Moe Shahdad

Shahdad_MoePaper (18): A Graduate-Level, Competency-Based Curriculum for Project Management.

Abstract:  The new economy that is emerging from the most recent recession demands graduates who are ready to add value to organizations’ business strategy as soon as they graduate. This market demand has given impetus to competency-based style of education in which the emphasis is on skills, as compared with the traditional style in which the emphasis is on knowledge.

The major difference between the two styles is that, in the traditional style of education, program mission motivates course design which is primarily focused on the subject matter knowledge. In the competency-based style of education, program mission first drives the design of required competencies. In order to ensure that learners meet program competencies, each competency is assessed through several learning demonstrations. As a final design phase, learning demonstrations are then packaged into program courses. In the competency-based style of educations, subject matter knowledge has a supporting role, which is introduced in support of learning demonstrations.

This paper presents the design process and program contents for a graduate-level, competency-based curriculum for a master’s degree in project management. Issues in migrating from current curriculum to the revised curriculum are also discussed.

Biography:  Moe Shahdad is a Professor and Program Chair at the University of Maryland University College, where he manages the Project Management Program in the Graduate School.

His industry experience includes software engineering management, product marketing, and business management in electronics industry.

Shahdad holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from University of Tehran, an M.S. in mathematics from Queen’s University of Belfast, and a Ph.D. in computer science from University of London.