Teaching Public Management within problem–based learning and project-led education. Reflections on Dutch experience

Teaching Public Management addresses new sets of opportunities in the recent years. Turbulences from the environment: demographic changes, increased competition among universities (within countries, within EU and from... [ view full abstract ]

Teaching Public Management addresses new sets of opportunities in the recent years. Turbulences from the environment: demographic changes, increased competition among universities (within countries, within EU and from outside), increased student mobility,  as well as a constant attempt to strengthen the practical relevance of Public Management as scientific field have led to a variety of approaches aimed to strengthen the presence and relevance of Public Management at university level. These techniques aimed towards developing a new kind of professional, one for which lifelong learning and continuous personal development are structural part on her/his outlook on professional life.

The University of Twente switched university- wide to a problem-based educational approach during the academic year 2013-2014. At organization level, the change encompassed the re-structuring of the teaching process from 5 EC individual courses to 15 EC (10 weeks) modules, in which students work in small groups towards analyzing and designing solutions for a particular societal problem. The problem is addressed within a project weighed usually to a third (or more) of the work volume. Within the module, students are offered additional theoretical elements which  provide the theoretical background needed to address the problem posed within the project. The elements and project combine together in order to provide a more hands-on learning experience for the students. Since the academic year 2014-2015, the Module Public Management is scheduled in the first quartile of the second study year at the programme European Public Administration offered at the University of Twente. The current paper aims to reflect on the experiences, successes, and challenges of the last four academic years of running the module, with a particular focus on improving the student involvement and responsibility towards their own learning. Student driven learning forms a core part of the TOM model. There are different teaching approaches aimed to help students learn how to assess their own learning needs, how to deal with feedback, and how to take responsibility for shaping and working towards achieving their own educational and career development needs. This paper discusses several approaches focused on the teacher-student co-creation of educational value and reflects upon the opportunities provided by such an approach for the re0thinking of teaching in the area of Public Management.