2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Background

The Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) developed a framework to supplement the engineering skills already taught to students with outcomes that support the development of the entrepreneurial mindset (EM) to better prepare engineering students to be practicing engineers. This framework includes a set of educational outcomes based on the 3 C’s of EM (demonstrating Curiosity, making Connections, and Creating value). Entrepreneurially minded learning (EML) is an evidence-based practice [1-4] that improves student learning outcomes and the student experience in engineering courses. After attending a KEEN workshop on EML and Student Research, it was decided to introduce EML into a capstone course sequence.

Aerospace Engineering 4510-11 is a two semester experimental projects capstone course sequence with roughly 75 students in teams of four to six members. Unlike a traditional design capstone, the students learn the conceive, design, implement and operate (CDIO) process for a research project. Teams have a faculty technical advisor, and the instructor serves as a project management advisor. Due to the research focus of the capstone, EML was an obvious choice for improving the course sequence. The core concepts of the framework were already in the courses, so it mainly required adjusting the terminology.

Implementation

Like most capstones, AE 4510-11 already requires more work than the students wish. An important aspect of the implementation of EML was to limit any additional time demands on the students. This was achieved largely by transforming existing lectures and assignments using the language of EML.

Ten-minute long lectures on the EM framework and each of the 3 C’s were added to the first semester, to make clear to the students how they can demonstrate EM and the three C’s in their assignments. Brief assignments focused on each of the 3C’s in the first semester are used to help the teams visualize their project and how the team might best work together. EM was also added to the assignment prompts and grading rubrics for the major deliverables. In addition, EM terminology is used in team meetings when discussing things like difficulties faced and ways to solve issues.

Assessment

Multiple forms of assessment have been implemented to evaluate all aspects of EML and how it is implemented in this capstone. Students take a 7-level Likert-type scale self-efficacy survey on 14 EM learning objectives (EMLOs) at the beginning of the first semester, the end of the first semester, and at the end of the second semester, and this data is available for multiple cohorts of students. Direct pre- and post-assessment is done at the beginning and end of the year on both making connections and creating value using brief assignments (concept maps and stakeholder/value tables, respectively). The major deliverables for the capstone also are graded on EM for indirect assessment. The implementation of EM itself is also evaluated through a 5-level Likert scale survey designed to assess learning gains. It covers the different aspects of the implementation, their increase in understanding of EM, their gains in EM skills and the 3C’s. The results from these assessments are used to improve the EM implementation for future years.

The paper will contain comparisons of data from multiple student cohorts for the self-efficacy and course assessment surveys, as well as some of the other assessments. Complete data will be presented for the most recent completed cohort, as well as the current one.