ERIC Number: EJ1199669
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1941-1766
EISSN: N/A
Capturing Students' Perception of Entrepreneurial Mindset: Tools for What and Why
Bodnar, Cheryl A.; Hixson, Cory
Advances in Engineering Education, v7 n1 Fall 2018
Despite an increased focused on developing and understanding engineering undergraduates' entrepreneurial mindsets, best practices related to assessing this mindset remain nascent. In an attempt to evaluate concept mapping as a potential assessment tool for entrepreneurial mindset and identify the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) first-year engineering students associate with this mindset, we asked students to create "entrepreneurial mindset" concept maps. These maps were scored using the Integrated Rubric for Scoring Concept Maps (Besterfield-Sacre, et al., 2004) -- a holistic tool for evaluating concept maps' "organization," "comprehensiveness," and "correctness." Through the application of this assessment strategy, we not only demonstrated the promise of concept mapping, but also captured 1) the KSAs students believe are relevant to entrepreneurship and 2) students' perspectives regarding the connections between KSAs. Our findings afford program directors and educators the opportunity to prepare educational activities that meet first-year students' program/course objectives and build upon students' current understanding. More generally, assessment using concept mapping offers educators a window into students' mental models and the baseline understanding needed to enhance student learning.
Descriptors: Student Attitudes, Entrepreneurship, Undergraduate Students, Concept Mapping, Evaluation Methods, First Generation College Students, Job Skills, Knowledge Level, Ability
American Society for Engineering Education. 1818 N Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 412-624-6815; Fax: 412-624-1108; Web site: http://advances.asee.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A