Syllabus
This course is designed to help you learn to use project management knowledge, tools, and techniques to plan, implement, and manage coordinated work efforts and solve business problems. The course will give you the opportunity to organize and plan the elements of one-time, unique endeavors that add value to an organization. Emphasis is on developing the people skills as well as the tools, techniques and methods of professional project managers such as Microsoft Project Professional.
Course Description
Course Overview
This course is a project-based course. You will participate in teams to complete two projects. You will use 2 project management methodologies to manage your projects: Waterfall and Scrum. The graphic on the right shows how the project management methodologies integrate with the course timeline.
Of course, there are more than 2 project management strategies; however, time and resource constraints limit this course experience.
Course Outcomes
The primary goal of the course is to help you answer the question "How do I learn to take matter unorganized and organize it into something that will benefit others?"
This typically involves coordinating people, tools, equipment, raw materials, schedules, budgets, stakeholder relations, quality planning, testing, and numerous other "details" in order to achieve a goal. In short the term, management has to do with how to bring order to complexity.
The intended outcomes of the course can be summarized as follows:
- Expand and deepen knowledge and awareness of how to lead and work within a team to accomplish tactical level objectives within an organization
- Gain practical experience implementing collaborative teamwork techniques
- Build professional oral and written presentations, reports, and project-oriented deliverables
- Develop and execute project plans according to current project delivery methodologies
Leadership/Teamwork
Much of the success of project managers comes from developing good leadership and people skills. Good leadership doesn't always mean that you dominate the decision-making and work for the group, but that you lead by example in proposing courses of action, eliciting alternatives from team members, and bring out the best in each individual to meet the objectives of the task at hand.
Sound teamwork consists of demonstrating leadership without the title. This is sometimes referred to as "leadership from all angles" and is captured from a gospel perspective by the law of consecration.
Grades will be determined based on your written goals and summaries, feedback from team members, and from the instructor's observations.
Course Materials
- Project Management Institute (PMI) textbooks with 10 Knowledge Areas, such as the following:
- Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide, 5th Edition (electronic copy available through McKay Library).
- Traditional or waterfall-style project management software.
- One option is Microsoft Project Professional 2013 (free to CIT students via Dreamspark; Microsoft Project Installation Instructions here).
- Other options include OpenGantt, Tom's Gantt, and many others.
Grading
From the Grading System section (p. 48) of the course catalog, "Grades are determined by each instructor based upon an evaluation of all assigned and completed course work. Classroom/laboratory participation, mastery of subject matter, and promise of continuing success in sequential courses in related fields are all criteria used to evaluate progress."
Your grade is your responsibility as well as mine. Use the I-Learn Grade Center to gauge your progress throughout the semester. Please monitor the Grade Center on an ongoing basis and contact me as soon as possible if any errors arise. The day after the semester ends is too late for any corrections for any grades that were given early in the semester.
Individual assignment grades will be assigned according to the following general rubric:
- A - You have the concepts and methods down and could easily use them in any other situation and/or explain them clearly to someone unfamiliar with the concepts
- B - Your understanding is good but you may have difficulty with some of the details or can't communicate your solutions with clarity
- C - You have trouble understanding what you should be doing, your deliverables/solutions/recommendations have multiple errors or are not well supported, the instructor has to prompt you before you can communicate your thoughts clearly
- D - You have an idea what you should do but can't get very far without help
- F - You don't understand the situation or you have no idea where to start
Grading Weights
| Type | Weight |
|---|---|
| Leadership/Teamwork | 15% |
| Team Deliverables | 15% |
| Individual Assignments | 40% |
| Quizzes | 10% |
| Tests | 20% |
| Total | 100% |
Team Deliverables
You will work with a team to complete two different projects throughout the course of the semester. Projects could be creating a service, event, or fundraiser for a non-profit organization, building the plan for an IBC course, building a web application, extending a wing in a hospital, establishing a skilled nursing facility, etc.
Your team will be expected to build the project plan including the work breakdown structure, schedule, resources, risk management plans, etc. that correspond with each chapter in the textbook. Deliverables will be graded based on thoroughness, accuracy, clarity of communication and grammar, professionalism, and timeliness.
Individual Assignments
Throughout the semester there will be multiple individual assignments including case studies, chapter exercises, and practice exercises designed to give you practice with the concepts, techniques, and tools of contemporary project management practices.
Quizzes and Tests
You will periodically take quizzes throughout the course. Quizzes provide 10% of your grade. You will take individual and team quizzes.
Tests assess your individual understanding of project management concepts and are based on the materials in the textbook and assignments. You will take three tests (Lesson 04, Lesson 06, Lesson 09). Tests provide 20% of your grade.
