Mood States as a Key Factor in Assessing Student Learning in Project Management Teaching

Abstract

Hands-on experience is an essential part of project management education. We researched to determine whether our practical seminars organized as part of an undergraduate project management course provide the expected learning experience consistent with current project management practice. We organized two practical seminars for students in four study groups that utilized serious management games. The seminars focused on traditional and agile project management, emphasizing the differences in teamwork and emotional states of the participants between both approaches. We used the Profile of Mood States psychological method to evaluate the total mood changes of eligible participants (n = 49). We found that respondents' total mood and fatigue have improved significantly during practical seminars, confirming that serious management games have a positive effect on student learning and experience. We observed no significant difference in total mood improvement between traditional and agile seminars. We learned that the vigor of the participants has increased only for the agile seminars. This outcome is consistent with actual research and empirical experience in the field. The study results will be used to improve the quality of practical seminars next year.

Keywords

• project management
• profile of mood states
• scrum
• serious management game
• teaching methods