How Should Entrepreneurship Be Taught to Students with Diverse Experience? A Set of Conceptual Models of Entrepreneurship Education

Abstract

Entrepreneurship education has been largely treated as a pedagogical “black box.” Despite the emergence of popular entrepreneurship models such as business planning, the lean startup, or business model canvas, neither theoretical nor pedagogical foundations are typically evident. This limits the accumulation of useful evidence that could inform better teaching practices. In this chapter, we develop a set of conceptual models anchored in learning theory regarding how entrepreneurship education should be taught to students. These conceptual models are built on the techniques of entrepreneurship pedagogy such as experiential education. They are developed for three groups of students: students without any entrepreneurship experience, students with previous entrepreneurship experience, and students who are currently running their start-ups. A set of potential variables that could be used for course evaluation purposes is also included. The proposed models meet the needs of students with different levels of entrepreneurship experience. Theoretically, we demonstrate that entrepreneurship students should not be treated as a homogeneous group, as they have different levels of startup experience and different educational needs. Lecturers of entrepreneurship programs could choose the suitable model proposed in this chapter in teaching based on the characteristics of their students. The chapter provides novel insights with regard to how entrepreneurship programs should be designed for students with different levels of entrepreneurship experience.

Citation

Zeng, Z.(. and Honig, B. (2016), "How Should Entrepreneurship Be Taught to Students with Diverse Experience? A Set of Conceptual Models of Entrepreneurship Education", Models of Start-up Thinking and Action: Theoretical, Empirical and Pedagogical Approaches (Advances in Entrepreneurship, Firm Emergence and Growth, Vol. 18), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 237-282. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1074-754020160000018007