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Entrepreneurial Education Booklet يدا,+لا م#لعتلا ب#تك

This document is part of a series that defines, explains, and demonstrates Qatar University’s five Education Excellence Themes.

Qatar University

Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning January 2021

Version 1.1 This a preliminary version, which will be subject to periodic review. Subsequent versions will be issued via the CETL

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Introduction Qatar University’s mission is “to equip current and future citizens of Qatar with the skills, expertise and competencies they need to be able to contribute to, and lead, Qatar’s development for the benefit of future generations” (Qatar University Strategy 2018–2022, p. 20). To achieve this, the university has rigorously pursued educational excellence. Having developed and implemented its Education Excellence Framework, the university aspires to be regionally recognized for the provision of holistic education that is built on five main themes: learner-centric, experiential, research-informed, digitally enriched, and entrepreneurial education. These five educational pillars will yield graduates who are well-rounded and who have attributes, competencies, and values that will enable them to maximize their future impact locally and internationally (Qatar University Strategy 2018-2022). This document is part of a series that defines, explains, and demonstrates Qatar University’s five themes for education excellence. This document focuses on entrepreneurial education. The objectives of the document are to:

1. Motivate readers to relate entrepreneurial education to their own educational backgrounds, professional practices, and characteristics as Qatar University faculty.

2. Familiarize academic readers with theory and research on entrepreneurial education. 3. Demonstrate some of the teaching and learning skills required to implement entrepreneurial

education. 4. Introduce strategies for applying entrepreneurial education in higher education. 5. Introduce methods of assessment appropriate for entrepreneurial classrooms in higher education.

This document was created for Qatar University educators and attempts to distill, organize, and highlight key elements from the vast amount of research, literature, and information on entrepreneurial education that already exists in academia. This document references a wide variety of educational resources in order to identify critical points, perspectives, practices, and definitions of entrepreneurial education and attempts to guide the reader through some of the steps necessary to structure and implement entrepreneurial practices in Qatar University contexts.

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Overview of Entrepreneurial Education Entrepreneurial education has grown dramatically over the past three decades. Greene et al. (2015) noted that, in the 1980s, there were approximately 600 colleges and universities offering entrepreneurship courses around the world. Today, there are more than 5,000 courses offered at 2,600 schools. Entrepreneurial education is the “learning process that prepares people to be responsible and enterprising individuals. It helps people develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to achieve the goals they set out for themselves” (Branquinho et al., 2020, p. 82). The purpose of entrepreneurial education varies from one country to another. Greene et al. (2015) stated that in the United States, entrepreneurial education targets the development of fast growth, technology-based businesses. In Europe, on the other hand, it is more connected to the SME (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises) community. In China, the focus is usually on a more general “start-up” approach, while in Qatar, it is on diversification into non-oil-related businesses. Grecu and Denes (2017) highlighted the ability of entrepreneurial education to bridge gaps that might exist between the theories and concepts students learn in the classroom and the situations they will encounter in the real world. Learning about and experiencing entrepreneurship while at university have several benefits. According to The British Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA, 2018), entrepreneurial education has been shown to have:

Figure 1: Benefits of entrepreneurial education.

A positive impact on learning

attainment and grades

A positive impact on behaviour

change and active

citizenship

A positive impact on enhancing

employability

A positive impact on stakeholder engagement

A positive influence on

students’ creativity and

flexibility

A positive impact on start-

up rates

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In higher education, instructors need to differentiate between five interrelated terms: enterprise, entrepreneurship, enterprise education, entrepreneurship education, and entrepreneurial education. Detailed definitions of these terms, as well as explanations of their various interrelationships are given below. It should be noted here that definitions and explanations derive from the British Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education Framework of Entrepreneurship Education (QAA, 2018).

- Enterprise: is the generation and application of ideas that are set within practical situations during a project or undertaking. This generic concept can be applied across all areas of education, and necessitates competencies such as creativity, originality, initiative, idea generation, design thinking, problem-solving, innovation, expression, and communication.

- Enterprise education: involves educating students ways that transcend simple knowledge acquisition, and, instead, seeks to develop enhanced capacities to generate ideas, while also nurturing the behaviours, attributes, and competencies that generate these ideas.

