SoTL Seminar Series: Do entrepreneurship students really want to be entrepreneurs? Examining the impact of entrepreneurship education in universities.

21 September, 2022
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

This is part of the SoTL seminar series featuring MQ staff presenting their experiences and approaches to undertaking SoTL (Scholarship of Learning and Teaching). The format will be a half hour presentation followed by a half hour workshop.

Sponsored by the Teaching & Leadership Community of Practice and open to all interested MQ staff.

This will be a Zoom presentation.

Presenters: Dr Frances Chang & Dr Jennifer Lai (MQBS)

Topic: Do entrepreneurship students really want to be entrepreneurs? Examining the impact of entrepreneurship education in universities.

About this research:

Governments around the world continue to actively invest in programs, policies and incentives to drive entrepreneurial new businesses. Numerous institutions, including universities have taken the cue by introducing entrepreneurship courses and entrepreneurial-related studies in their curricula.

The aim of this research was to examine the relationship of entrepreneurship education to students perceived inspiration and entrepreneurial intention and to explore pedagogy methods that inspire, or not inspire, entrepreneurship students.

The research found that a high percentage of students were inspired to become an entrepreneur and start their own business. By applying a practice-based experiential approach to delivering in-class activities, students’ engagement is increased, providing them motivation and opportunities to practise making decisions and in doing so, construct their own knowledge. Going beyond books and lectures gives real-world business experience to enhance constructive learning.

Read more about this research (and the presenters).

The discussion:

Following the presentation, the discussion will focus on:

• The idea of inspiration and why Frances and Jennifer were interested in measuring what inspired students.
• What pedagogy inspires students.

The presenters:

Dr Frances Chang is lecturer in the Department of Management and Course Director for Master of Commerce. Her research and teaching interests are in entrepreneurship, small business owners, business models, internationalisation and social networks. Frances was awarded an MQBS Teaching Excellence Award in 2019 and again in 2021 and concurrently was selected as one of the VC Highly Commended finalists in 2019 and 2021.

Dr Jennifer Lai is a Sessional Academic in the Macquarie Business School and a Research Officer at the Macquarie School of Education. She has expertise in qualitative and quantitative research in the field of higher education, evaluation of educational technology, technology adoption, ethical consumption, corporate social responsibility, and strategic management. Jennifer was the recipient of a 2020 Macquarie University Vice-Chancellor’s Learning and Teaching Award (Student Nominated).

Register to attend and you’ll be sent a calendar invitation with the Zoom link.

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