Open AccessEarly Incorporation of Entrepreneurship Mindset in An Engineering Curriculum
Author(s) -
Mehran Andalibi
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of higher education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1927-6052
pISSN - 1927-6044
DOI - 10.5430/ijhe.v8n4p98
Subject(s) - mindset , rubric , curriculum , entrepreneurship , class (philosophy) , mathematics education , entrepreneurship education , creative problem solving , creativity , analytical skill , engineering management , engineering , computer science , pedagogy , psychology , political science , artificial intelligence , social psychology , law
In the study herein aimed at incorporating the entrepreneurship mindset early on in the engineering curriculum of undergraduate students via a final project of an introductory programming course with MATLAB. Students were asked to find a need on campus, in the society, or in the market with a business potential and write a standalone application to solve that problem. Prior to the start of project, students were required to study an online module developed by KEEN on generating new ideas in which they learned the definitions and differences between an idea and an opportunity, and different methods of recognizing business opportunities, followed by online quizzes. The study found that students were interested in learning about entrepreneurship and using the technical skills learned in class to solve a real-world problem with potential business opportunities; they enjoyed the course material more and it reinforced their learning of previous topics; and more importantly, it attracted students’ attentions toward self-employment. Pre- and post-assessment of creative thinking using standard AACU rubrics also showed a significant increase in the levels of students’ creative thinking skills due to participation in this project