Discovering and developing conceptual understanding of teaching and learning in entrepreneurship lecturers

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discover and develop the conceptual understanding of teaching and learning in entrepreneurship lecturers and how this is influencing the change in teaching experience. Design/methodology/approach The study was carried out among Estonian entrepreneurship lecturers who participated in a lecturer-training programme. A qualitative research method was adopted, focussing on thematic analysis. The framework for research and the analysis of results relied on the teaching and learning model, enabling the model to be tested in the context of entrepreneurship education. Findings The results show that the lecturers with learning-centred mind-sets tended to make changes in their teaching approaches and introduced changes in other teaching and learning components, such as the content (learning process) and outcomes of the learning subject. These inconsistent applications of changes justify the need for a systematic approach to entrepreneurship teaching and learning. Practical implications The results of the study contribute to a more systematic understanding of conceptions of teaching entrepreneurship among entrepreneurship lecturers, thereby allowing school management to understand the need for developing staff in addition to curricula. The study results are useful for informing training for entrepreneurship lecturers, designing entrepreneurship courses and choosing the appropriate methodology in such design. Originality/value This paper provides input for creating a conceptual teaching and learning model of entrepreneurship education that contributes to a more systematic understanding of the relationships between the components of teaching and learning when designing entrepreneurship education programmes. In the context of entrepreneurship education, the use of the teaching and learning model is required when considering the timeline between different components of the model. This means that it is important to first make decisions about the presage factors (including conceptual understanding of teachers), which provide the frame (context) for the teaching and learning process, as well as learning outcomes.

Role ambiguity in entrepreneurship education: expectation gaps between educators and students in venture creation courses

“…Second, the student-centered approach requires that educators' capabilities reflect and develop entrepreneurial competencies (Peltonen, 2015; Toding and Venesaar, 2018) and develop pedagogical aims based on their own vision and the students' needs (Seikkula-Leino et al , 2010). This study discovered that the possible discrepancies regarding the fundamental assumptions about the role of educators and students pose a challenge to educators.…”

A systematic literature review of the evolution of pedagogy in entrepreneurial education research

“…However, discussions about what entrepreneurial education actually implies and how to educate in the subject have resulted in little consensus on what roles instructors play in entrepreneurial education (e.g. Fayolle and Gailly, 2008;Toding and Venesaar, 2018). Likewise, there is added emphasis on the need to combine research-active faculty and practitioners when teaching.…”

“…As a result, there are few theoretical insights about the role of the instructor in the context of entrepreneurial education (e.g. Foliard et al, 2019;Seikkula-Leino et al, 2010), for example, instructors' perceptions and teaching philosophies (Toding and Venesaar, 2018), the extent to which research-active academics facilitate different kinds of learning outcome compared to practicing professionals and whether differences in the level and form of education, categories of learning outcomes and the specific focus of the course or programme call for different instructor competencies and skills to effectively guide students in the learning process Evolution of pedagogy (e.g. Fayolle and Gailly, 2008;Rennemo, 2015).…”

Irish and Turkish pre-service teachers understanding and perceptions of enterprise education

“…This was especially relevant for participants when married with collaborative approaches ( Milian and Gurrisi, 2017 ) which encourage students to work together in teams and share the sense of responsibility. Also evident is the importance of enterprise educator competence ( Garnett, 2013 ), with comments indicating that the ability of the educator to mentor students and emulate enterprising characteristics is an important factor ( Otache 2019 ; Toding and Venesaar 2018 ). The understanding of the value in experienced-based approaches has important implications for pre-service teachers' future practice as problem-solving and project-based learning have been shown to be more effective than theory-driven approaches ( Lackéus, 2015 ).…”