Enterprise behaviours include:

Taking initiative, reflecting, communicating, pivoting,

adapting, taking responsibility, networking, and risk-taking

Enterprise attributes include:

Open-mindedness, proactivity, curiosity, self-efficacy, flexibility, adaptability,

determination, and resilience

Enterprise competencies include:

Decision-making, identifying opportunities, problem-solving, innovating, strategic thinking,

negotiating, influencing, leadership, and digital literacy

- Entrepreneurship: refers to value creation in the private and/or public sectors. There are three kinds of entrepreneurship: (1) social entrepreneurship, where entrepreneurial ventures are driven by solving social or cultural issues often with no interest in financial gain; (2) green entrepreneurship, where environmental problems are explored to result in a positive impact using sustainable processes; and (3) digital entrepreneurship, where digital products and services are created, marketed, delivered, and supported online.

- Entrepreneurship education: seeks to produce students who are capable of identifying opportunities and developing ventures by becoming self-employed, setting up new businesses, or developing and growing part of an existing business. It focuses on the application of enterprising competencies and extends the learning environment into realistic-risk environments that may include legal and funding issues, and start-up and growth strategies.

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- Entrepreneurial education: is an umbrella term that encompasses all of the concepts and approaches outlined above. It includes aspects of both enterprise and entrepreneurship education.

Figure 2: Entrepreneurial education as an umbrella term.

Entrepreneurial Education

Entrepreneurship(social, green, and

digital)

Entrepreneurship Education

Learning is extended into realistic risk environments.

EnterpriseThe generation

and application of ideas.

Enterprise Education

(behaviours, attributes, andcompetencies)

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Entrepreneurial Education Practices in Higher Education

Higher education faculty come from a wide variety of professional contexts and educational backgrounds. Regardless of their subject areas, a central expectation of all faculty is that the courses they offer somehow combine to help prepare graduating students for employment. In order to address this critical outcome effectively, instructors need to balance their efforts to increase students' subject-matter knowledge with a simultaneous and continuous emphasis on developing graduates who are enterprising, flexible, and innovative. In this light, faculty roles must expand beyond mere content delivery to include the following:

Instructors should select various teaching methods based on the behaviours, attributes, and competencies they wish to develop among their students and embrace an appropriately aligned mix of best-practice instructional approaches. Teaching methods should involve experiential learning strategies where theory follows practice (e.g., problem-based learning, project-based learning, and inquiry-based learning). Teaching methods should also offer action-based practical activities and challenges set by the community. For instance, providing consultancy services to clients or for a social endeavour. Finally, teaching methods should encourage reflection and metacognition while critically exploring emotional responses, and planning for future action. Instructors need to distinguish between “teaching about", “teaching for", and “teaching through" entrepreneurship, as explained below.

Teaching "about" entrepreneurship

Teaching "for" entrepreneurship

Teaching "through" entrepreneurship

A theoretical and content-centric approach that aims to

develop a broad understanding of

entrepreneurship among students

An occupationally focused approach that attempts to

provide potential entrepreneurs with the

essential knowledge and skills they will need to succeed

An experiential and practice-based approach where

students engage in an actual entrepreneurial learning

process

Plan and deliver effective

entrepreneurship curricula.

Motivate students to

develop entrepreneurial

behaviour attributes and competencies.

Build collaborative relationships with students, educators, and

other stakeholders.

Reflect on own practice as an

entrepreneurial educator.

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Table 1 below presents a suggested outline of an entrepreneurial course, while Table 2 provides further clarification about possible weekly activities.

Phase

Find a problem worth solving

Find a solution worth building

Weeks

1-2

3-4

5-6

7-8 9

10-11

12-13

14-15

Activities

Syllabus

co-creating

Developing an entrepreneurial

mindset

Ideation

Investigation

Developing a business

plan

Design Stage

Prototypes

Process

reflection

Table 1: A suggested outline of an entrepreneurial course

Week Activities Specifications

Weeks 1-2: Through brainstorming and discussion activities, the instructor works with students to create an entrepreneurial syllabus. They should demonstrate to students why entrepreneurial skills are relevant to them on a personal level, and how the course can help them develop these skills.

Week 3-4: Within the course scope and goals, the instructor develops and implements educational tasks and activities that enforce entrepreneurial behavior, attributes, and competencies.

