Entrepreneurship education by design

Abstract

Purpose The main purpose of the article is to outline a theoretical platform for a design-based approach to entrepreneurship education grounded in the ideas of the Russian psychologist and linguist Lev S. Vygotsky by reconceptualising the development of entrepreneurial expertise as artefact-mediated activity. This model is elaborated into some core pedagogical principles and contrasted with other approaches to entrepreneurial education. It also describes the piloting of this design perspective in a Master of Science programme in entrepreneurship. Students working as interns in high-tech start-up companies reflected on their practice and learned to learn using a number of artefacts as “scaffolds”. Design/methodology/approach The empirical base of this article is an instrumental case study of the pilot programme where the material is subject to documentary and narrative analysis. The master’s theses of the students participating in the new start-up programme were compared with those of students in the regular programme using thematic analysis. Findings The authors call for a more systematic examination of the model derived from Vygotsky in the field of entrepreneurship education. The exploratory study indicates that the emphasis on artefact-mediated action may strengthen systematic self-reflection and learning to learn among Master’s students in practice-based programmes. However, Vygotsky’s focus on “distributed agency” should be complemented by a more personalized mentoring scheme. Originality/value This is a pioneering study examining the pedagogy of artefact mediation in entrepreneurship education.

How to Develop Entrepreneurial Talent More Effectively? A Comparison of Different Entrepreneurship Educational Methods

“…In the study of entrepreneurial education, teaching methods have seen numerous iterations over the years, including teacher-centered (1980's), process-centered (1990's), context-centered (2000's), and learner-centered (2010's). Recently, scholar attention has shifted toward action-oriented teaching models (Lahn and Erikson, 2016), constructivist learning methods (Robinson et al, 2016), design-based thinking and lean start-up (Harms, 2015;Daniel, 2016), and the business model canvas (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010). The belief of the present author is that too much focus is being centered on the action-and experience-oriented teaching methods, with a study confirming that for students who start small, entrepreneurial learning is not necessarily the most effective method (Lackéus, 2020).…”

L’enseignement à distance de l’entrepreneuriat : quelle expertise pédagogique?

“…De la même façon, Lahn et Erikson (2016), en faisant écho à Surlemont (2007), proposent une lecture de l'évolution de l'enseignement en entrepreneuriat en trois temps : Dans ce cadre, si l'enseignement de savoirs techniques est assez étoffé, puisque dans le cas de l'entrepreneuriat ceux-ci sont généralement une adaptation de cours généraux en sciences de l'administration (marketing, ressources humaines, finances, etc. ), du travail reste à faire sur les manières dont ces savoirs peuvent s'enseigner de façon plus efficace dans un contexte de cours en entrepreneuriat.…”

“…Cet enseignement trouve ses fondements dans les approches expérientielles, effectuelles 3 et l'apprentissage authentique (Lombardi, 2007;Neck et al, 2014;Sarasvathy, 2008), mais également, et plus récemment, dans l'approche par design (Lahn & Erikson, 2016). Ainsi, ces éléments suggèrent de développer les habiletés et les compétences entrepreneuriales chez les étudiants en les plaçant dans des situations réalistes d'entrepreneuriat.…”

Course Design for College Entrepreneurship Education – From Personal Trait Analysis to Operation in Practice

“…Seikkula-Leino et al (2015) mentions 30 partners in a school that worked together toward providing entrepreneurial environment and courses for their entrepreneurial education, and their teaching strategies were widely praised. In Lahn (2016), students were sent to work as interns at business firms and learn about entrepreneurship through the experience while in Nielsen and Stovang (2015), entrepreneurial education took the form of “about,” “for,” “through,” and “embedded” so as to enable students to gain entrepreneurial skills. On the other hand Karimi et al (2016), discusses entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial opportunities.…”