Course syllabus

ACE115   lp1 HT23 (7.5 hp)

 

Course syllabus

The course is offered by the department of Architecture and Civil Engineering (ACE).

Examiner:

Martine Buser, MB, associate professor, Building Design ACE, buser@chalmers.se

Teachers:

Daniella Troje, DT, senior lecturer, Construction Management ACE, daniella.troje@chalmers.se

Dilek Ulutas Duman, DUD, senior lecturer, Construction Management ACE, dileku@chalmers.se

Dimosthenis Kifokeris, DK, associate professor, Building Design ACE, dimkif@chalmers.se

Kim Jakobsen, KJ, consultant, K-Jacobsen A/S, Denmark, kimjac@net.chalmers.se   kj@k-jacobsen.dk>

Mathias Gustafsson, MG, associate professor, Construction Management ACE, mathias.gustafsson@chalmers.se 

Stefan Gottlieb, SG, senior researcher, Department of the Built Environment, Aalborg University, Denmark, Stefan.gottlieb@chalmers.se 

Course purpose

Construction projects are the central unit of production of the built environment. Managing a construction project is probably the single most important competence for the critical and skilled design and construction project manager. Project management is the most widespread management task that DCPM scholars and students are engaged with. Management of construction projects is a mature area with numerous standards, certifications, and educations. Yet projects are often delayed, run over budget and do not deliver the expected quality.

The course introduces the diversity and complexity of the construction sector and the role of projects and project manager. The course familiarizes the students with the vocabulary, paradigms and concepts of project management. It presents aspects of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and presents both prescriptive and analytical tools, methods and theories. In doing so, the course will provide the necessary basis for understanding the discipline and practice of project management – theoretically as well as practically. The course moreover illustrates the application of various tools and understandings in concrete cases and projects, and presents aspects of power, politics, sustainability, ethics and social responsibility as elements of project management in a modern construction industry.

preliminary 

Schedule

https://cloud.timeedit.net/chalmers/web/public/s.html?i=665Xg6007Zx6QvQ50553Y6y4Y555XY7Y556ZgQ60757Q4Z356

 

(Preliminary changes may occur before the start of the course)

Course day	Date/time	Person	Topic	Room
1	Monday 28 Aug. 13.15-16.00	DK/KJ/DUD	Introduction to course Group formation and expectations Introduction to assignment	SB -H6
2	Tuesday 29. Aug. 09.00-11.45	SG/DK	Project management paradigms and PMBOK Q &A regarding assignments	SB-H5
3	Thursday 7. Sept 09.00-11.45	MB	Project based organization (lecture)	SB-H6
4	Monday 11 or Tuesday 12 Sep.	DUD/DK/DT/ KJ/MG	Supervision of group work Book time slot with your supervisor
5	Thursday 14. Sep. 08.00-12.15	DUD/DK/DT/ KJ/MG	Students’ presentation seminar, round 1 First 10 groups present Mandatory	SB-M500
6	Thursday 14. Sep. 13.15-17.00	DUD/DK/DT/ KJ//MG	Students’ presentation seminar, round 2 Last 9 groups will present Mandatory	SB-H7
7	Monday 18. Sep. 13.15-16.00	DK/MB	Test multiple choice on PMBOK - Mandatory Estimating, budgeting and cost management	SB H6
8	Thursday 21. Sep. 09.00-11.45	DUD	Governance of projects and Scandinavian approach to project management	SB-H3
9	Monday 25. Sep. 13.15-16.00	KJ	PM and digitalization	SB-H6
10	Monday 25 or Tuesday 26 1st supervision assignment 2	DUD/DK/DT/ KJ/MG	Supervision of group work Book time slot with your supervisor - Synopsis, literature review
11	Thursday 28. Sep. 09.00-11.45	DT	Social sustainability and project management	SB-M500
12	Thursday 28 Sep. 13.15-16.00	MG	Ethics in PM in the construction sector	SB-H6
13	Monday 2. Oct. 13.15-16.00	MB	Power, authority, and politics in PM	SB-H6
14	Thursday 5. Oct 09.00-11.45 A 13.15-16.00 B	DUD	Stakeholder management Workshop group A (Groups 1-8) Workshop group B, (Groups 9-16) Mandatory	SB H3 SB -L308
15	Monday 09. Oct. 13.15-16.00	DK	Scope and Quality	SB -H6
16	Monday 09- Tuesday 10 2nd supervision assignment 2	DUD/DK/DT/ KJ/MG	Supervision of group work Book time slot with your supervisor - Draft including case
17	Thursday 12 Oct. 09.00-11.45	DUD	Literature seminar Mandatory	SB M500
	Friday 13 Oct. Deadline 18.00		Hand in assignments
18	Tuesday 17. Oct. 09.00-16.45	DUD/DK/DT/ KJ/MG	Project work presentation Mandatory 2 parallel sessions Wrap-up and participant feedback	SB3-L111 And SB3-L112
	Friday 27. Oct. 18.00		Final deadline for assignment 2

