What promotes motivation and learning in project management students?

Abstract

This article discusses what promotes motivation and learning in students of project management. It is based on a qualitative study with six students from different project groups at a higher education institution in Norway. The study shows that ownership of self-chosen projects and regular feedback from the supervisor lead to hard work, intrinsic motivation and learning in all phases of the project. Participation in project groups with considerable autonomy within a tight framework creates positive communities of learning and experiences of flow. Presenting interim status reports to the class in combination with final written and oral assessment leads to competition between the project groups and extrinsic motivation to perform best, which results in deep learning. The study shows that project-based teaching is an important tool to encourage student motivation and learning.