DelftX: MEP101x Project Management of Engineering Projects: Preparing for Success!

Course Syllabus

Project Management of Engineering Projects: Preparing for Success!

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Index

1. Introduction
  1.1. Learning objectives
  1.2. Course activities and resources
  1.3. What we expect from you
  1.4. What you can expect from us/the course team
2. Course structure & Release dates
3. Assessment
4. Resources & Tools
5. Certificate

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1. Introduction

Are you a (project) engineer with a technical background but lack management knowledge? Are you eager to improve project performance and want to expand your knowledge?

The early phases of a project, the so called front end development phases, are crucial for its business and management success. During this course we will focus on the necessary project management skills to successfully manage projects, distinguishing three areas:

• The project manager and the team
• The project process
• The project context

You will create your own project execution plan, either in a team effort or on individual basis. Of course the team effort allows for a special learning experience and we appraise active team participation. No need to say we recommend it to team up with your fellow course mates from all over the world.

Prerequisites: BSc level, equivalent, or three or more years experience in the field.

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1.1. Learning objectives

By the end of this course, you:

• Are aware of the importance of the front-end phases to create a successful project
• Are able to select an appropriate project manager and project team
• Are able to reflect whether becoming a project manager could be a career path for you
• Have improved your skills working together in a specialized project team
• Are able to write a brief project execution plan for a simple engineering project

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1.2. Course activities and resources

This is a 8-week course with 7 content modules and a start-up module in week 0, with an estimated workload of 4 to 6 hours per week. Week 0 is just meant to get to know each other and to set the scene. The deadline for the submission of the group assignment is April 5th, 2018 - 12:00 UTC. Please note that after finishing module 7, we expect you to perform a peer assessment (deadline April 12th, 2018 - 12:00 UTC).

The course is organised in a consistent way so you know what to expect in each module (week). 

• Introduction and learning objectives. Every module starts with a brief overview of the content you can expect and what deadlines you will face in that week.
• Video modules. Each module consists of 2 to 3 videos: at least one video lecture per week introduces the main content for that week and at least one video per week illustrates experiences from practice. Additionally, we will provide a feedback video at the end of every week, based on the discussions you had in the discussion forum and in the team tool. 
• Assignments. After the video, often a small assignment is given in order to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Most often you are asked to first think about the answer individually, and next you need to discuss it in your team to come to a joint team conclusion, using the team tool.
• Team tool. In module 2, we will facilitate the creation of small teams (up to 10 fellow course mates), using the Team tool. This tool can be used for team discussions and to jointly draft the project execution plan (PEP) with your team. The PEP is to be submitted at the end of the course for peer review. You are expected to give feedback to your peers and receive feedback from them. From our point of view, a MOOC on project management needs to include group-work, since you will hardly ever perform a project on your own in real life!
• Quizzes. Every module has a graded quiz at the end. From these 7 quizzes, 6 will count for 50% of your final grade.
• Book. The corresponding reading materials for a specific module can be found under "textbook".  Additional reading is available under the tab "additional reading".

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1.3. Group activities

As stated before, from our point of view, a course in project management asks for a team approach. Therefore in module 2, you will form small complementary groups. In these teams of up to 10 members, you will jointly work on all ingredients of the project execution plan that is to be delivered as a group assignment at the end of the course. 

Experience shows that groups can work efficiently for example in a google docs environment. After completion of a task, the assignment can be uploaded to the edX course to facilitate other teams' feedback and further discussion.

A tip from us: don't wait for all other group members to confirm or complete tasks. If you are done with a task, start working on the next one. In this way, you are less dependent on others. 

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1.4. What we expect from you

As an online student, we expect you to be an active participant, contributing to a positive atmosphere by questioning, sharing and helping out others using the Team tool and the general discussion forum.

Regarding deadlines, we recommend staying on track in order to benefit from learning within the community. In your group work, if you face an obstacle in a specific week, inform your team.
This course is meant to be a place where you learn with and from others. In this sense, we'd like you to experience collaboration and peer-feedback, so please make sure you cooperate with other participants in order to enrich the overall learning experience.
When communicating with your fellow learners and course team using the Team tool or general discussion forum, please make sure you take into account the Discussion forum guidelines and Collaboration guidelines.

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1.5. What you can expect from us/the course team

The course team will release the weekly content, send important announcements, monitor and answer questions on a regular basis. We'll try to have a daily presence at the forum, but as you might understand we cannot promise to quickly answer everyone, due to the thousands of learners participating in this course. But we'll do our best ;-)! On Thursdays just before the start of the next module, we will post a feedback video reflecting upon the discussions in the Team tool and the discussion forum.

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2. Course structure & Release Dates

Module 0. Welcome and course overview (February 8, 2018)

We’ll give an outlook of the course and explain the course structure. The course uses a challenging mix of knowledge clips, video’s, quizzes, and assignments integrating your own experiences from practice with attractive examples from industry and new insights from theory.

