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1 – 10 of over 12000Experiential approaches have become increasingly common in entrepreneurship education in response to calls for different approaches to the traditional didactic…
Abstract
Purpose
Experiential approaches have become increasingly common in entrepreneurship education in response to calls for different approaches to the traditional didactic process-driven approach. Experiential approaches offer the potential to develop the skills and mindset that are required in entrepreneurship. Research has highlighted the critical importance of educator pedagogical competence in the delivery and quality of teaching and learning in further and higher education. Nevertheless, educator narratives and practices are often based on foundations that suggest a lack in the depth of knowledge and understanding of the underlying pedagogic learning theories and practice. This paper brings educational theory and pedagogic practice together in a three-stage framework of the experiential entrepreneurship learning process to support entrepreneurship educators within further and higher education.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper reviews and brings together the seminal educational theories and philosophies of constructivism, objectivism, Kolb's (1984) theory of experiential learning, Schön's (1983) reflection-in-action and Mezirow's (1997) theory of transformative learning, to develop a framework which underpins the experiential entrepreneurship learning process.
Findings
This paper develops a three-stage framework which informs the roles of an educator and a learner in experiential entrepreneurship education within further and higher education, based on educational theories and philosophies that inform the learning process.
Practical implications
The developed framework supports the pedagogic competence of educators in the delivery of experiential entrepreneurship education through a deeper understanding of the supporting theory that informs the pedagogic practice. This will provide consolidation to enable educators to maximise the effectiveness of their educational practice (Kaynardağ, 2019) and can increase the legitimacy of entrepreneurship education (Foliard et al., 2018).
Originality/value
This paper meets calls in the literature to provide a closer engagement between educational theory and pedagogic practice to afford guidance as to how educators can navigate some of the different educational theories and philosophies to consolidate the effective delivery of quality experiential entrepreneurship education. Applying seminal educational theories and philosophies to ensure the quality of experiential education can support the legitimacy of experiential entrepreneurship education.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyze experiential entrepreneurship education offerings – programs and courses – among the “Top 25” undergraduate schools of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze experiential entrepreneurship education offerings – programs and courses – among the “Top 25” undergraduate schools of entrepreneurship in the USA. The motivation is to understand the array and vitality of experiential initiatives across the country. A related aim is to unearth obstacles to offering experiential entrepreneurship and identify affordable, viable options. Surveying undergraduate program deans, chairs and administrators, the authors inventory and analyze experiences offered in top entrepreneurship programs. The target audience for the research is entrepreneurship education researchers and business program leaders.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology is a survey approach. A survey was sent to the entrepreneurship program leaders of the “Top 25” business schools according to recently published rankings. In total, 57 percent of the target population responded to the survey.
Findings
The authors find that credit-yielding experiential entrepreneurship offerings are abundant. Yet an array of challenges constrain the growth this mode of delivery – including finding suitable faculty, mentors and other support resources.
Research limitations/implications
A potential limitation of the study is its focus on “Top 25” undergraduate entrepreneurship programs, as this may not be reflective of activity in the wider sample of entrepreneurship programs.
Practical implications
The first inventory of its kind, this study provides vital knowledge about the array of practices by leading programs. The study may be used to drive benchmarking and further innovation by leaders of entrepreneurship programs.
Originality/value
To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the most comprehensive, recent study of undergraduate, experiential entrepreneurship education.
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Albertos Azaria, Efthymios Valkanos and Nick Dukakis
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the Greek recession on the design of adult vocational training through the financial crisis effects on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the Greek recession on the design of adult vocational training through the financial crisis effects on entrepreneurship and, in particular, the significance of the conditions of the in-house experiential learning effective implementation in the new macroeconomic circumstances.
Design/methodology/approach
An overall theoretical approach is attempted through the bibliographic review and the analysis of selected scientific forums’ data.
Findings
The results of the literature review yielded 24 important factors-prerequisites that influence the implementation of in-house experiential adult education. The importance of the in-house experiential learning and the role of adult educators are emphasized in the direction of the essential skills acquisition that shall provide employees and enterprises with intellectual and practical assistance, so that they may adjust to the new macroeconomic environment.
Practical implications
This effort has provided a number of useful proposals to each recipient involved in adult education and training in order to reinforce the support of the business world as much as possible, especially during the time period of recession, and to reduce unemployment.
