Entrepreneurial Mindset integration in Pre-Service Engineering Education Course (Fundamental)

Karen Plaster; Nidaa Makki

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: PCEE Technical Session 6: Engineering Design in High School
Page Count: 15
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--40661
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/40661
Download Count: 302

Paper Authors

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Karen Plaster The University of Akron

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Karen Plaster is a Professor of Practice in the LeBron James Family Foundation School of Education at the University of Akron. She has a B.S. in Industrial & Systems Engineering from The Ohio State University, an M.S. in Adolescent and Young Adult Education: Mathematics Licensure from The University of Akron, and is currently a Ph.D. student at Kent State University. Her research interests include STEM education, curriculum integration of engineering and entrepreneurship, afterschool engagement with coding and robotics, and early childhood preservice teacher learning. 

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Nidaa Makki

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Nidaa Makki is a Professor in the LeBron James Family Foundation School of Education at the University of Akron, with expertise in STEM Education. She has served as co-PI on several NSF projects, investigating STEM education interventions at the K-12 and undergraduate levels. She also has expertise as program evaluator for various STEM education programs, and has led teacher professional development in Physics Modeling, Engineering Education, and Problem Based Learning. Her research interests include teacher learning and practices in science education, engineering education, and student learning and motivation for STEM.

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Abstract

This study aimed to investigate how pre-service teachers (PST) perceive connections between Engineering and Entrepreneurship. Research on integrating engineering in PST education contexts continues to grow, focusing on engineering in the K-12 curriculum. Similarly, there are efforts to investigate implementations of entrepreneurial mindsets in those contexts, but little research has been done when the topics are integrated for this audience. This exploratory study addresses this gap by investigating PST’s perceptions of entrepreneurship in an integrated engineering curriculum. Using a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum, middle and high school science and math PSTs were engaged in activities to learn about entrepreneurial mindsets in an engineering for educators course. The PBL curriculum guided PSTs through developing an innovative project to solve a pain point and used the engineering design process to create a solution. Throughout the PBL, PSTs learned about intellectual property, engineering constraints, customer identification, business model development, and marketing strategies. They presented their solution in a pitch format that determined which ideas merit investment. The PSTs integrated what they learned into math, and science content lesson plans that they can use with middle and high school students.

Ten PSTs worked through the engineering and entrepreneurship curriculum over three weeks. The researchers collected data on PSTs perceptions through journal reflections and a post-course survey regarding engineering and entrepreneurial mindset. Reflection prompts consisted of questions on how PSTs would incorporate engineering and entrepreneurship into their content, modify the PBL curriculum to fit their content, and how they compare a teacher to an entrepreneur. The post-course survey questions asked about engineering and entrepreneurial ideas they found engaging, what they were curious about, and how the course changed their thinking. A two-level inductive approach was used to analyze the data through qualitative analysis. The first level of analysis identified the main themes about PSTs’ understanding and perceptions, and the second level summarized the themes into categories. Two researchers analyzed the data independently, and discussion between them distilled the key findings from the results. Preliminary results from the analysis reveal the following themes regarding PST perceptions from integrating entrepreneurship into an engineering curriculum. PSTs were able to articulate aspects of entrepreneurial mindsets and how they connect to engineering. They valued this integrated curriculum as a tool to develop life skills (problem-solving, critical thinking) in their students and the connections to real-world applications. Finally, after engaging in entrepreneurial activities, some PSTs began to view themselves as entrepreneurs and identify aspects of the entrepreneurial mindset students, and teachers already have. These findings illustrate how engaging PSTs in an entrepreneurial mindset integrated curriculum in engineering education can provide practical applications to the PSTs. Not only did PSTs’ thinking about entrepreneurship and engineering change, but also their view of how they could make engineering more relevant to their students.

Citation
Format

Plaster, K., & Makki, N. (2022, August), Entrepreneurial Mindset integration in Pre-Service Engineering Education Course (Fundamental) Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40661

TY - CPAPER
AB - This study aimed to investigate how pre-service teachers (PST) perceive connections between Engineering and Entrepreneurship. Research on integrating engineering in PST education contexts continues to grow, focusing on engineering in the K-12 curriculum. Similarly, there are efforts to investigate implementations of entrepreneurial mindsets in those contexts, but little research has been done when the topics are integrated for this audience. This exploratory study addresses this gap by investigating PST’s perceptions of entrepreneurship in an integrated engineering curriculum. Using a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum, middle and high school science and math PSTs were engaged in activities to learn about entrepreneurial mindsets in an engineering for educators course. The PBL curriculum guided PSTs through developing an innovative project to solve a pain point and used the engineering design process to create a solution. Throughout the PBL, PSTs learned about intellectual property, engineering constraints, customer identification, business model development, and marketing strategies. They presented their solution in a pitch format that determined which ideas merit investment. The PSTs integrated what they learned into math, and science content lesson plans that they can use with middle and high school students.

Ten PSTs worked through the engineering and entrepreneurship curriculum over three weeks. The researchers collected data on PSTs perceptions through journal reflections and a post-course survey regarding engineering and entrepreneurial mindset. Reflection prompts consisted of questions on how PSTs would incorporate engineering and entrepreneurship into their content, modify the PBL curriculum to fit their content, and how they compare a teacher to an entrepreneur. The post-course survey questions asked about engineering and entrepreneurial ideas they found engaging, what they were curious about, and how the course changed their thinking. A two-level inductive approach was used to analyze the data through qualitative analysis. The first level of analysis identified the main themes about PSTs’ understanding and perceptions, and the second level summarized the themes into categories. Two researchers analyzed the data independently, and discussion between them distilled the key findings from the results. Preliminary results from the analysis reveal the following themes regarding PST perceptions from integrating entrepreneurship into an engineering curriculum. PSTs were able to articulate aspects of entrepreneurial mindsets and how they connect to engineering. They valued this integrated curriculum as a tool to develop life skills (problem-solving, critical thinking) in their students and the connections to real-world applications. Finally, after engaging in entrepreneurial activities, some PSTs began to view themselves as entrepreneurs and identify aspects of the entrepreneurial mindset students, and teachers already have. These findings illustrate how engaging PSTs in an entrepreneurial mindset integrated curriculum in engineering education can provide practical applications to the PSTs. Not only did PSTs’ thinking about entrepreneurship and engineering change, but also their view of how they could make engineering more relevant to their students.
AU - Karen Plaster
AU - Nidaa Makki
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Entrepreneurial Mindset integration in Pre-Service Engineering Education Course (Fundamental)
UR - https://peer.asee.org/40661
DO - 10.18260/1-2--40661
ER -