The quiz and test questions come from the the project management literature. Each lesson includes a Topics page. You should spend at least one hour each week researching the topics, issues and questions listed on the Topics page. You aren't assigned a specific textbook, chapter and pages to read; however, you are expected to read and understand the project management literature.
You are allowed to regain points on the tests and quizzes by providing a justification for your selected response. For instance, a challenge supports your answer by citing a source including name, title, author, page number, slide number or URL. Additionally, a challenge assesses your answer and the correct answer, asserts your position and defends your selection. Use critical thinking, excellent writing and careful analysis in your test and quiz challenges. Full points will be awarded for accepted justifications.
Presentations
Each student is required to present at least twice during the semester. Please refer to the Formal Presentation Requirements and the Facilitator Presentation Requirements located in the "Welcome" module of I-Learn.” Each week, one member of the team will present project progress. The type of presentation matches the project methodology, for instance during Waterfall a Formal Presentation is required, during Agile/Scrum a stakeholder meeting is required. Coordinate and rotate the presenter role so everyone has the opportunity to present at least twice in the semester.
It is recommended (but not required) that you post one formal presentation and facilitate one stakeholder meeting.
Before you post your formal presentation, you must:
- Schedule a trial run with the Presentation Practice Center. Inform them that you are an online student
- Prepare your presentation before your trial run. If you are unprepared you must make a return appointment when you are prepared.
- Obtain a confirmation e-mail verifying that you met with a PPC representative. Forward this confirmation to your Instructor or capture an image of it and upload it with your presentation materials.
- Add your presentation URL and upload all presentation materials to the appropriate I-Learn page.
Plan ahead! You cannot request an appointment with the Presentation Practice Center a few minutes before the due date.
If you do not meet with the Presentation Practice Center before you post your formal presentation, you will receive 0 points for the presentation.
Presentation Tools
The following tools allow you to record presentations. This is not a comprehensive or required list. If you want to use another tool, you may.
Late Work Policy
- All individual assignments, quizzes, and preparation work must be completed before the date and time specified.
- Assignments completed after the due date will be worth a maximum of 50% of their original value (e.g. a 10 point assignment would be worth only 5 points when submitted late).
- Assignments from previous test sections will not be accepted for credit after the test date. (e.g. assignments from chapter 1 will not be accepted after the first unit test is closed)
Due Dates
Refer to the course Calendar for accurate due dates. Due to differences in time zones, due dates may differ for online students. Discussion boards often require an initial post and a reply. You must take responsibility for these due dates. Don't rely on your dashboard to prompt you. If you rely on the I-Learn dashboard, you will miss the initial post due date.
Additionally, each project includes a Project Status Report discussion board. Don't be fooled by the due date assigned to this page! Typically, the due date for this page is End-of-Week of the corresponding module; for instance, the Waterfall Status Reports is due End-of-Week of Lesson 08. However, if you wait to post a status report on the End-of-Week of Lesson 08, you will fail this assignment. Your Instructor is your project champion or project sponsor. You must frequently and consistently post project status reports. Your project team must determine the meaning of "frequently" and "consistently." For instance, in the Waterfall methodology you might decide that twice weekly is appropriate. Daily reports are required in the Scrum methodology.
You must take responsibility for all due dates!
CIT 380 Learning Model
| Prepare | Teach One Another | Ponder/Prove |
|---|---|---|
|
Study the textbook, the resources provided, and actively search for alternative viewpoints on each topic Complete preparation assignments |
Team Discussions Team Project Reports Individual Assignment Reviews |
Team Evaluation Unit Tests Team Projects/Interviews Quizzes |
Recommended Browser
Mozilla Firefox is the recommended browser for use with I-Learn. However, you must use a recent version to see all CIT 380 content. If you have questions about your browser please contact the BYUI Help Desk by email: helpdesk@byui.edu, or phone: 1-866-237-5195.
Additionally you must enable your browser to display insecure content within I-Learn. Verify that you have completed this step by reviewing the Library Research Guide and/or the Academic Support pages (CIT 380CourseResources). If these pages appear blank, you have not enabled insecure content.
Remember! If you access I-Learn from multiple computers, you must enable insecure content on each computer.
You are not putting your student identity nor your computer at risk by enabling insecure content within I-Learn.
Video Title: Tip: How to View Insecure Content (Browser Security)
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCOP5asLr9g
Minutes to complete: 4:12
Description: This video explains how and why to allow your browser to display blocked (or insecure) content.
Author: Brad Marshall, Applications System Engineer BYUI
Additional General Support
- The Online Support Center
- The IT Help Desk