Article Gold Open Access 2023

An Extracurricular Project-Based Training Course in Innovation and Entrepreneurship Delivered to a Transdisciplinary Group of Students in Engineering, Social Sciences, Arts and Medicine

Education Sciences
Journal · Vol. 13 · Issue 10 · Art. 967
Abstract

Limited information is available on the design of combined innovation and entrepreneurship training courses, and with even less available on delivering such courses to multidisciplinary teams. We designed an extracurricular project-based training course in innovation and entrepreneurship and delivered it to transdisciplinary teams of students who were then asked to build an autonomous mobile system for healthcare applications and to create a business model to implement it. The course was created through a backward educational design and design thinking to assist teams of students in transforming an idea into a technical solution and developing it into a business model through a project-based learning experience. A transdisciplinary group of 31 students, mostly in bachelor’s degree programs, worked either all together, in plenary sessions, in subject-specific groups, or in teams of 5–6 members, under the guidance of their trainers during a ten-day summer school. We used questionnaires to evaluate the changes in student perceptions and a satisfaction survey to evaluate the students’ experience. The qualitative observations together with the results of the quantitative instruments revealed positive changes in student perceptions towards innovation and entrepreneurship. Additionally, the satisfaction survey offered positive feedback and some recommendations for further improvement. The implementation of the course showed that planning is important, but flexibility is essential, that covering fewer topics might lead to deeper understanding, and that managing expectations and practicing empathy are crucial. © 2023 by the authors.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Project-Based Learning Active learning design thinking backward educational design evidence-based pedagogical innovation innovation and entrepreneurial training

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
Faculty of Economic Sciences, Ovidius University of Constanta, Constanta, Constanta, Romania
Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ovidius University of Constanta, Constanta, Constanta, Romania
Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, Ovidius University of Constanta, Constanta, Constanta, Romania
Faculty of Applied Sciences and Engineering, Ovidius University of Constanta, Constanta, Constanta, Romania
Funding & Acknowledgements
Grant: CNFIS-FDI-2021-0351, CNFIS-FDI-2021-0447
The authors acknowledge the financial support offered by the Romanian Ministry of Education through the National Council for Higher Education Financing (CNFIS) grant CNFIS-FDI-2021-0447 sustaining research and innovation and grant CNFIS-FDI-2021-0351 in support of student entrepreneurship.
Ministry of Education and Research, Romania
The authors acknowledge the financial support offered by the Romanian Ministry of Education through the National Council for Higher Education Financing (CNFIS) grant CNFIS-FDI-2021-0447 sustaining research and innovation and grant CNFIS-FDI-2021-0351 in support of student entrepreneurship.
References 10 References
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