Does simulation improve learning outcomes for project managers? : if so which competence areas of the eye of competence are affected the most?

Abstract

Demands in the labour market are developing rapidly with increasing emphasis on skills and competences. The teaching methods and assessment in the educational system must change in parallel to these changing demands from only being knowledge-based to being based more equally on knowledge, skills and competences. This paper describes the effects of using a simulation teaching method to improve the learning outcomes for students in a Master of Project Management (MPM) programme in Reykjavík University. In a cohort of 26 MPM students, using a series of four simulation exercises led to an incremental improvement in all intended learning outcomes, based on knowledge, skills and competences in project management. The students, when interviewed, described a wish for increased use of simulation in their teaching and more varied simulation subjects, the importance of debriefing after each exercise and a perceived highest impact on the People and Practice areas of competency in the Eye of Competency.