Development of an assessment instrument to examine outcomes of entrepreneurship education on engineering students

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a comprehensive assessment instrument to examine the multiple outcomes of entrepreneurship education for engineering students. It is targeted at senior-level students enrolled in capstone engineering design courses and is part of a larger study intended to clarify the relationship between faculty beliefs and practices, program characteristics, and student outcomes. The assessment draws on survey items used within the investigators' own engineering and entrepreneurship programs as well as others identified in the literature. Items fall into six categories including: 1) attitudes, 2) behaviors, 3) knowledge and skills, 4) self-efficacy, 5)perceptions of programs and faculty, and 6) demographic data. The paper provides an overview of the assessment instruments that were considered by the research team and the methodology used to create the final student survey. It discusses challenges encountered during development and administration including identifying validated assessments in the field, selecting response scales, survey length, and student and faculty participation. Preliminary results from year one of data collection across multiple institutions are discussed.

The Significance of Including an Entrepreneurship Course in Engineering Programs

“…An entrepreneurial engineer has the following characteristics: honest, tenacious, ethical, inspired, intuitive, has a sound knowledge of engineering basics, makes products that can be commercialized, has a desire for long-term learning, fits ideas in the context of society, and able to translate their ideas into action/products (Kriewall & Mekemson, 2010). It is well-recognized that there is a need for engineers with entrepreneurial skills to meet economic and workforce requirements, and thus universities are pressured to graduate students equipped with these types of skills (Duval-Couetil et al, 2010). Currently, more engineering students than before are enrolled in entrepreneurship courses within or external to their engineering programs (Duval-Couetil et al, 2016).…”

Mapping Engineering Outcomes to the Lean Launch Curriculum in the Context of Design

“…9,10 Graduating engineering students cannot simply be technically proficient; they must be able to develop innovative new products, but also explore customer needs, understand the market, and have the abilities to commercialize products or start-up businesses. [11][12][13] However, traditional curricula do not sufficiently incorporate entrepreneurship skill development. Because entrepreneurship has been typically relegated to a business curricula, business students may be well-prepared to manage or start a business, but less prepared to develop a new technology, while engineering students are ready to innovate, but not equipped to market it or manage employees.…”

“…11 Engineering faculty do not necessarily understand entrepreneurship or the entrepreneurial mindset. 17 Faculty also feel that the engineering curriculum is already overcrowded 9,18 and there is no space for entrepreneurshiprelated electives.…”

Mirror Mirror: Reflection and the Building of Mindsets

“…The primary barrier toward understanding mindsets is that they are notoriously hard to measure (Brown et al, 1989;Duval-Couetil et al, 2010;Haynie et al, 2010;Hisrich et al, 2007). Unlike the model of the world, which is relatively easy for an individual to express in ways that others can see, a mindset is a personal abstraction.…”