Instructional module design for implementing entrepreneurship education for undergraduate mechanical engineering students

Abstract

Entrepreneurship education (EE) has experienced rapid growth as an elective course in the engineering curriculum, equipping engineering students with important entrepreneurship-related skills. However, a limited number of students benefit from EE, as these courses are typically offered as electives for undergraduate mechanical engineering students. To bridge this gap, we have developed and integrated entrepreneurship modules into a required first-year engineering graphics course to introduce mechanical engineering students to various EE tools, including empathy maps, value proposition canvas, and stakeholder mapping. In the presented study, we assessed the changes in students’ confidence in performing tasks related to entrepreneurship and design, as well as their perceived value of engineering and self-perception of their identity as engineers. A multi-method assessment (quantitative and qualitative) was implemented to analyze the impact of the entrepreneurship modules. A quantitative survey administered at the beginning (n = 46) and end (n = 40) of the semester showed a statistically significant difference in students’ confidence in performing entrepreneurship and design tasks. To understand the reason for the significant difference in students’ confidence, a qualitative assessment was performed on the student responses gathered through an online tool to perceive the impact of their post-intervention confidence in carrying out the given entrepreneurial and design-related tasks. The study contributes to the field of engineering entrepreneurship education by providing an approach to integrate entrepreneurship education into an existing engineering course, thereby addressing the need to provide the benefits of entrepreneurship education to all engineering students within the confines of required curricular structures.