Abstract:

Students learn Project Management by funding a non-profit organization. The course is designed to learn the content of Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). Before the course starts, a non-profit organization is selected and a project is defined. At the beginning of the course, the project is presented to the students, and they are challenged to organize a set of funding events to make the project feasible. Every week, students met with the instructors to learn selected project management tools to design and plan their funding events. After 12 weeks, the funding events are conducted and the collected funds are donated to the non-profit organization. Lessons learned from the events are discussed and documented. A project feasibility analysis is then conducted to conclude if the original project proposed by the non-profit organization can be implemented as it was originally intended, or if it is necessary to modify the scope or invest the funds to obtain more resources. This course has been implemented on three occasions, the experience is presented and the results and lessons learned are discussed. At the end of the course, students are evaluated based on their knowledge of the content of the PMBOK.

Keywords:

Project management, challenged-based learning, social impact.