Week 5-6: Through ideation techniques such as brainstorming and brainwriting, students need to identify a challenge or problem that relates to their field and the course learning objectives.

Week 7-8: Students investigate the defined challenges by interviewing customers or conducting research, or both.

Week 9: Students develop, based on their investigation results, a start-up business plan.

Week 10-11: Students design a product that solves problems or addresses specific needs in a given market.

Week 12-13: Students produce a model or product.

Week 14-15: Students reflect on and self-assess their entrepreneurial experience through surveys.

Table (2): Clarifications on weekly activities

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Case example: Developing an entrepreneurial course at the College of Education at Qatar University

In a course titled “Teaching Reading and Writing to Children”, the instructor developed an entrepreneurial syllabus with her students in the first and second weeks of the semester. The instructor and students decided on literacy topics and assessment methods, linking both aspects to a children's book publishing enterprise. In the third and fourth weeks, the instructor developed and implemented interactive activities to prepare her students for developing entrepreneurial mindsets. Below are two example activities:

- The Envelope Exercise: Students were asked to plan a two-hour educational activity that would teach children reading and writing, using a small amount of money provided to them in an envelope. The aim was to enhance students’ enterprise competencies in planning, resource allocation, innovating and strategic thinking.

- The Defining Problems Exercise: Students were shown pictures that illustrated potential issues related to child literacy and then were asked to define these issues. The aim was to enhance students’ enterprise behaviours, such as reflecting and communicating.

In weeks 5 and 6, through brainstorming and brainwriting, students worked to identify a problem that related to child literacy in Qatar. Students identified three problems: word-reading difficulties, mixed- reading difficulties, and specific, reading-comprehension difficulties. Next, in weeks 7 and 8, students were asked to investigate how they might overcome one of these problems through storytelling. For this, students needed to write a report that drew on the existing literature. Based on their investigation results, in week 9, students were asked to use an application called Business Plan to develop a start-up business plan for publishing a children’s story that teaches reading and writing. Finally, students were asked to write a children’s story and print it. Upon producing their stories, students were encouraged to communicate with local publishing houses, as well as to enter their stories in the Qatar State Prize for Children's Literature competition. The focus was not on publishing or winning per se, but rather on enhancing students’ enterprise behaviours and attributes, such as taking initiative, communicating, networking, and enhancing curiosity and resilience. Students’ stories were also shared with the entire Qatar University community via an exhibition at the College of Education’s Educational Resources Center.

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Entrepreneurial Education at Qatar university

Qatar University’s Center for Entrepreneurship developed a framework grounded in a business-centric context. It focuses on three main pillars: institutional, faculty, and students. The Institutional Pillar refers to the governance and performance within the institution. It emphasizes the role of the university's leadership to develop entrepreneurial mindsets that are reflected in the university's strategic plans. The Faculty Pillar highlights the participation of the professorate in achieving the visions of an entrepreneurial university. Furthermore, it views faculty members as leading figures who should play critical roles in creating new courses, enhancing current courses, and pedagogical practices that align with the university’s strategic and instructional goals. Lastly, the Student Pillar refers to the ultimate product of the entire educational process--the students. That is, students are both inputs and the outcomes of a process for developing entrepreneurial competency (Abdellatif et al., 2019).

Entrepreneurial Education Assessment in Higher Education

Many have argued that entrepreneurial skills, competencies and behaviors are largely non-cognitive in character (Huber et al., 2017), hence, it can be hard to envision educators accurately assessing entrepreneurial skills using the traditional rubrics (OECD, 2018). To accomplish this, higher education instructors need to utilise new and different approaches to assessment when introducing enterprise and entrepreneurship into their teaching. “Interdisciplinary approaches should be considered, as not all types of assessment are utilised within specialist disciplines” (QAA, 2018). In designing and delivering assessment, faculty should consider the following:

1. Learning “about” entrepreneurship is normally evaluated through analytical texts such as essays and knowledge retention exercises such as examinations (QAA, 2018).

2. Learning “for” entrepreneurship requires practical activities where students demonstrate their development (QAA, 2018).

