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Wilfred Fritz



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Wilfred Fritz


WSEAS Transactions on Advances in Engineering Education


Print ISSN: 1790-1979
E-ISSN: 2224-3410

Volume 14, 2017

Notice: As of 2014 and for the forthcoming years, the publication frequency/periodicity of WSEAS Journals is adapted to the 'continuously updated' model. What this means is that instead of being separated into issues, new papers will be added on a continuous basis, allowing a more regular flow and shorter publication times. The papers will appear in reverse order, therefore the most recent one will be on top.



Using Interactive Methods to Develop Project Management Skills in an Engineering Programme: Drawing on German Expertise

AUTHORS: Wilfred Fritz

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ABSTRACT: In order to address the need for project management in an engineering curriculum, the author presented interactive project management workshops to a cohort of forty electrical engineering project design students in an electrical engineering programme. The author is affiliated to a South African university and he collaborated with a Germany-based company, Training Development Consulting (TDC). Interactive campus-based training workshops were conducted by the author and Andrea von Gleichenstein of TDC at the beginning of 2015 in order to enhance essential soft skills required for project management. Subsequent to the training, the students were provided with opportunities to apply these skills in realizing a renewable energy project in a local community. The aim of the workshops was to empower students with project management skills through interactive hands-on training sessions. The focus of this study is an assessment of the extent to which students were able to apply project management skills to the design and building of an engineering artefact within the required time frame. The author supervised all the students registered for the course. The findings of the research showed that students who attended the workshops gained project management knowledge and skills and were able to transfer the knowledge and skills learned to a real world project. This paper elaborates on the effectiveness of interactive methods. The author argues that interactive training should be taught to students in project-based engineering subjects, to develop their project management skills.

KEYWORDS: Essential soft skills, Interactive training, Project management, Project-based subjects, Coordination plan

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WSEAS Transactions on Advances in Engineering Education, ISSN / E-ISSN: 1790-1979 / 2224-3410, Volume 14, 2017, Art. #14, pp. 123-130


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