2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Survey of the Entrepreneurial Mindset of Students in Undergraduate Laboratory Courses

Presented at Experimentation and Laboratory-Oriented Studies Division (DELOS) Technical Session 5: Lab Design

In this study we identified a significant overlap between the learning objectives of undergraduate STEM laboratory courses and KEEN’s entrepreneurial mindset (EM) framework. As such, we wanted to understand if the student’s perception of the skills and attributes learned in a laboratory course aligned with the EM framework as well. In the fall 2021 semester, a survey about entrepreneurial mindset [1] was distributed to undergraduate students enrolled in engineering and science laboratory courses at a large public university. In four courses in this study activities or assignments related to the entrepreneurial mindset were added during the fall semester. Some activities included reframing failure, connecting similar circuit functions between courses, differences in materials used to make a cup, and team contracts. In the remaining courses, nothing was modified. Students in all levels of engineering and physics laboratory courses at a large public university in the Midwest were asked via email invitation to complete the survey during the last two weeks of the fall 2021 semester. To encourage survey participation, students were entered into a drawing for a $25 gift card for every 100 respondents. Additionally, some instructors offered extra credit for completing the survey. Additional context of each course was provided by the faculty members who sent the survey invitation to their students. This paper will summarize the courses, EM assignments and activities, and initial survey results.

[1] S. R. Brunhaver, J. M. Bekki, A. R. Carberry, J. S. London, and A. F. McKenna, “Development of the Engineering Student Entrepreneurial Mindset Assessment (ESEMA),” Adv. Eng. Educ., vol. 7, no. 1, 2018, Accessed: Apr. 28, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://advances.asee.org/development-of-the-engineering-student-entrepreneurial-mindset-assessment-esema

Authors

Akshara Subramaniasivam
Dr. Rebecca Marie Reck http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5894-4130 University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign [biography]

Rebecca M. Reck is a Teaching Associate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research includes alternative grading, entrepreneurial mindset, instructional laboratories, and equity-focused teaching. She teaches biomedical instrumentation, signal processing, and control systems. She earned a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
Prof. Katie Ansell University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign [biography]

Katie Ansell is a Teaching Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her teaching and research activities focus on the practical and social aspects of the classroom that contribute to the development of student expertise in Introductory Physics Laboratories.
Prof. Holly M. Golecki http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3691-0420 University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign [biography]

DDr. Holly Golecki (she/her) is a Teaching Assistant Professor in Bioengineering at the University of
Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an Associate in the John A Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. She holds an appointment at the Carle-Illinois College of Medicine in the Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences. She is also a core faculty member at the Institute for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access in the College of Engineering. Holly studies biomaterials and soft robotics and their applications in the university classroom, in undergraduate research and in engaging K12 students in STEM. Holly received her BS/MS in Materials Science and Engineering from Drexel University and her PhD in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University.
Chandrasekhar Radhakrishnan
Dr. Christopher D. Schmitz http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9673-9832 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign [biography]

Christopher D. Schmitz received his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois in 2002.
Dr. Jessica R. TerBush http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8438-7411 University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign [biography]

Jessica received her B.S.E, M.S.E., and PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. After graduation, she worked as a post-doc for approximately three years at Monash University in Clayton, Victoria, Australia. She then spent three years working as a Senior Research Specialist at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Missouri, where she trained users on the focused ion beam (FIB), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM). In 2016, she moved to the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, to serve as a lecturer in the department of Materials Science and Engineering. Here, she is responsible for teaching the junior labs as well as providing instruction on writing in engineering.

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