Module 1. The need for and the importance of project management (February 15, 2018)

This module highlights the need for this course by showing examples of failed projects as well as successful projects. How is project success defined? How is it achieved? We explain the choice of focusing this course on the front-end phase of projects and the people aspect of projects. Also we link to a more strategic level: how to select the right projects?

Module 2. Organising the team (February 22, 2018)

This module focuses on the team effort that is needed to bring a project to a successful end. It shows why teamwork is essential and why it should not be taken for granted. It explains which challenges the project manager faces in developing a group of specialists into a coherent team. You will obtain insight in your own competences and based on your scores you are challenged to compose multidisciplinary teams with your fellow-students, 6/10 learners per team.

Module 3. Opportunity framing (March 1, 2018)

Now that you formed the teams the real experience can start. In this module all necessary steps of the early project phases are elaborated: identifying the stakeholders involved, scoping of the project (high level) after formulating the project objectives and setting up the initial risk register. With your team, you will experience the above steps, resulting in the selection of a topic for your team’s project execution plan.

Module 4. Assuring value (March 8, 2018)

This module we will elaborate on the management processes to be followed in a project. How do we create value? And how to assure it? What activities have to be performed? For which types of projects? And to conclude: what are the ingredients of a project execution plan?

Module 5. Selecting the contracting strategy (March 15, 2018)

In selecting the appropriate contracting strategy, we should not only focus on the contract. This sounds contradictory, but it is an essential lesson to learn in this module. We will introduce the contracting quilt and explain the importance of relational attitudes. Also we discuss the importance of senior management commitment. With your team, you will write the first outline of your project execution plan.

Module 6. Time and cost estimates (March 22, 2018)

Now a lot of the project preparation is done, it is time for some basic project management skills: the skills of scheduling and cost estimation. After thorough introduction of these skills, you will be asked (again with your team) to prepare a baseline schedule for your own project and, based on the baseline schedule, create a rough cost estimate.

Module 7. Bringing it together in the project execution plan (March 29, 2018)

And finally: all comes together. All ingredients of the project execution plan have been discussed so far and are to be combined in the PEP that should be delivered at the end of this week (April 5th, 2018). Also, we will link back to the more strategic elements of project management from module 1 and reflect upon your lessons learned during this course. Note: after this module, you still need to perform a peer review on a PEP of your colleagues (deadline April 12th, 2018).

Summarizing the course structure

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3. Assessment

To complete this course you have to score at least 60 points of the total mark of 100. The different components count towards the total mark as:

• Individual Quizzes - 50%. At the end of every module, there is a quiz to test your knowledge. From the 7 quizzes, the lowest score will be dropped. 
• Group Assignment* - 50%. Only the group assignment that you hand in at the end of the course will be graded and counts for the course.

*Please note: The group assignments need to be handed in individually, as will be carefully explained upon submission!  

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4. Resources & Tools

All educational resources for your learning experience will be available in the course. They consist of short video lectures, interviews with practitioners, transcripts, small individual assignments to practice the concepts introduced, assessed quizzes and group work. We will stimulate lively interactions with your fellow course members by actively using the Team tool of the edX platform. 

There is a general discussion forum in the course for all students of MEP101x. This discussion forum is subdivided into many forums. You may use these forums to discuss course concepts, problem-solving approaches, interesting references, or other topics related to the course. You may just use it to ask questions. The forum is moderated by the course staff. While collaboration is welcomed and encouraged, you are not allowed to post full solutions. Please observe the appropriate online etiquette as outlined in the Forum Guidelines.

Every module contains a discussion assignment, and from Module 2 onward you will discuss in your teams using the team tool. The discussion assignments provide insight into the translation from theory to practice. At the end of each module feedback on the team discussions and the forum discussions will be given by one of the professors in a short feedback movie.

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5. Certificate

If you're interested in a certificate you can upgrade to a Verified Certificate. These certificates will indicate you have successfully completed the course, but will not include a specific grade. Certificates will be issued by edX under the name of DelftX, designating the institution from which the course originated.

Generating an ID verified certificate

Verified certificates will be issued a few days after the end of the course, to all participants who achieved at least 60% of the total grade. Certificates can be downloaded from your Student Dashboard (look for the Download button next to the name of our course).

Remember that in order to qualify for a certificate, you must achieve a total grade of 60% or higher. You can check your grade at any time under the course’s Progress page. An ID verified Certificate of Achievement is available for $99. You can Upgrade on your edX Dashboard to Verified during the course.

Once produced, a certificate cannot be reissued, hence it is very important that you verify the way in which your name appears. Check that, in your edx.org account, your name is correctly spelled, since it will appear on the final certificate. Please note that no Honor Code certificates will be given out by edX for this course.

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LICENSE

Unless otherwise specified the Course Materials of MEP101x are Copyright Delft University of Technology, and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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