PROJECT PROCESS MANAGEMENT IN A STUDENT-DRIVEN LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

“TheFIRMA” is a project-based learning environment in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) unit of Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS), Finland. The project assignments in theFIRMA provide students with an active way of learning new skills and increasing knowledge. In addition, students gain a real-life twist in their studies in terms of real customer projects. Customers of theFIRMA are typically local small or medium sized enterprises in need of a small project related to ICT field. The assignments include, for example, web-development, small testing projects, mobile app prototypes, marketing material design, requirements analysis and even organizing Lego robot workshops for children. When the number of projects and students in the FIRMA started to increase, a more organized structure to handle the situation needed to be established. Since the academic year 2016 – 2017, a course called ICT Services and Projects was harnessed to bring an organized structure into theFIRMA’s operations. In addition, the course integrates project work done in theFIRMA into the curriculum of ICT unit’s degree students. This paper describes how project work in theFIRMA is integrated in the regular curricula of the ICT related Bachelor’s degree programs at TUAS. Moreover, this paper describes the lessons learned and improvements of the ICT Services and Projects course as well as the continuous improvement of theFIRMA’s project process.