Development Of A Leadership And Entrepreneurship Skills Assessment Instrument
- Conference
- Location
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Louisville, Kentucky
- Publication Date
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June 20, 2010
- Start Date
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June 20, 2010
- End Date
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June 23, 2010
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation
- Page Count
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21
- Page Numbers
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15.403.1 - 15.403.21
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--16332
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/16332
- Download Count
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1412
Paper Authors
Andrew Gerhart Lawrence Technological University
Andrew Gerhart is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Lawrence Technological University. He is actively involved in ASEE, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the Engineering Society of Detroit. He serves as Faculty Advisor for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Student Chapter at LTU, and serves as chair for the LTU Leadership Curriculum Committee.
Donald Carpenter Lawrence Technological University
Donald Carpenter is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at Lawrence Technological University. He is actively involved in ASEE, is a Kern Fellow for Entrepreneurial Education, and serves as Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at LTU. His research interests involve academic integrity, assessment tools, and stream restoration.
Melissa Grunow Lawrence Technological University
Melissa Grunow is the Coordinator for the Leadership Curriculum at Lawrence Technological University and is an instructor in the Department of Humanities. She has eleven years of experience working with student organizations and teaching undergraduates, including identifying needs and developing new initiatives and curricular and co-curricular programs. Her research interests include activist pedagogies and empowering students through creative teaching methods.
Katie Hayes Lawrence Technological University
Katie Hayes is the Entrepreneurial/Leadership Assistant Coordinator. She oversees the junior and senior year requirements, and is an instructor for the Department of Humanities. Additionally, she assists in carrying out the initiatives outlined in the Kern Grant, which aims to inspire an entrepreneurial mindset in undergraduate engineering students throughout the educational experience.
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Development of a Leadership and Entrepreneurship Skills Assessment Instrument
Abstract
Lawrence Technological University has implemented a required four year leadership curriculum for all undergraduate students. Because of the consequential overlap of leadership and entrepreneurial skills, the curriculum also addresses many aspects of the “entrepreneurial mindset” which includes communication, teamwork, ethical decision-making, opportunity recognition, persistence, creativity, innovation, creative problem solving, and critical thinking.
Individual components of the curriculum will be assessed as well as the curriculum as a whole. As one part of the assessment, a Leadership Self-Perception Assessment Instrument was developed. The instrument will aid in answering the following research questions: ≠ How do students perceive their own leadership traits and skills? ≠ Are students’ self-perceptions demonstrating growth in confidence in their leadership abilities because of the experiences and education from each component of the curriculum? ≠ What impact do all the courses in the four-year leadership curriculum have on this perception? ≠ What modifications are necessary to the curriculum to adequately address the student learning outcomes?
As implied by these research questions, the instrument will be used for both formative and summative assessment, as well as a longitudinal study of the leadership growth of the students.
Instrument development included conducting a focus group for validation, a test-retest to ensure temporal stability and internal consistency, and pilot testing in the second year component Leadership Models and Practices course. The instrument was administered at the beginning and end of the semester to determine the shift in perception of their leadership/entrepreneurial skills.
1. Introduction
Entrepreneurship Lawrence Technological University (LTU) has offered engineering students entrepreneurial education programs for many years. Recognizing that graduates entering industry will require business and entrepreneurial skills, the College of Engineering developed an entrepreneurial certificate program and founded the Lear Entrepreneurial Center. The entrepreneurial certificate program develops student skills in communication and business components in the engineering profession and includes a multi-disciplinary capstone design experience for which teams are eligible for student venture grants administered by the institution. Several multi-year grants have strengthened the program through workshops, keynote speakers, faculty curriculum awards, student venture grants, and faculty incentives to work with industry sponsored student teams. Specifically, the College of Engineering received an invitation to participate as part of a larger initiative to develop the Kern Entrepreneurship Education Network (KEEN). The invitation also
Gerhart, A., & Carpenter, D., & Grunow, M., & Hayes, K. (2010, June), Development Of A Leadership And Entrepreneurship Skills Assessment Instrument Paper presented at 2010 Annual Conference & Exposition, Louisville, Kentucky. 10.18260/1-2--16332
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