Project-Based Learning as the Interplay of Career and Company Non-Financial Capital

Abstract

In this article, the project is a potential learning episode for both project participants and the project-sponsoring company. People's past learning experiences are the `career capital' they invest in their current project activity. The project-sponsoring company's past learning experience is non-financial `company capital' it invests in the project activity. At the project's conclusion, learning disperses within or beyond the project-sponsoring company, as people's careers progress. Four case studies illustrate ideal-typical patterns of a proposed topology of learning outcomes, and some principles for promoting effective project-based learning are suggested.