Open Minis: Entrepreneurial Mindset

An Entrepreneurship Education Co-Curricular Program to Stimulate Entrepreneurial Mindset in Engineering Students

There is a need to expand the fundamental skills in science and engineering to include innovation & entrepreneurship (I&E) skills as core competencies. To better prepare the future Nanotechnology workforce, the University of Puerto Rico- Mayagüez Nanotechnology Center broadened the educational content beyond traditional skills in science and engineering. Its Educational Program for Innovative and Entrepreneurial Materials and Nano Scientists initiative presents a holistic approach to human development. The Entrepreneurship Education Co-Curricular Program (EEP) incorporates I&E training through a two-year series of workshops to faculty, teachers, high school students, graduate and undergraduate students. Workshops include five key topics that seek to develop an entrepreneurial mindset, including: 1) Entrepreneurial Vision, 2) Identification of Opportunities, 3) Generation of Ideas, 4) Early Assessment of Ideas, and 5) Thinking Strategically. This manuscript describes the EEP goals, target audience, implementation strategy and the evaluation tool to assess the program success in developing entrepreneurial mindset.

Presenters:
Cristina Pomales-Garcia, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez
Moraima de Hoyos, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez
Agnes Padovani, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez
O. Marcelo Suarez, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez

Survey of Perceived Barriers to an Entrepreneurial Mindset

A preliminary survey of faculty and administrators was conducted to explore perceptions around what barriers exist for creating an entrepreneurial mindset or social entrepreneurial mindset on campus. Are the barriers more logistical, lack of knowledge or affective, such as a lack of confidence? We found that concerns and barriers can be divided into “early phase” issues and “later phase” issues. The survey is being distributed to undergraduate students at Loyola University Maryland to get their perspectives on the same questions, what are the barriers to entrepreneurship and what would be most helpful to develop such a culture on campus, whether curricular, or co-curricular.

Presenter:
Suzanne Keilson, Loyola University Maryland

ICE for Everyone! Introducing the Entrepreneurial Mindset at Union College

With the business school and practical skill connotations associated with the word “entrepreneurship,” offering courses related to entrepreneurship to a large number of students at a traditional small liberal arts college represents a challenge. At Union College this year, we will offer a large enrollment course (100-150 students) to introduce students to Innovation, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship (ICE). Our course was born out of interactions with our six University Innovation Fellows, who have helped design the course and will take an active role in teaching the course. We believe that this faculty and student collaboration can provide students with the entrepreneurial mindset course content that will most engage them and inspire change. Our main objective is to offer students opportunities to approach and think through problems differently. The course will equip students with new perspectives for other courses and provide the impetus for more innovative, creative, and entrepreneurial activities on campus.

Presenters:
Shane Cotter, Union College
Erika Nelson, Union College
Hal Fried, Union College

Fostering Creativity and Innovative Mindsets and Skills in Engineering Education

Globalization and increasingly complex technological challenges have driven the need for engineering education programs to adapt and educate students not only for technical expertise but also for the increasingly important professional skills that enable creativity and innovation. A significant challenge for educators is to identify and implement meaningful learning experiences that promote the development of these skills in existing courses in the curriculum. Within a Mechanical Engineering curriculum, a sequence of courses in the junior and senior years were adapted to provide multiple opportunities for engineering students to develop their creativity and innovative mindsets and skill sets. Using a variety of student-centered, active learning pedagogies, a particular focus was placed on designing learning experiences that foster creativity and increase intrinsic motivation by emphasizing student autonomy (giving students choices and control in their learning), relatedness (connection to community and society), and competence (achieving success on challenging and meaningful projects).

Presenter:
Danner Friend, Norwich University

Track: Topics in I&E