Final answer:
Estimating effort focuses on the labor required to complete project work, independent of time, whereas estimating time involves the chronological duration of the project. Effective estimation involves understanding variables, past experiences, and sound reasoning. The complexity of a project often dictates the rigor needed for accurate effort estimations.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the context of project management, estimating effort is fundamentally different from estimating time. Effort estimation is concerned with the labor required to complete project work, without considering the specific span of time. This involves assessing the number and skills of people needed and their collective hours to perform the tasks, but not the calendar time. On the other hand, time estimation takes into account the actual chronological duration for the project, factoring in resource availability, working hours, and non-labor constraints.
Practicing the art of estimation, be it for effort or time, requires a solid understanding of the related variables and their impact on the project. This typically involves using prior experience, sound reasoning, and being familiar with dimensions and units. Also, the principles underlying estimation pertain not just to guesstimating numbers, but rather to applying physical intuition and reasoning to project constraints.
Finally, recognising the complexity, length, and cost of the program is crucial. More complex projects demand more robust effort estimations. Moreover, it is evident from studies such as Heckert et al. (2006) that in educational settings, courses requiring higher levels of student effort are perceived as more valuable and conducive to learning, drawing a parallel to the importance of effort in project evaluations.