| Title: |
Project Design and Management (PDM) |
| Keywords: |
Project Management
Planning and programming
Monitoring and evaluation
Leadership
Empowerment
|
| Country: |
United Kingdom
|
| Institution: |
UK - Institute for Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
|
| Course coordinator: |
Kathleen Rutledge
|
| Date start: |
2026-01-19 |
| Date end: |
2026-04-17 |
| About duration and dates: |
Application deadline: Apply any time prior to 31 December 2025 Online course (asynchronous); Face-to-face sessions (for onsite students) and online live (synchronous) sessions: Wednesday 2-4pm UK time – weekly starting from 21/1/26; exceptions: no class 25/02/26; 3 hour tutorials 2-5pm UK time |
| Classification: |
advanced optional
|
| Mode of delivery: |
Blended-learning
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Course location:
Blended Learning delivered face-to-face on Main campus building, as well as online delivery available |
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| ECTS credit points: |
7 ECTS credits
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SIT:
200 SIT:
Scheduled (live/synchronous) recap sessions: 25 hours
Self-directed individual study of online materials and readings: 125 hours
Participation on moderated discussion boards: 50 hours |
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| Language: |
English
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Description:
LO1 Facilitate situational, contextual and stakeholder analyses, using findings to design and implement programmes/projects that are participatory, person-centred and exemplify quality standards.
LO2 Apply the principles of project cycle management and frameworks such as the Logical Framework and Theory of Change in designing and structuring programmes/projects.
LO3 Design a monitoring and evaluation system aligned with the project objectives, sector-specific guidelines and external constraints.
LO4 Develop coherent strategies for planning and managing personnel, risk, time and budgets, with an emphasis on the protection, care and competency development of project staff and volunteers.
LO5 Critically assess and develop the main components of project proposals (linking situational analysis, project rationale and appraisals from a range of perspectives) in a coherent manner. |
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Assessment Procedures:
The assessment is based on the development of a project/programme proposal to address a sector relevant issue in a context selected by the student, along with an annex of an analytic report on staff/volunteer wellbeing in the selected project/programme context that includes recommendations for staff/volunteer care and competency development (3,500 words) (100% of mark). The assignment is based on a scaffolding approach. Students select a topic and context for their project at the beginning of the module and use that setting, population and focal problem to apply their critical thinking during classroom sessions and online discussions, using discussion board questions and other activities. .
For each subject area covered, module participants will engage with core learning materials and activities appropriate for all sectors, before working through structured, sector-specific learning resources and application exercises that enable participants to utilise the latest frameworks and tools for their sector and relevant case-examples. The two sector specific learning pathways that can be chosen are: Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) or Health.
Formative feedback will be provided during seminars and group activities, including case study application exercises and class discussions. In order to simulate a real-world project team working environment and to strengthen sector-specific learning-exchange between students, class participants will also be assigned at the outset of the module to small groups aligned with their sectoral learning pathways. Participants in these small groups will provide peer feedback to other members in response to structured activities and group tasks, as they use the sector-specific tools to apply core PDM concepts to contexts relevant to their learning pathway.
Additionally, a formative activity will provide distinct opportunities for peer-to-peer and tutor feedback. Throughout the module, students will develop components of the project proposal that they will ultimately expand upon independently for the summative assessment. In the formative assessment, students submit a recorded presentation in which they share three components of their initial project proposal for peer and tutor feedback.
Assessments will be identified by matriculation number only and will be marked anonymously. To pass each module a student must achieve an overall mark of 50% with a minimum mark of 40% in each individual assessment component. Resitting the same assessment (within the following semester) is allowed though capped at 50% as per QMU regulations.
