Assessment of Student Learning in an Entrepreneurship Practicum Course

Prateek Shekhar; Aileen Huang-Saad; Julie Libarkin; Ricardo Cummings; Valentina Tafurt

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Conference: 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Publication Date: June 24, 2017
Start Date: June 24, 2017
End Date: June 28, 2017
Conference Session: Assessing Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Tagged Division: Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation
Page Count: 14
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--27639
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/27639
Download Count: 3694

Paper Authors

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Prateek Shekhar University of Michigan orcid.org/0000-0001-6552-2887

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Prateek Shekhar is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Michigan. His research is focused on examining translation of engineering education research in practice, assessment and evaluation of dissemination initiatives and educational programs in engineering disciplines. He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin,M.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Southern California and B.S. in Electronics and Communication Engineering from India.

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Aileen Huang-Saad University of Michigan

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Aileen is faculty in Engineering Education and Biomedical Engineering. Previously, Aileen was the Associate Director for Academics in the Center for Entrepreneurship and was responsible for building the Program in Entrepreneurship for UM undergraduates, co-developing the masters level entrepreneurship program, and launching the biomedical engineering graduate design program. Aileen has received a number of awards for her teaching, including the Thomas M. Sawyer, Jr. Teaching Award, the UM ASEE Outstanding Professor Award and the Teaching with Sakai Innovation Award. Prior to joining the University of Michigan faculty, she worked in the private sector gaining experience in biotech, defense, and medical device testing at large companies and start-ups. Aileen’s current research areas include entrepreneurship engineering education, impact and engaged learning. Aileen has a Bachelor’s of Science in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, a Doctorate of Philosophy from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Aileen is also a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Beta Sigma Gamma.

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Julie Libarkin Michigan State University

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Dr. Libarkin is a Professor of Geoscience Education at Michigan State University in the Department of Earth and Environment Sciences and CREATE for STEM Institute for Research on Science and Mathematics Education. Currently, her research focuses on cognition, assessment of student learning, validity and reliability in research, curriculum and visual design, and discipline-based education research.

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Ricardo Cummings University of Michigan

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Ricardo Cummings is a first-year engineering student at University of Michigan. He has been working with Dr. Aileen Huang-Saad's group to conduct research in the area of engineering entrepreneurship education primarily on the subject of assessment of engineering entrepreneurship programs.

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Valentina Tafurt University of Michigan

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Valentina Tafurt is first-year engineering student at University of Michigan. She has been working with Dr. Aileen Huang-Saad's group to conduct research in the area of engineering entrepreneruship educaiton primarily on the subject of assessment of engineering entrepreneurship programs.

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Abstract

As entrepreneurship education has moved from traditional business schools into engineering programs, instruction itself has transformed from traditional approaches disseminating business content to more practice-oriented approaches targeting students’ professional development. Particularly, entrepreneurship training has been included in undergraduate engineering education to instill domain-general skills (such as innovativeness, creativity and communication) needed to meet the demands of competitive global market. In addition to technical knowledge, engineering students should also demonstrate the ability to identify new venture opportunities, commercialize technologies, and exhibit an understanding of market operations. Entrepreneurship education focuses on instilling these skills by exposing students to business content and entrepreneurial practice through engagement in project-based courses, pitch competitions and providing opportunities to interact with practicing entrepreneurs.

Over the last several years, many undergraduate engineering programs have incorporated entrepreneurship education into their curricula through formal coursework and other informal co-curricular programs. Although it is imperative to evaluate these programs to better inform entrepreneurship education practices, minimal attention has been devoted to assessment of entrepreneurship education programs. Furthermore, of the few existing studies, most have examined students’ perceptions of learning gains and affective responses such as entrepreneurial self-efficacy, mindset and attitude. In this study, we present an examination of students’ actual learning in an entrepreneurship practicum course at large research university. The course leverages widely used Lean Launch Curriculum and Business Model Canvas (BMC) to engage students in entrepreneurship in a project-based learning environment. In contrast with prior work that has primarily relied on students’ self-assessment of learning gains, we evaluated students’ entrepreneurial knowledge using pre/post open-ended surveys with questions examining students’ approaches to starting a new venture at different phases of development. Our findings provide evidence supporting the anticipated positive change in student learning outcomes, indicating that the students were able to understand and internalize the BMC concepts they were exposed to in the course.

Citation
Format

Shekhar, P., & Huang-Saad, A., & Libarkin, J., & Cummings, R., & Tafurt, V. (2017, June), Assessment of Student Learning in an Entrepreneurship Practicum Course Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--27639

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - As entrepreneurship education has moved from traditional business schools into engineering programs, instruction itself has transformed from traditional approaches disseminating business content to more practice-oriented approaches targeting students’ professional development. Particularly, entrepreneurship training has been included in undergraduate engineering education to instill domain-general skills (such as innovativeness, creativity and communication) needed to meet the demands of competitive global market. In addition to technical knowledge, engineering students should also demonstrate the ability to identify new venture opportunities, commercialize technologies, and exhibit an understanding of market operations. Entrepreneurship education focuses on instilling these skills by exposing students to business content and entrepreneurial practice through engagement in project-based courses, pitch competitions and providing opportunities to interact with practicing entrepreneurs.

Over the last several years, many undergraduate engineering programs have incorporated entrepreneurship education into their curricula through formal coursework and other informal co-curricular programs. Although it is imperative to evaluate these programs to better inform entrepreneurship education practices, minimal attention has been devoted to assessment of entrepreneurship education programs. Furthermore, of the few existing studies, most have examined students’ perceptions of learning gains and affective responses such as entrepreneurial self-efficacy, mindset and attitude. In this study, we present an examination of students’ actual learning in an entrepreneurship practicum course at large research university. The course leverages widely used Lean Launch Curriculum and Business Model Canvas (BMC) to engage students in entrepreneurship in a project-based learning environment. In contrast with prior work that has primarily relied on students’ self-assessment of learning gains, we evaluated students’ entrepreneurial knowledge using pre/post open-ended surveys with questions examining students’ approaches to starting a new venture at different phases of development. Our findings provide evidence supporting the anticipated positive change in student learning outcomes, indicating that the students were able to understand and internalize the BMC concepts they were exposed to in the course.
AU  - Prateek Shekhar
AU  - Aileen Huang-Saad
AU  - Julie Libarkin
AU  - Ricardo Cummings
AU  - Valentina Tafurt
CY  - Columbus, Ohio
DA  - 2017/06/24
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Assessment of Student Learning in an Entrepreneurship Practicum Course
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/27639
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--27639
ER  -