Originality/value
Starting from the fact that the macroeconomic recession itself constitutes an inevitable experience of an entire social, economic and educational system, the present study attempts a realistic approach of the significance of in-house experiential education and training in the direction of successful adjustment of enterprises, employees, adult educators and the State itself against the challenges of our times.
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Malin Backman, Hannah Pitt, Terry Marsden, Abid Mehmood and Erik Mathijs
This paper aims to critically reflect the current specialist discourse on experiential approaches to higher education for sustainable development (HESD). Limitations to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to critically reflect the current specialist discourse on experiential approaches to higher education for sustainable development (HESD). Limitations to the current discourse are identified, and as a result, an alternative approach to the study of experiential education (EE) within HESD is suggested.
Design/methodology/approach
Three research questions are addressed by analysing the literature on EE and experiential learning (EL) within HESD in specialist academic journals.
Findings
There is a consensus among authors regarding the appropriateness of experiential approaches to HESD. However, limitations to the current discourse suggest the need for an alternative approach to studying EE within HESD. Therefore, this paper proposes the application of the learning landscape metaphor to take a more student-centred and holistic perspective.
Originality/value
The learning landscape metaphor has previously not been applied to EE within HESD. This alternative conceptualisation foregrounds student perspectives to experiential initiatives within HESD. The holistic approach aims to understand the myriad influences on students learning, while allowing examination of how experiential approaches relate to other educational approaches within HESD.
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Jonathan M Scott, Andy Penaluna and John L Thompson
The purpose of this paper is to conduct a critical appraisal of how experiential approaches can more effectively enhance the achievement of desired learning outcomes in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conduct a critical appraisal of how experiential approaches can more effectively enhance the achievement of desired learning outcomes in entrepreneurship education. In particular, the authors critique whether actual learning outcomes can be profitably used to measure effectiveness; and consider how student performance can be evaluated through the twin lenses of implementation or innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors undertook a review of both traditional and experiential approaches to entrepreneurship education. In addition to comparing these approaches, the authors critiqued a number of “taken for granted” assumptions regarding the effectiveness of experiential approaches to entrepreneurship education and made recommendations.
Findings
Although there is a large body of research on experiential approaches towards entrepreneurship education, the authors know little about how these approaches contribute towards the effective achievement of desired learning outcomes. Whilst many authors claim that such approaches are effective, such assertions are not supported by sufficient robust evidence. Hence the authors need to establish more effective student performance evaluation metrics. In particular: first, whether actual learning outcomes are appropriate measures of effectiveness; and second, the authors should evaluate student performance through the lenses of the two “Is” – implementation or innovation.
Practical implications
Whether actual learning outcomes are used as a measure of effectiveness at all needs to be critiqued further. Implementation involves doing things that are determined by others and matching against their expectations, whereas innovation comprises producing multiple and varied solutions that respond to change and often surprise.
Originality/value
Through revisiting the discussions on the art and the science of entrepreneurship education, this paper represents an initial critical attempt – as part of an ongoing study – to fill a gap in entrepreneurship education research. The paper, therefore, has significant value for students, entrepreneurship educators and policy-makers.
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Jayson Seaman, Robert MacArthur and Sean Harrington
The article discusses Outward Bound's participation in the human potential movement through its incorporation of T-group practices and the reform language of experiential…
Abstract
Purpose
The article discusses Outward Bound's participation in the human potential movement through its incorporation of T-group practices and the reform language of experiential education in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Design/methodology/approach
The article reports on original research conducted using materials from Dartmouth College and other Outward Bound collections from 1957 to 1976. It follows a case study approach to illustrate themes pertaining to Outward Bound's creation and evolution in the United States, and the establishment of experiential education more broadly.
Findings
Building on prior research (Freeman, 2011; Millikan, 2006), the present article elaborates on the conditions under which Outward Bound abandoned muscular Christianity in favor of humanistic psychology. Experiential education provided both a set of practices and a reform language that helped Outward Bound expand into the educational mainstream, which also helped to extend self-expressive pedagogies into formal and nonformal settings.
Research limitations/implications
The Dartmouth Outward Bound Center's tenure coincided with and reflected broader cultural changes, from the cold war motif of spiritual warfare, frontier masculinity and national service to the rise of self-expression in education. Future scholars can situate specific curricular initiatives in the context of these paradigms, particularly in outdoor education.
Originality/value
The article draws attention to one of the forms that the human potential movement took in education – experiential education – and the reasons for its adoption. It also reinforces emerging understandings of post-WWII American outdoor education as a product of the cold war and reflective of subsequent changes in the wider culture to a narrower focus on the self.
