CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT COMPETENCES – CASE TUAS

The universities of applied sciences educate practically oriented experts for working life. The skills and competences needed in the future can be categorized for example as information and communication skills, thinking and problem-solving skills, and interpersonal and selfdirectional skills. The learning environments and the curricula should be designed to support the development of these skills. In this paper we present the curriculum framework developed and implemented for project-based learning in Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS) faculty of Engineering and Business. By integrating project management skills into the academic curriculum, we support our students’ success in the modern working life. The project learning environments used in the implementation are introduced as well. The professional project management competences have been identified and the curriculum has been developed to ensure that students are provided with the necessary skills. By describing the learning process and the learning objectives, we enable a logic and coherent learning path starting from the first year of bachelor studies and continuing to the master studies. The CDIO standards have strongly influenced on the development of the curriculum framework together with the IPMA (International Project Management Association) project management competences. IPMA’s Individual Competence Baseline® is utilized in the curriculum development. The students of TUAS have a possibility to take a certification test. Achieving the certification is an international recognition of project management competence described in the Individual Competence Baseline®. For the institution students achieving the certificate is evidence that the learning outcomes are valid, and the students obtain high enough proficiency level. The presented framework has given a backbone for overall curriculum development to our faculty. The project activities (Project Hatchery, Innovation Project Capstone) have strengthened university-industry relationship and have created positive visibility to faculty. The framework has created natural multidisciplinary learning environments and offers an excellent platform for the pedagogical research and development work.