2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

From the Entrepreneurially Minded Learning Framework to Economic Development: Expanding the Three C’s with Six I’s

Presented at ENT-7: Approaches to Fostering Self-Efficacy and Data-Driven Decision Making

KEEN's well-established entrepreneurial mindset model is a crucial catalyst in training engineers to seek innovation and economic development [1]. The Three C’s model of following one's Curiosity, making connections between concepts, and Creating value can not only be taught, they form a set of habits that pair with self-directed learning to nudge engineers to more creative and innovative solutions. The expectation is that more creative and innovative solutions will result in economic and socio-economic development. They form the Entrepreneurial Mindset that is the first of the two components of Entrepreneurially Minded Learning. The second component is the Engineering Skillset.
This exploratory paper builds on the Entrepreneurially Minded Learning Framework to clarify additional terms and concepts that can be incorporated into, and in conjunction with, the current framework to expand the overall potential impact of the framework. This expansion is particularly important when the goal is successful development of an innovative product and the subsequent formation of a start-up (new business or a group within a going concern) to support its launch into the marketplace. These additional terms and concepts come from over a decade of field research with, and participation in, applied-learning engineering education programs and economic development and entrepreneurialism support in three different state systems and primarily with Predominantly Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs). This paper is designed to spark a dialogue within the engineering education community leading to further definition and application of the concepts so they may ultimately be translated into various pedagogical methodologies related to entrepreneurialism and economic development.

Authors

Dr. L. Eric James Minnesota State University, Mankato [biography]

Dr. James has been in higher education for 30 years starting in administration, then shifting to executive management, consulting, and most recently as a full time faculty member. He is a member of the American Society of Engineering Managers and has presented nationally and internationally on economic development associated with universities and on research administration. He has also served as a Trade Delegate from the State of Maine to the North Atlantic/Arctic countries. His most recent works involves connecting applied learning to economic development in both engineering curriculum and non-engineering curriculum.
Dr. Jennifer Karlin http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1316-6777 Minnesota State University, Mankato [biography]

Jennifer Karlin spent the first half of her career at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, where she was a professor of industrial engineering and held the Pietz professorship for entrepreneurship and economic development. She is now a professor of integrated engineering at Minnesota State University, Mankato with the Iron Range Engineering program. She joined IRE in 2019 as one of the founding faculty of the Bell engineering practice-embedded learning model.
Zachary Reed Johnson

Download paper (1.17 MB)

» Download paper

« View session