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Ralph Nyadu-Addo and Mavis Serwah Benneh Mensah
Entrepreneurship education thrives on the pillars of experiential education. Using the case of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, the purpose…
Abstract
Purpose
Entrepreneurship education thrives on the pillars of experiential education. Using the case of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, the purpose of this paper is to examine the entrepreneurship clinic (EC) as a viable pedagogy for the promotion of experiential education in entrepreneurship.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper relies on insider action research to analyse, within Joplin’s five-step model, the case of the EC at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana.
Findings
The analysis showed that the KNUST clinic comprises five main activities including preparation, orientation, selection and matching, coaching and monitoring and evaluation. In relation to Joplin’s five-step model, the first three stages of the clinic provide focus for the clinic while the remaining two stages – coaching and monitoring and evaluation – entail activities that are geared towards action, support, feedback and debrief. Through the clinic, thousands of tertiary students have been trained in entrepreneurship and new venture creation; some selected participants have been coached while others have had the opportunity to qualify for business incubation.
Research limitations/implications
Although the paper discusses some achievements of the clinic in relation to enrolment and fundraising, it does not assess the impact of the clinic on the entrepreneurial competencies, intentions and initiatives of participants, hence, these issues are recommended for future research.
Practical implications
The paper demonstrates that it is feasible to implement the EC methodology, irrespective of the cost and time implications that are often associated with experiential educational methodologies. However, support from university management, funding raising from internal and external sources and technical support from industry and government agencies are key to the sustainability of clinics.
Originality/value
The paper adds novelty to the entrepreneurship education literature by bringing to the fore how a university in an emerging African economy is implementing and managing the EC pedagogy.
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Yuen-Ping Ho, Pei-Chin Low and Poh-Kam Wong
This paper investigates empirically the link between entrepreneurship education programs and students’ entrepreneurial behavior, with a particular focus on the distinction…
Abstract
This paper investigates empirically the link between entrepreneurship education programs and students’ entrepreneurial behavior, with a particular focus on the distinction between experiential and classroom-based education. We introduce a more refined measure of entrepreneurial engagement that combines entrepreneurship intention and actual steps taken to realize that intention. Using data from a survey of 836 students at the National University of Singapore (NUS), we utilize linear regression models to examine not only the direct effect of entrepreneurship education program participation on entrepreneurial engagement, but also its possible interaction effect with several psychological constructs drawn from the Theory of Planned Behavior. The results show that participation in university entrepreneurship programs, especially experiential-learning programs, has significant positive influence on students’ entrepreneurial engagement. Moreover, the effect of program participation is significantly moderated by the students’ attitudes and perceptions. The findings have important practical implications for universities in designing entrepreneurship programs on campus. The study supports the call to move toward hands-on experiential programs as a more effective way for educational institutions to influence students’ entrepreneurial behavior and encourage venture creation activity on campus. We also contribute to the literature by confirming the impact of entrepreneurship education not only on entrepreneurial intentions but also on the concrete steps taken by students toward venture creation.
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This chapter presents an innovative learning opportunity for tourism students, International Tourism and Hospitality Academy at Sea, that has been in operation for the…
Abstract
This chapter presents an innovative learning opportunity for tourism students, International Tourism and Hospitality Academy at Sea, that has been in operation for the last 10 years. The program could render itself as a case study of Kolb’s experiential learning theory according to which knowledge is created by transforming experience. Its uniqueness and complexity lie in its diversity. This program has involved between 80 and 130 tourism students yearly from four to six institutions from different countries participating in new scholarly inputs by non-resident professors and instructors.
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Jaime L. Williams and Richard J. Gentry
Entrepreneurship education exists to give provide students the tools and perspective necessary to make an informed decision about when starting a business is right for…
Abstract
Entrepreneurship education exists to give provide students the tools and perspective necessary to make an informed decision about when starting a business is right for them. It is holistic, giving students a sense for the entire process as well as what it means to be an entrepreneur. It is occasionally technical; it is undoubtedly exciting and complex. Why then does so much of academe employ rote-lecturing techniques to provide this training? Entrepreneurship is a process and a behavior set – not a person-specific attribute. Until students are allowed out of their seats to engage in behaviors other than note taking, they will not understand how to act entrepreneurially. This chapter explores this inconsistency, why traditional approaches are so problematic and modern experiential approaches that can help.
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