TLDR: I used ChatGPT to create a student assignment related to project identification and selection. ChatGPT produced a relatively good assignment with clear steps and an assessment rubric. I had to make a few revisions around specificity and sources, but overall, I spent less time than I would otherwise have to create the assignment.
The Assignment
Project management is a process used to deliver value for organizations through projects or temporary sets of work that deliver unique or updated outcomes relevant to the organization. Projects are often classified as strategic, operational, or compliance-focused, depending on the source of the project. Teaching students how to identify strategic projects from an organization’s vision, mission, and strategy helps students understand how projects deliver organizational value.
I wanted to create an assignment where students identified an organization that was of interest to them and obtained the organization’s vision, mission, and strategic objectives. I then wanted students to identify possible strategic projects that the organization could do to support its strategic objectives. The students were then to evaluate the possible projects against success criteria relevant to the organization using a weighted scoring model. From the results of the weighted scoring model, students were to identify a project that would best deliver organizational value.
The only constraint was that students could use the free version of ChatGPT. I did not test this lesson using other generative AI programs.
The Conversation with ChatGPT
The Prompt
Assume you teach project management to undergraduate business students. Create an assignment where the student uses chatgpt to identify an organization’s strategy, brainstorm projects suitable for the organization’s strategy, and identify success criteria that might be used to evaluate the projects for selection. the students will then use this information to complete a weighted scoring model for the identified projects.
The Answer
Assignment: Leveraging ChatGPT for Strategic Project Management
Objective:
To utilize ChatGPT in identifying an organization’s strategic goals, brainstorming projects aligned with those goals, and establishing success criteria for project selection. Finally, apply this information to complete a weighted scoring model.
Instructions:
- Identify Organization and Strategy: Use ChatGPT to research an organization of your choice and identify its strategic goals. Summarize these goals in a paragraph.
- Brainstorm Projects: Engage with ChatGPT to brainstorm a list of 3-5 projects that align with the organization’s strategy. For each project, outline its purpose and the opportunities it presents or problems it resolves.
- Identify Success Criteria: Utilize ChatGPT to identify potential success criteria that could be used for project selection. These could include ROI, time-to-market, or stakeholder satisfaction.
- Weighted Scoring Model: Use the identified success criteria to create a weighted scoring model. Assign weights to each criterion based on its importance to the organization’s strategy.
- Evaluate Projects: Apply the weighted scoring model to the brainstormed projects. Rank the projects based on their scores.
- Reflection: Write a brief reflection on the experience of using ChatGPT for this assignment. Consider its effectiveness in aiding higher-order thinking
Deliverables:
- A report containing the organization’s strategy, list of brainstormed projects, success criteria, and weighted scoring model.
- A reflection paragraph.
Grading Criteria:
- Accuracy and relevance of identified strategy and projects: 40%
- Completeness and precision of the weighted scoring model: 30%
- Quality of reflection: 20%
- Presentation and formatting: 10%
Sources
- chegg.com – Solved Project Management Strategy Students will consider
- chegg.com – Solved Overview In this assignment, an organization you
- youtube.com – Using ChatGPT to Manage Projects | Advisicon
- foothill.edu – 1. (A) ChatGPT as a Learning tool/benefit in education
- quora.com – What are some good topics in Project Management …
- kuraaiwi.nz – 80 Ways to Use ChatGPT in the Classroom
- Faculty Responses to Qualitative Survey on using ChatGPT].
The Final Product
After several “discussions” with ChatGPT and manual revisions, I produced an assignment that included learning objectives, a list of steps for the student to take, a grading guide, and sources for more information.
Learning Module – Project Identification and Selection
Overview
The purpose of this assignment is to explore how ChatGPT, an advanced AI language model, can be used as a tool to identify potential projects that support an organization’s strategic goals. You will assess the organization’s current strategy, identify key focus areas, and utilize ChatGPT to generate relevant project ideas. Finally, you will evaluate the feasibility and potential impact of these projects on the organization’s strategic objectives.
Access a free version of ChatGPT here: https://chat.openai.com/.
Objectives
- Learn about project selection criteria and their relevance to an organization’s strategy.
