The acquisition of entrepreneurial competencies in a virtual platform: a structural equation model

An experiential learning program for entrepreneurship education

“…Thus, basing on aforementioned activity of literature review, it could be hypothesised that the design structure of the ExperimentaLab supports the acquisition of entrepreneurial competencies by students (thus revealing educational effectiveness) by means of a process that stimulates players' satisfaction. In this vein -in opposition to the preliminary results of our previous research (Iscaro et al, 2018) -we invert the direction of the causal nexus linking players' satisfaction and educational effectiveness. Indeed, we believe the reduced number of observations could have affected the outcome of previous exploratory activity, representing one of its most constraining limitations (thus justifying the need for new simulations consistently enlarging the sample).…”

“…From these definitions, we can assume a strong relationship between the entrepreneurial process and learning. It has been observed that education should be brought to life through practical experiential learning models and experience of real-world entrepreneurs (Fayolle and Gailly, 2008;Iscaro et al, 2018). Experiential learning theory (ELT) provides a holistic model of the learning process and a multi-linear model of adult development.…”

“…Finally, as to the Educational Effectiveness, though the evaluation of education programs appears to be a complex issue (Ng and Feldman, 2009), and there are numerous types, objectives and methods of evaluation (Fayolle and Gailly, 2015) 3 , the analysis for this study is based on the 'acquisition' dimension proposed by Kirkpatrick (1994) to evaluate training programs, meant as the evaluation of the acquisition of entrepreneurial competencies by participants, surveyed at the conclusion of the program (simulation) (Iscaro et al, 2018).…”

“…Indeed, the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education is largely related to the teacher's knowledge of using different teaching methods (Cheng et al, 2009). In this vein, in an attempt to provide a contribution to the studies that aim to boost entrepreneurship education and the entrepreneurial activity of universities, basing on the results of a preliminary investigation conducted on a sample of 75 students (Iscaro et al, 2018), we further analyse if and how experiential methods can enhance the achievement of learning outcomes in entrepreneurship education. In particular, we conduct a critical appraisal of the impact of an experimental lab 1 , the ExperimentaLab, a virtual platform to support entrepreneurial training programs through an experiential learning process that simulates the progression from idea to start-up, helping students acquire entrepreneurial competencies.…”