. You will evaluate your experience of using project management tools and techniques, comparing this with the existing approaches espoused in the literature, through presentation and writing up your processes, strategies and reflections in an individual business report, which accounts for 100% of the assessment.

As a graduate, you will almost certainly work on projects and in teams. The skills developed on ‘Project Management’ will equip you with key attributes of a Northumbria University graduate’s portfolio for employability, alongside the opportunity to relate theory to practice by placing your assessment alongside within your employment setting.