Project description

The centrepiece of the proposed POOL project is a transnational student project in the field of telecommunications engineering carried out by students under industry conditions. (see POOL Graphic below) The unique approach trialled in this project is the combination of a real-life university-industry project in combination with the critical reflection and evaluation of the curriculum via the individual work packages accompanying this project. Theory and industry practice are thus synergetically utilised to achieve the most efficient and effective form of training for the engineering students. The student project serves as the touchstone for all questions to be addressed and considered. All communication as well as documentation is carried out in a virtual learning environment (VLE), in this case WebCT. This VLE has already been used for virtual learning and community building by the coordinating organisation FHS and other consortium members. Using this platform with clearly defined interfaces should ensure ongoing collaboration, transparent documentation of work progress and, thus, guarantee smooth project handling. Furthermore, VLE usage in itself will enhance awareness of the sensitive issues involved in online project collaboration. Again it is the interrelationship between theoretical reflection and the simulation of industry practice that provides the innovative approach here.

The POOL project intends to achieve two major outcomes:

• Innovative curriculum design aimed eventually at the main beneficiaries, the students. The work packages centred around and prototypically implemented in the student-industry project will result in independent modules each addressing specific aspects of online project management such as quality assurance, intercultural communication, presentation skills, virtual group collaboration, standardisation of project documentation. Together these will form a model curriculum for online project management training for engineering students. Owing to the modular structure, the resulting curriculum will allow enough flexibility for its concrete implementation in a wide range of higher educational institutions.
• The experiences made in the course of this project feed directly into the online handbook. This will serve as a guideline and reference source for curriculum designers at higher educational institutions as well as in companies and will support the implementation of transnational online project management (training). The close cooperation of educational institutions and industry partners in the needs analysis and final evaluation phases will secure the work and practice-orientation.