These days, a search at web sites like Amazon.com will unearth a multitude of textbooks on project management. Yet given student diversity, it can be a challenge to find “the right textbook” since the right book is influenced by such factors as one's beliefs about teaching and student learning, student backgrounds, delivery platform, course level, and planned teaching outcomes, to name a few.
Many project management books tend to be “encyclopaedic” in nature or they take a Project Management Institute's® (PMI®) approach and address the knowledge areas and the input‐process‐output model in detail. Other textbooks are organized according to PMI's® knowledge areas and provide a wealth of related templates (which these days, are readily available on the internet). Still other books extensively cover PMI®'s certification requirements. Furthermore, a key limitation of the PMI® approaches is that it does not address the complexities of project management.
Those seeking a textbook that accommodates a variety of “the right textbook” factors including a book that engagingly balances the technical and socio‐cultural dimensions of project management concepts with interesting and relevant project scenarios should consider the Larson and Gray textbook, one of the bestselling books in the field. Written by two management professors with extensive expertise, with each new edition, the book reflects the broad feedback solicited from academics and students. The textbook is scalable; it is adaptable for the undergraduate and graduate levels and for face‐to‐face, distance education, and blended delivery formats.
This book review covers the advantages and some of the limitations of the textbook as experienced for a paced graduate and non‐paced undergraduate level course (using distance education delivery modes). This review also includes comments from three respected academics that have used this textbook. The review begins with an assessment of the prior edition of the textbook and concludes with a brief assessment of the new edition.
Providing a wealth of optional resources that accommodate a variety of learning styles, the textbook includes a student CD, a student and instructor website, and 60‐day trial access to Microsoft™ Project. At the student website, students can access chapter specific content to review the textbook material, watch short videos, multiple choice quizzes (with instant feedback), review PowerPoint presentations, complete exercises, and peruse project management web sites as well as Microsoft Project™ tutorials.
The instructor's website includes an instructor manual that enables you to tailor the course content for specific class needs. The material for each chapter covers objectives, review questions, exercises and answer keys, summary outlines on some of the techniques, and a self‐quiz reporter. You can search the website by chapter or type of resource. Instructors can also use the notes field to record notes online, bookmark pages, or highlight sections. Although the website is not as intuitive as it could be, the instructions are clear and it does not take long to figure out.
I had the privilege of interviewing three academics on their assessment of this book. All three had extensive experience teaching project management courses in engineering and management; all three either use or have used this textbook recently for undergraduate and graduate level courses. The following summarizes their feedback on the textbook:
This is a current textbook and reflects a solid understanding of real life projects.
The breadth of content allows academics to use a variety of educational techniques to help students achieve the learning objectives. One academic indicated that he did not use the cases in the book but instead, used the Snapshots from Practice as mini case studies because they allowed him to focus more on cooperative learning principles. Since, first using this textbook, he has since gathered numerous other “Snapshots from practice” on his own for discussion and learning purposes. He also encourages students to use projects that they are sincerely interested in and can relate to for their assignments. This technique is interspersed through various learning activities in the book.
The academics indicated that, whether at the undergraduate or graduate level and regardless of project management experience, their students consistently expressed how much they enjoyed the snapshots from practice for discussion purposes.
All three academics spoke highly of the chapters on scheduling in the textbook (e.g. network diagrams). They indicated that the book is very strong in this regard and that the chapters help students learn the process from start to finish.
One academic indicated that the material on project budgeting could be enhanced in the textbook. For now, she supplements this material with other resources. She added that the videos are very helpful in clarifying the concepts on budgeting.
The academics agreed that the video clips were more useful for undergraduate students or for faculty intending to use this book for an elective course.
Not all the academics interviewed used the online instructor resources. Those who did, found the multiple choice and short answer questions to be solid and analytical as well as useful for testing basic concepts.
The academics agreed that the textbook helped students understand and apply concepts and tools as well as appreciate the human and technical aspects of project management.
The academics indicated that they and their students also appreciated the ways in which prior editions of this book related chapter topics to SimProject™ (the simulation product that McGraw‐Hill made available until mid 2009). Whereas the fifth edition of the textbook continues to relate material to SimProject™ the simulation software is now available by having the instructor contact sales@simprofessionals.com Those interested in further details on this great resource are encouraged to see the SimProject™ website (www.simprojectonline.com) or to read the review on the product referenced at the end of this book review. The simulation developers are currently adding additional scenarios and pedagogical resources for instructor use.
At Athabasca University (Canada's Open University), we introduced a distance education elective for our Executive MBA students in 2009. Using a paced delivery model (Lotus Notes®), we covered approximately 90 percent of the textbook in an eight‐week period. We excluded the application of Microsoft™ Project for pedagogical and course duration reasons. Instead, we focused on learning outcomes that demonstrated analysis, synthesis and evaluation competences. For example, we extensively augmented the textbook with academic journal articles. We used several mini case studies from the textbook for weekly discussion purposes. We also used Harvard Business Publishing case studies for the group assignment.
Student feedback indicated that, regardless of their prior project management education and experience, they really enjoyed reading the textbook. Students commented on how much they liked the integrative approach that the textbook took to the discipline. They appreciated the interspersed snapshots from practice and research highlights; the clear charts and diagrams; the emphasis on linking projects to business strategy; and the mini cases that challenged their viewpoints and generated in‐depth online discussions and laugher. A few students found that the Microsoft™ Project trial was not long enough as they tried to use it shortly after the course ended.
We are using the fifth edition of the textbook for a new first year undergraduate business elective course on project management. Using a paced delivery model (Moodle®), we cover ten of the core 14 chapters. We use the test bank and find it to be pedagogically well‐designed. For a first year course though, the online resources do not allow students to interactively test their understanding of the glossary so we developed our own tests. The new edition does not show the chapter objectives on the student website either.
Although it is a challenge to find “the right textbook” for a course, the more I read this book and the more time I spend talking to other faculty who have used this textbook, I continue to be confident that the Larson and Gray textbook (augmented with our personally developed content) helps students develop a solid foundational grounding in project management.
The author grateful to the students for their comments on the course as well as the academics who agreed to be interviewed.