NOTE: Plagiarism: The process or practice of using another person’s ideas or work and pretending it is your own. This includes E-cheating, specifically the unauthorized and unattributed use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in written assignments, and essay banks. |
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Content:
The module provides an orientation to key standards, approaches and tools that can be used to facilitate inclusive, participatory project design and management with intensive application and skills development focus on in relation to conducting situational and contextual analyses, developing the underpinning logic and related theory of a project, developing a monitoring plan, formulating the design elements into a proposal for funders and planning for the care and development of one of the most valuable project resources – personnel.
Leading Project Cycle Management: Concepts, Applications, Critiques
International Standards and Frameworks for Quality and Good Practice
Coordinating within and across sectors
Disability Inclusive & Gender Sensitive Project Design
Conflict Sensitive & Capacity Focused Project Design
Stakeholder Analysis and Stakeholder Management Planning
Understanding the Problem: Causal Analysis and Developing a Problem Tree
Developing the Project Logic: Theory of Change, Logical Frameworks and Indicators
Developing Monitoring and Evaluation Plans and Using M&E for Adaptive Management and Accountability
Resource Planning and Management: Time, Workforce, Risk
Resource Planning and Management: Budget Basics and Value for Money Considerations (for Non-Finance Personnel)
Team Leadership, Competency Development & Caring for Self, Staff and Volunteers
Putting the Project Design on Paper: Common Components of Successful Concept Notes, Proposals and Business Cases |
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Methods:
Each weekly Learning Unit comprises approximately 6-8 hours of guided study material, which includes activities ranging from specified readings, narrated PowerPoints, videos and podcasts, each accompanied by prompting questions. This varies from general reflection on the content of the Unit; through specified reflection exercises on specific topics; to guided sharing of analyses with other participants for peer review and feedback. Based on these questions, students will spend about 1 hour per week posting materials on the Discussion Board (which is accessible to tutors and participants) and reviewing/ commenting on other students’ posts. Additionally, every week participants will attend a synchronous live session, which will last approximately 2 hours (total of 24 hours across the module). (Note: 2-hours per week for nine of the course weeks with 3-hour extended tutorials for application exercises on two of the weeks and a week for self-directed review and work on the formative activity approximately half-way through the module).
The aim of the live sessions is to provide a recap, revision and discussion of the main messages covered by the Units and to offer space for extended application exercise to consolidate skills-based learning. The format/approach will vary each week, but it will normally require active participation from students – e.g., in the form of an interactive lecture (with questions or group discussions throughout) or in the form of a seminar or facilitated tutorial. Time for Q&A including on practical aspects of the course will be always allowed. Students will be encouraged to draw on their personal and professional experience, where relevant, throughout the module and contribute actively to the online discussions. |
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Prerequisites:
• Proven proficiency in spoken and written English to IELTS level of an overall score of 6.5 with no component less than 5.5; or for the TOEFL iBT an overall score of 80 with no component less than 17.
• Regular access to a computer and the internet (broadband) for the duration of the module.
• Basic computer skills, including using the world-wide web |
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Attendance:
Maximum number of students is 30 (no limit on number of TropEd students). Min number of students = 6 |
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Selection:
No specific selection criteria apply – first come first served principle. |
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Fees:
Home students (On Campus): £1,145 per 7 credit ECTS
module
International students (On Campus): £2,540 per 7 credit ECTS module
Distant learners (Online): £1,145 per 7 credit ECTS module |
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Scholarships:
QMU Bursary and Commonwealth Scholarships offered to full-time QMU students. There are no scholarships for visiting TropEd students nor for individual modules. |
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Major changes since initial accreditation:
