The Journal of Entrepreneurship

The discipline of entrepreneurship has witnessed significant progress over the past 25 years in terms of the introduction of new courses and degree programmes in universities across the globe. At the same time, the question of what should be taught in basic or foundational entrepreneurship courses remains an open issue. As a result, it is unclear how such topics as the entrepreneurial mindset or the development of entrepreneurial competencies should be approached, and whether topics such as the lean start up or the business plan should be included. Without clear direction on what should be taught, pedagogical discussions regarding how these courses are delivered, such as the relative emphasis on experiential learning, are problematic. This article suggests the question of content in foundational courses in entrepreneurship rests upon the question of whether the educator seeks to teach students about entrepreneurship, or rather, how to become an entrepreneur. A framework is introduced for determining priorities when deciding upon course content. Attention is devoted to seven decision variables for use in determining what to include in a foundational course, and guidance is provided for how one might approach each of these variables. Using this framework, educators can address a number of other issues surrounding foundational courses, including treatments of different contexts for entrepreneurship and the employment of different pedagogical approaches to content delivery.

How can entrepreneurship teachers unleash the creativity of each one of their students so that their students actually think and act entrepreneurially? This article emphasises that entrepreneurship teachers must implement three requirements for a creative classroom: develop an experimental attitude, practice improvisational behaviour and implement an unconventional structure. An experimental attitude requires a willingness to be wrong; improvisational behaviour demands a ‘Yes, And’ philosophy; an unconventional structure focuses on a different course design. This article presents specific insights, practical exercises, and concrete approaches for entrepreneurship teachers to conduct a more creative classroom (this article is excerpted from a forthcoming book: Ray Smilor (2022, Fire in the classroom: Creativity, entrepreneurship and the craft of teaching, Rowman & Littlefield).

The efficacy of experiential entrepreneurship education is often dependent upon students’ ability to identify a viable entrepreneurial opportunity early in the class or programme. Yet students often struggle with this process for a wide variety of reasons. Translating theory into the classroom may be considered a pathway to provide educators with the tools they need to help students enhance their opportunity recognition skills. In this article, we first review theories of opportunity recognition and challenges associated with teaching this topic. We then offer a pedagogy that addresses the content indicated by theory, a method of teaching the topic and propose an assessment structure. Within the pedagogical model provided, educators have the freedom to incorporate their preferred individual instructional tools to meet the needs of their learner audiences and to allow them to take advantage of their own personal resources.

Case study teaching is important in entrepreneurship classrooms. The typical way to use a case study to teach is to require students to read a written case study before class and then facilitate a discussion in class about the issues in the case study. However, there are innovative means beyond using case studies in this traditional way. An entrepreneurship classroom is the ideal setting to experiment with such innovations. Entrepreneurship educators can innovate by using novel and creative delivery modes to facilitate case study discussions in class. They can also apply new case study formats so that students learn from case study teaching in different ways from the traditional written approach. This article describes innovative case study delivery modes and formats in detail and outlines what can be done to effectively implement them when teaching entrepreneurship.

An enhanced, new venture simulation can be a game changer within a school’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, providing students with a holistic vision of a new venture and skills relevant to its potential success. The purpose of this article is to help faculty design and deliver a simulation experience that will engage, challenge, inspire and transform students into entrepreneurial enthusiasts with practical new venture knowledge and skills. Attention is given to (a) the factors to consider in choosing the right simulation, (b) the best practices for structuring a class for maximum impact and (c) the role of the instructor as an entrepreneurial coach.

Design thinking (also known as human-centred design) is a creative problem-solving framework that focuses on developing user-centred, effective solutions to well-defined problems. Given the focus in entrepreneurship education on factors like idea generation and opportunity recognition, design thinking is especially important. While popular in several fields such as engineering, business and computer science, the authors have developed a framework to help faculties use the principles of design thinking to design more effective and highly engaging student experiences in and out of the classroom. Called the Design Framework for Student Engagement (DFSE), the article outlines the key premises of the framework as well as the tools and strategies that teachers can use to create engaging student experiences.

Economies across the globe believe in entrepreneurship as an important component for economic development because it is helping countries to solve problems like unemployment or underemployment. As countries make policies and support systems to strengthen their entrepreneurial ecosystems for accelerated growth of their economies, they are increasingly focusing on entrepreneurship education (EE). This article explores various issues related to EE, pedagogies and ecosystems. With the help of survey technique, data of 157 respondents were collected. The article serves as a benchmark on university/institutes’ target group for EE, types of modules used, various supports provided by these universities/institutes to the target groups, preferences for teaching pedagogies and, most importantly, how the outcomes of EE are measured. Based on the findings, the article concludes with some recommendations to strengthen EE in India and in other regions of the globe.