Project Management and Communication (5cr)

Teachin methods

During the study unit students will familiarise themselves with the basic principles of project management and receive guidance on communication requirements and tools for carrying out academic and project-related work.
The study unit contains work on the following topic areas:
- Research and development in academic projects
- Project planning, scheduling and risk management
- Teamwork and collaboration
- ICT tools for project management and documentation
- Preparing project-related communications (project plan, project report and presentation)
- Academic writing (referencing, style and tone, structure and organisation)

Materials

Learning materials are provided in Canvas. Also the following works will be consulted:
Bailey, S. 2011. Academic writing: a handbook for international students. 3rd edition. London: Routledge.
Dawson, C. 2009. Projects in computing and information systems. 2nd edition. Harlow: Addison-Wesley.
Lock, D. 2013. Naked Project Management: the bare facts. Gower.
Ojasalo, K., Moilanen, T. & Ritalahti, J. 2009. Research-oriented approach. Partially translated from: Kehittämistyön menetelmät – Uudenlaista osaamista liiketoimintaan. Helsinki: WSOY.
Snyder, C. 2013. A user's manual to the PMBOK guide. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Completion alternatives

Contact the lecturer in charge if you feel you are entitled to get recognition for previously acquired competence in the areas outlined in the study objectives.

Exam schedules

The exam dates are offered during the contact sessions.
- Project management exam
- Office exam
See Canvas for more details.

Student workload

5 credits = 135 hours of student`s work.

Content scheduling

A more detailed schedule is published in Canvas. The following areas are covered during online meetings with supplementary material provided in the workspace.
1. Project management overview. Research and development projects. PM methodologies.
2. Source referencing and academic style. The structure of project documentation and academic reports.
3. Using MS Office tools: Word and Excel
4. Project processes. Tools used in initiation and planning.
5. Collaboration and teamwork on projects.
6. Feedback sessions on the writing task.

Objective

The student is able to
- plan, implement and evaluate a practical project in multidisciplinary cooperation
- work in an appropriate way in multicultural organisations and networks
- acquire and use information to support development, and use ICT tools
- communicate appropriately and in a goal-oriented way in the communication and documenting situations required by the project

Evaluation scale

H-5