Blended Learning Models, Curricula, and Gamification in Project Management Education

Abstract

Project management learning involves realization of the project management's knowledge areas, familiarity with advanced tools as well as developing abilities like critical thinking and decision-making. The majority of inexperienced project managers struggle to achieve these essential skills. Teaching project management is sometimes difficult due to the involvement of practical implementation along with delivering the theoretical concepts. The subject has been explored in a variety of ways by the research community highlighting the enhancements in teaching methodologies and curricula as well as the applications of alternative approaches such as blended learning and gamification. This study systematically identifies and examines the state-of-the-art in project management education by evaluating the improvements attempted through blended learning models, curricula, and gamification. The primary goal of this work is to summarize the impact of the aforementioned facets in project management education by evaluating the empirically verified research. The key findings represent that most of the studies used the mixed blended learning model, which combines advanced online and the traditional face-to-face educational practices. Moreover, the research emphasizes the modifications and improvements in existing curricula in order to achieve what the industry requires from the project managers. In addition, an imbalance has been observed in the use of gamification for the specific knowledge areas where most of the gamification is focused on communication management while the procurement and stakeholder management appeared to be neglected areas. Furthermore, this study proposes a taxonomy, which is designed to summarize the fundamental components of blended learning along with their advantages. The challenges and gaps as open issues are also presented in the area of project management education. Additionally, this research suggests a project centric model to enhance the learning outcomes of project management courses and provides guidelines for instructors to improve the blended learning and gamification experience for students of project management courses. Finally, the prospects of future research have been offered to the fellow researchers and practitioners engaged in project management education.