The Project Learning Opportunity: Where to Now?

This chapter initially provides a summary of the key issues for project learning raised throughout the preceding chapters of this book. Therein, it recaps the central conceptual findings from this study and reinforces the practical and personal implications for project participants in either systematically addressing or not addressing the five sociological elements that impact their situated learning behaviours. Also included in this chapter is a brief reflective account of some key methodological issues confronted in conducting this study since they too constitute important pragmatic and conceptual insights for researchers involved in the project management field. Building on those important summative discussions, this chapter then comments on the limitations of this study and makes recommendations concerning future research in this area. It then provides a set of questions relating to each of the five elements for situated learning. These questions are intended to provide some further encouragement to you to reflectively assess your current attitudes and approaches to project learning activities. This complete chapter is intended to cement an understanding of project participant learning as primarily a sociological activity whilst they are on the job — a process which necessarily requires participants’ deliberate commitment, understanding and ongoing attention.