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Humanities
- ISSN: 2155-7993
- Journal of Modern Education Review
Entrepreneurial Education and Project Based Learning (PBL)
Outcomes in Engineering
Lílian Barros Pereira Campos, Janaina Antonino Pinto, Roger Junio Campos
(Universidade Federal de Itajubá- campus of Itabira, Itabira, Minas Gerais, Brazil)
Abstract: This article aims to report the entrepreneurial education experience of three professors from the Itabira campus of Itajubá Federal University, who used PBL strategies with the objective to develop entrepreneurial skills in their students. This study focused in the integrated model for entrepreneurial education proposed by Pretorius, Nieman & Vuuren (2005), and tested the learning outcomes of their entrepreneurial education experiences in an engineering context. Therefore, the question that guided the study is: What impacts, in terms of entrepreneurial learning, project-based learning strategies can generate for the students involved? Through the application of a questionnaire to the students, the impacts of PBL strategies were obtained in terms of the motivation to become an entrepreneur, the learning of entrepreneurial skills (creativity, innovation, and leadership), the learning of business skills (business model development, financial, marketing, and human resources management), and the impact of the facilitator’s ability and skills to enhance motivation, entrepreneurial skills, and business skills. The data was statistically analyzed and, considering the results, the authors highlighted the following outcome: a) 76% of the students said that the facilitator’s ability and skills were effective to motive and transmit knowledge; b) 57% of the students felt motivation to perform in an entrepreneurial manner, c) 51% of the students developed their entrepreneurial skills during the experience; d) 42% of the students developed their business skills during the experience; and d) 67% of the students said that the PBL pedagogical approach was appropriated to its objective. This study showed the importance of the facilitator´s role in the entrepreneurial education. PBL approach proved its value to engage students and to turn learning into an interesting journey for the students. It was possible to point out opportunities of improvement in the practice of the teachers involved, and in the learning strategies used by the teacher (such as the integration of technological and entrepreneurial disciplines, the involvement of external mentors and professionals, and a solid behaviour orientation toward an entrepreneurial mindset).
Key words: entrepreneurial education; engineering; project-based learning
