Student Accounts of Workflow Enactment in an Information Technology Project in Botswana

This study examines student individual reports, including evaluative reflections and accounts of workflow enactment, in an undergraduate Information Technology (IT) project management course in Botswana . Using a qualitative design-based case approach, we analysed 64 student individual reports and selected course artefacts to explore how structured project management workflows were experienced as influencing students’ learning and participation. The course integrated defined roles, staged deliverables, regular meetings, and shared decision logs into team-based project work. Students described how these workflows made expectations explicit, improved communication and coordination, supported planning and risk awareness, and enabled practice of workplace behaviours linked to emerging professional identity. They also identified constraints that limited learning for some teams, including uneven participation, time pressure across concurrent coursework, and inconsistent access to reliable digital infrastructure. Building on these findings, we propose context-sensitive design principles for using structured workflows in IT project management courses in resource-constrained settings. We also outline priorities for iterative redesign and evaluation that may inform the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) on employability-oriented learning designs.