3. Learning “through” entrepreneurship is primarily a reflective process, where a student engages in entrepreneurial activities and maps their own learning and (supported) progression. In recent years, many evaluation tools have been developed based on self-evaluation methods. These evaluation tools have been tested and validated in international studies. Below are three potential assessment tools, each leverages technology and offers immediate evaluation to teachers and students reducing their time and efforts (QAA, 2018).

- Octoskills : Octoskills is an app-based assessment tool that assesses how students develop their entrepreneurial self-efficacy (i.e., their self-confidence in performing entrepreneurial skills and activities). It also assesses whether the educational initiative changes students’ entrepreneurial

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attitudes and intentions. All students’ evaluation results are presented in user-friendly “spider web” diagram which makes it easy for the teacher to compare results and assess how students have developed. Octoskills also provides a questionnaire for teacher that allows them to evaluate how they can develop their self-confidence in teaching entrepreneurial education and their teaching methods. Octoskills is designed based on pre-mid-post evaluations. This allows the teacher to examine where and when students need more assistance for developing their entrepreneurial skills.

- The Entrepreneurial Skills Pass : The Entrepreneurial Skills Pass was developed based on an international collaboration project co-funded by the European Union. The aim was to develop a validated test that can certify students’ entrepreneurial skills. The Entrepreneurial Skills Pass utilizes pre-mid-post evaluation. It also focuses on the participants’ perception of entrepreneurship, which is evaluated through a standardized test. The Entrepreneurial Skills Pass needs registration and fees payment. Many Higher Education institutions in Europe are registered.

- LoopMe : LoopMe has a different approach compared to the tools that utilize pre-mid-post evaluation. Rather than quantitative assessing the outcomes of an educational initiative, LoopMe is designed based on proxy-theory, that is, on the assumption that certain activities lead to certain outcomes. LoopMe give students the opportunity to report situations and events trigger their attitudes and actions during an entrepreneurial initiative. This report goes to the teacher automatically. The teacher can respond to the report. This creates “loop” of feedback between teacher and students. The ‘looping’ of mutual reflection on the activities makes LoopMe a very effective tool for formative evaluation, both from the student to the teacher and vice versa.

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A Google Ngram Reader for the Term Entrepreneurial Education

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References

Abdellatif, M., Pokharel, S., Ayari, M., & Stryker, C. (2019). QU Entrepreneurship Framework. Qatar university. Doha: Qatar.

Branquinho, R., Gonçalves, V., Fortunato Vaz, P., Fachada, I., & Aguiar, C. (2020). Integrate Project Based on Integrative Science, Entrepreneurial, and Multiculticultural Activities. In Selma, & Patricia, J. (EDS). Multidisciplinary Approach to Entrepreneurship Education for Migrants. IGI Global. Pp. 81-96.

Grecu, V., & Deneș, C. (2017). Benefits of entrepreneurship education and training for engineering students. MATEC Web of Conferences, 121, 12007. doi:10.1051/matecconf/201712112007

Greene, P., Brush, G., Eisenman, E., Neck, H., & Perkins, S. (2015). Entrepreneurship Education: A Global Consideration: From Practice to Policy Around the World. WISE. Doha: Qatar.

Huber, D., Kaufmann, H. & Steinmann, M. (2017). Bridging the Innovation Gap. Springer Link.

McLeod, S. (2019). Constructivism as a theory for teaching and learning. Retrieved from: https://www.simplypsychology.org/constructivism.html

OECD Skills Studies. (2018). Supporting Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Higher Education. OECD publishing. Paris/EU. Brussels.

QAA. (2018). Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Education: Guidance for UK Higher Education Providers. London: UK. reterieved from: https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaas/enhancement-and-development/enterprise-and-entrpreneurship-education-2018.pdf?sfvrsn=15f1f981_8

Qatar University (2018). Qatar University Strategy (2018 – 2022) From Reform to Transformation. Retrieved from Qatar: http://www.qu.edu.qa/static_file/qu/about/documents/Qatar%20University%20Strategy%202018-2022%20Booklet%20-%20EN.pdf

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This document is also available in Arabic. We wish to convey our thanks to the College of Education at Qatar University for its valuable contribution. Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) – January 2021 Qatar University P.O. Box 2713 Doha-Qatar Phone: (+974) 4403-4033 E-Mail: CETL@qu.edu.qa