 

TimeEdit

*) With an estimated 69-70 students registered to the course, there will be 18 groups of 3-4 students. For the presentations and subsequent group work / assignment, the students will be assigned one recurrent teacher that they will keep for the course throughout the study period. There will be five teachers to choose from: DK, DUD, DT, KJ, MG.

+) For the purpose of the students’ presentations in week 38, each group will prepare a 10 minutes presentation of their assigned PM knowledge area. The slides need to be informative so that the other students can use these sets to revise for the exams. The presentation will be followed by 10 minutes of facilitated discussion between the group, teachers and other participants.  Participation by all students is mandatory.

++) The project work seminar is conducted in two full day parallel sessions under the guidance of DK, UDU, KJ, MG and DT. Each day is divided in two sessions -morning and afternoon- four or five groups will present during each session. The groups will be given 12-15 minutes to present their preliminary work, then an opposition group will ask questions and give feedback for another 10-15 minutes. This will be followed by a general discussion on the topic open for all the participants for app. 30 minutes more. Each group will have to read and provide feedback to one other group. Focus is on stimulating discussions and provide in-depth feedback. Participation by all students is mandatory for the full day.
All the assignments are to be uploaded on the Canvas ACE115 pages.

Course literature

The literature will primarily consist of scientific papers but exerts from books will also be used. The students should familiarize themselves with the “Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge” by the Project Management Institute. Chalmers Library provides full text access to the 6^th edition of the guide. Most literature is available through Chalmers Library. Further literature will be uploaded on Canvas before the course starts including handouts from lectures. Literature should be read before the listed date.

Course design

Contents

• Introduction to project management, what it involves in the modern construction industry, and its historical development.
• The Project Management Body of Knowledge
• The specificities of project-based organizations
• Actors and stakeholders in contemporary construction projects
• Power, authority, and politics in Project Management.
• CSR, sustainability, ethic and social responsibility concerns in the construction industry.

Organization

The course includes lectures, exercises, tests, student-led presentations and seminars. The course

Changes made since the last occasion

New lecturers have joined the team and new sessions have been added to the syllabus

The assignments are more clearly defined and their assessments have been standardised.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

Learning objectives:

Knowledge:

• Describe basic project management (PM) concepts and tools
• Have knowledge of different PM knowledge areas, paradigms and traditions
• Identify PM issues in specific cases
• Understand specific characteristics of construction projects

Skills

• Identify and synthesize relevant PM literature
• Analyze and evaluate organizational aspects of PM practice
• Analyze, evaluate and interpret PM practice
• Evaluate the impact of PM practices on actors and stakeholders

Competencies

• Define, formulate and solve PM related problems through process-based pedagogy
• Critically evaluate project management models
• Critically review and discuss peer students work
• Reflect on power, politics and ethical issues in PM practice
• Reflect on issues of uncertainty, complexity and bias for PM practice

Examination form

You are expected to have read the assigned literature before the beginning of each lecture. This will provide you with the necessary terminology and preconception to enable further collective exploration in class.

Participation in mandatory course activities (or a relevant compensation assignment in agreement with the examiner) is a prerequisite for passing the course.

Students need to participate to at least 80% of the course sessions, attendance will be controlled during the class.

Intermediate assessment consists of:

• An oral presentation of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)
• An intermediate individual multiple-choice test in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)

Project exam consists of:

• A completed group project assignment
• A presentation and peer-review feedback at a literature seminar

The final course grade is calculated as a weighted average of the points achieved on the different parts of the examination as described below. 

Assessment criteria	Point range
Oral presentation of the PMBOK	0-10 (10 points for presentation, 0 points for non-attendance)
Individual multiple choice test	0-10
Presentation and peer-review feedback at project work seminar	0-10 (10 points for presentation and feedback, 0 points for non-attendance)
Group project assignment	0-70
Total	0-100

 

Grade limits are as follows:

Grade	Point range
5	85-100
4	70-84
3	55-69
Fail	< 55