- Complete a weighted scoring model and appropriately evaluate the results.
- Gain experience in using Chat GPT to extract information and insights from unstructured data.
- Develop critical thinking and analytical skills by evaluating and synthesizing information obtained from multiple sources.
Instructions
Produce a report (1-2 pages) based on the following instructions. Use the bold text as headings in your report.
1. Organization Overview
Select an organization (public or private, for-profit or non-profit) that you are familiar with or have a strong interest in. Conduct research on the organization to gain a comprehensive understanding of its mission, vision, values, and strategic objectives. In your report, provide an overview of the organization and its strategic objectives.
2. Strategic Focus Areas
Based on your research, identify 3-5 key strategic focus areas for the organization. These areas should be aligned with the organization’s overall strategic objectives and should reflect the critical aspects of its operations or market positioning. In your report, label and describe the 3-5 key strategic focus areas you identified.
3. Project Ideas
Based on the organization’s strategic goals, use ChatGPT to identify possible projects that can support those goals.
First, create a list of questions that you will ask ChatGPT to generate project ideas related to the identified strategic focus areas. Ensure that the questions are clear, concise, and likely to yield meaningful responses from the AI.
You can do this by providing prompts such as “What are some project ideas that can support strategic goal for organization name?” or “What project management methodologies might organization name use to support strategic goal?” If you use these question prompts below, make sure you replace ‘organization name‘ with the organization you are working on and ‘strategic goal‘ with the specific strategic goal you are interested in.
Evaluate the responses provided by Chat GPT and take note of the most relevant and interesting projects identified.
IMPORTANT: Copy all chat data, including your questions, and save them to a document that will be submitted with your report. Include your questions and the system’s responses. You may need to iterate and refine your questions or explore follow-up questions to obtain more in-depth project ideas.
Include the following in your report:
- Summarize the project ideas generated by ChatGPT for each focus area.
- Review the project ideas generated by ChatGPT and select 3-5 projects that you believe have the greatest potential to support the organization’s strategy.
- Describe the 3-5 projects you selected, detailing their feasibility, resource requirements, potential impact, and alignment with the organization’s strategy (success criteria).
4. Project Evaluation
Create a weighted scoring model to evaluate the projects. Include the strategic focus areas you identified above as the criteria.
In your report, include the weighted scoring model as a table in this section. Include a discussion of your chosen criteria weights. Consider the following:
- Alignment with the organization’s strategic goals: Identify three strategic areas that projects for this organization should support. For each project, evaluate how closely the project aligns with the organization’s strategic goals.
- Feasibility: Evaluate the project’s feasibility in terms of resources, time, and expertise.
- Potential impact: Evaluate the project’s potential impact on the organization’s performance or competitiveness.
5. Project Selection
Identify the project you ultimately selected based on the weighted scoring module and explain why it was selected.
6. Reflection
Discuss the potential benefits and limitations of using ChatGPT for strategic project identification.
What were some of the most interesting or surprising projects you discovered?
What insights did you gain from using Chat GPT to research this topic?
Assessing Student Learning Outcomes
Did the students learn about project selection criteria and their relevance to an organization’s strategy?
I used this assignment over two semesters in an undergraduate project management principles course. The majority of students successfully identified the organization (part 1), strategic focus areas (part 2), and suitable project ideas (part 3). These three parts were completed with ChatGPT’s assistance.
Did the students successfully complete a weighted scoring model and evaluate the results?
Part 4 was supposed to be completed by the students without the help of ChatGPT, and about 50% of the students had to redo this section. All were able to successfully complete the weighted scoring model on the second attempt. This may be related to the wording of the assignment or the understanding of the course material.
Did the students gain experience in using Chat GPT to extract information and insights from unstructured data?
Yes, based on the reflection, most students learned the value of using ChatGPT in a situation where they did not know much about the organization.
Did the students develop critical thinking and analytical skills by evaluating and synthesizing information obtained from multiple sources?
Yes, based on the overall quality of the student’s work, they did seem to develop these skills.
Next Steps
I have research in progress that elaborates on the use of ChatGPT in assignments, which is forthcoming.