Stop sanitizing project management education: Embracing Desirable Difficulties to enhance practice-relevant online learning

By resisting the temptation to “sanitize” project management education, we show how embracing unpredictability and authenticity can enhance learning. In response to COVID-19 restrictions, we moved an interactive role-play online and explored the resultant learning through analysis of student performance and students’ individual reflections. Findings suggest that the online role-play boosted learning by exposing students to a challenging environment, which included tasks that stretched their capabilities and thus enhanced the level of “Desirable Difficulties”. Drawing on the concepts of Desirable Difficulties and “role-play-as-rehearsal”, we discuss the benefits of formative “testing” and propose a new concept: “role-play-as-testing”. Additionally, benefits to learning were attributed to the online setting, which reflects the increasing virtualization of practice. We hope to inspire other educators to embrace Desirable Difficulties and resist the temptation to sanitize project management education to create opportunities for future project leaders to test their learning in authentic settings.