Strengthening of two pathways for case-based learning – beginning with core concepts and materials for all participants, and then providing resources and learning materials to apply learning to a specific case example pertinent to two learning streams: MHPSS and Health. The module had be tailored for multi-sectoral focused students previously, engaging each with a range of case examples / exercises pertinent to diverse sectors (e.g. public health, emergency health response, MHPSS, emergency WASH, etc.). The revised version strengthens the MHPSS-specific pathway, aligning the content with competencies set forth as essential for all MHPSS workers in the Minimum Standards Package for MHPSS (IASC, 2022).In particular, the focus on staff and volunteer care has been strengthened significantly in order to better align with the standards and to consolidate content on that subject that was being covered in segments across three QMU Masters modules previously (including PDM). There is also now an assessment component focused entirely on staff and volunteer care, along with additional MHPSS application exercises set within MHPSS contexts and working groups for the formative activity will be sectorally aligned. The MHPSS learning pathway mirrors similar content available for Health-sector students, as before. Other revisions to the module since the previous accreditation include the addition of focus on incorporating person-centred, participatory and context-responsive principles and practices – strengthening the focus on integration of gender-responsive (-transformative), disability inclusive, conflict-sensitive, capacity-focused approaches into each Learning Unit, in order to amplify do no harm and enable PDM participants to have the best chance possible to facilitate positive, lasting change that addresses root causes in ways that build on the agency and a sense of self-efficacy of the targeted service users / affected populations. Lastly, the refreshed version of PDM also requires students to write a project proposal (rather than merely critique a proposal) which elevates one aspect of the challenge of the task, however students are then empowered to select an issue/context that they are passionate about or that is directly relevant to their work and being able to write a proposal is a highly marketable / employable skills – and thus the shift in the nature of the assessment responds to students wider feedback regarding their own priorities (see below). |
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Student evaluation:
PDM has consistently been a module that receives very positive feedback in evaluations, with students indicating that it is engaging, helps them to encounter underpinning values/principles of humanitarianism, healthcare and social change in the way in which the module is facilitated and (according to feedback from students who have shared feedback after graduation/employment, it helps to equip students with skills that are highly relevant to the marketplace. Wider feedback however on the Masters degrees have shared a desire for greater support to gain work experience / link to jobs; additional work placement options are being offered starting in 2025/26, however – in terms of PDM – the priorities noted by the students related to employability led to the specific sharpening of the alignment with the MHPSS MSP and shifting the assessment towards drafting of a proposal for all students. Lastly, prior to 2023 the formative activity had been marked however based on student feedback that the degree of tensions and frustration of the groupwork/pressure related to group marks was undermining the cohesion and other positive benefits of the course. Thus, this was adjusted in 2023 and in the version proposed in this document the formative activity remains unmarked. |
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Lessons learned:
The effectiveness of the scaffolding approach around the project cycle, and the systematic recall and critical engagement required at each stage has helped to consolidate learning; the change in the length of the module (from 5 weeks to 12) will also provide further opportunity to deepen the level of command the students have over the concepts and skills. By the end of the module students will now have practiced each core skill three times (including in the assessment). |
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tropEd accreditation:
Accredited in Heidelberg June 2016. Reaccredited at GA Online Meeting (Hamburg), June 11-12, 2020. Re-accredited in Amsterdam, Sept.2025 This accreditation is valid until Sept. 2030. |
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Remarks:
1. Scott, N.A. and Schmidt, L. (2021). Global Health Project Design, Monitoring and Evaluation, in I. Kickbusch, D. Ganten, and M. Moeti (eds) Handbook of Global Health. Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 295–314.
2. Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) (2022). Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Minimum Service Package. Geneva: IASC.
3. International Organisation for Migration (IOM) (2022). Manual on Community-Based Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergencies and Displacement. IOM, Geneva.
4. O’Cathain, A. et al. (2019). Guidance on how to develop complex interventions to improve health and healthcare, BMJ Open, 9(8).
5. IASC (2021). IASC Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings: With means of verification (Version 2.0). Geneva: IASC |
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| Email Address: |
PKadetz@qmu.ac.uk |
| Date Of Record Creation: |
2012-01-14 08:00:25 (W3C-DTF) |
| Date Of Record Release: |
2020-06-30 10:05:09 (W3C-DTF) |
| Date Record Checked: |
2017-07-20 (W3C-DTF) |
| Date Last Modified: |
2025-12-03 09:45:11 (W3C-DTF) |
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