Class Overview

Required Components

 

General Class Information

 

   Instructor Name and Contact Information: William Yates, wy7r@virginia.edu

 

Subject Area and Catalog Number: NCBM 407-701

Year and Term: Summer 2017

Class Title: Project Management Body of Knowledge Review

Level (Graduate or Undergraduate): Graduate

Credit Type: Non-Credit

Class Description (Use the SIS 400 characters from catalog description):

The Project Management Body of Knowledge Review and Certification Preparation (NCBM 407-701) is intended to review and strengthen a student’s formal awareness and understanding of knowledge associated with the professional discipline of Project Management. This is also an excellent means of preparing to sit for the Project Management Institute, Inc.'s Project Management Professional (PMP®) or Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®) professional certification exams. The certification credentials are associated around the globe with project management excellence and thereby are increasingly preferred if not established as a formal requirement for project managers in the workplace.

This course will provide participants with a comprehensive review of the shared domain knowledge and understanding of generally accepted principles and practices of project management. The word “review” is important in that it implies that the student already has had an introduction to project management principles and practices in prior classes, training, and/or experience. Since the certification exam questions are very much presented in the context of project management experience, an emphasis in the course will be made on identifying specific touch points of application from the student’s own experience in the workplace/space, as well as from select case study analyses.

 Each person who is interested in taking a certification exam should understand the certification application process and the information requirements associated with the target certification from the parent organization responsible for it. All related information can be found at the PMI.org website in the section associated with certifications.

 Please note that the actual certification exam is not conducted by the University of Virginia. In addition, it is the student’s responsibility to determine when they believe the time is right to sign up and take the actual certification exam.

 (PMI®, PMBOK®, and PMP®, if and where used throughout this document, are registered trademarks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.)

Required Text (Include ISBN, specific edition):

Course materials will consist of:

Text 1: A guide to the project management body of knowledge, fifth edition. Newtown Square, PA: The Project Management Institute, Inc.  ISBN: 978-1935589-67-9. [Note: the course is based on the fifth edition, published in January 2013.]

Learning Outcomes:

The primary objective of this course is to provide participants with a comprehensive review of the subject matter associated with the primary course text. A secondary objective will be to also provide participants with information on the associated professional certification exam. At the completion of this course, the successful student will: (a) have enhanced awareness and understanding of generally accepted principles and practices of professional project management; (b) have a clear understanding of the certification process including candidate registration requirements, exam process, characteristics of the exam questions, and requirements for passing; (c) enjoy a “deeper learning” experience of the subject matter having utilized brain-based learning strategies in the process.

Students will have had a comprehensive review of the essential project management subject matter drawn from the primary text, instructional handouts, case study excerpts, and practice test questions. The learning strategy will involve a multi-modal deployment including an extensive reading component, online collaborative tools (primarily asynchronous), collegial discussion, with exam-taking reinforcement and assessment. A disciplined and timely reading expectation is a requirement for success with this course.

Course material focus will include:

• An overview of relevant  project management models, constructs, and approaches
• The project management framework
• Project management knowledge areas including:
  • Project integration management
  • Project scope management
  • Project time management
  • Project cost management
  • Project quality management
  • Project human resource management
  • Project communications management
  • Project risk management
  • Project procurement management
  • Project stakeholder management
• Project process groups (initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing)
• Tools and techniques consistent with successful management of projects
• Project management vocabulary
• Practice questions
• Certification exam test-taking strategies
• Brain-based strategies and authentic learning emphasis

There is an extensive reading component with this course. Students are expected to read the assigned materials associated with the course in a timely fashion.

Assessment Components:

The primary assessment components:

1. Three exams that will incorporate multiple-choice questions (as a way of practicing the type of questions that will be found on the professional credential exam) and narrative response type questions.

Secondary assessment components:

2. Completion of all reading assignments; there are reading expectations for each week;
3. Weekly expectations also include: (a) reading and completing session worksheets that include learning strategies, narrative response to questions related to that week’s reading; and reflective inquiry; (b) submission of a weekly “statement of learning” that reflects the student’s learning experience; (c) weekly online collab session (live/recorded) feature;

Secondary assessments are made for individual components (shown above) and are then translated into an accumulated point total that is added to the primary assessment outcomes (exams) to determine the final course grade.

It is important that students should remember that this course is treated as a graduate-level course. Course work completed as assigned and in a timely manner is a normal expectation, and from a grading perspective, that reflected in a “C” to “B” grade range. To improve upon that basic expectation means that academic work completed will incorporate “above average”  work,  quality, adding to the academic discourse, and demonstrating mastery in the narrative and/or exam-based exercises.

Evaluation Standards

The course grade will be based on the collective result of: (a) exam outcomes (primary assessment components); and (b) secondary assessment outcomes.

Category                                Percentage                 Max total points available

Exam                                         120%                       200

Exam                                         220%                       200

Exam                                         325%                       250

Weekly* Statement of Learning”     10%                       100

Weekly* Collab onlinesession**      10%                       100

Weekly* Completed worksheet       15%                       150

Totals                                   100%                     1000

Note ^(*): Weekly” means within the Sunday to Saturday period for the specific week

Note ^(**): If session is not held, total grading points will be adjusted accordingly

Delivery Mode Expectations (Classroom/Internet and Web-based classes, specify any live (synchronous) meetings, dates, times, and location of delivery):

The course is delivered online, primarily in asynchronous mode, utilizing the school’s online course site for access, distribution and reception of resource materials, assignments, weekly discussion forum, and access to the online/live Collab feature associated with the (synchronous) collaborative sessions. Specific times for the collaborative discussions will be determined after the first week in conjunction with student scheduling. (Unless otherwise noted, any weekly session recorded for students must be viewed within the specific week it is assigned, and will not carry over.)  

Required Technical Resources and Technical Components:

Students must be able to have online access sufficient to submit the weekly assignment(s), review what other classmates have submitted, and submit the reaction and integration paper assignments on time. This includes the following:

• Computer with basic audio/video output equipment sufficient for online meetings
• Internet access (broadband recommended)
• Microsoft Word