Worldwide entrepreneurship education (EE) is gaining popularity as an employability skill to prepare learners for a future of adaptability and lifelong learning. Its scholarship, however, is concerned that we have lost sight of what works, why, and how in EE. This is especially true for such novel learning objectives as preparation for lifelong learning. This quasi-experimental, mixed methods research sought answers to the question: of how EE pedagogy influences students’ self-directed learning readiness (SDLR). Statistically significant relations were found, especially between self-efficacy and SDLR. The impact of EE was found to be highly significant, which was explained by the effect of a stage-wise, mixed pedagogy approach to teaching/learning. Enhancement of self-efficacy and motivation for self-directed learning was found to benefit from a continuous cyclical teaching-learning process combining passive, participative and self-steered learning within and throughout each step of the learning process, in simulated and authentic learning contexts.
This thesis presents an exploration of ‘how entrepreneurship education pedagogy can enhance undergraduate business students’ autonomous motivation for self-directed learning’. It has twin, equally valuable, purposes: to make an original theoretical contribution and to improve professional practice in this area. The work addresses the lack of pedagogical research in entrepreneurship education that focuses on learner development, with a specific aim at development of self-directed learning skills for lifelong learning. The research is approached with a concurrent, mixed methods design, comparing pre- and a post-EE, self-assessment survey results from 245 students, enrolled in a Young Enterprise venture creation programme, and a control group at a Dutch university. With the use of open-question surveys among the same population, during and after the EE modules, as well as from focus group discussions with a selection of participating students and teachers, explanation was sought for the observations drawn from the quantitative study. Significant relationships were found between students’ self-reported maturity of autonomy, self-efficacy, and motivation for learning, and in how these relate to self-directed learning readiness. Entrepreneurship education was found to significantly moderate the relationship between the learning characteristics and self-directed learning, and to strengthen of the students’ perceived readiness for self-directed learning. Explanation for the impact of EE were found to be related to the stage-wise, mixed pedagogy approach to learning, that combines authentic learning with a hierarchical approach to competence development, and supportive team dynamics. The research contributes to practice with a proposed conceptual framework for understanding how to prepare for self-directed learning readiness and a teaching-learning framework for its development in formal educational settings. It contributes to knowledge with its deeper understanding of how students experience learning in EE and how that affects their willingness to pursue learning opportunities.
MULTIFILE
The chapter discusses the effect of hierarchically staging common entrepreneurship pedagogies (from passive, instructor-led to active self-steering) in an undergraduate level venture creation programme on its participants perceived ‘readiness’ to take ownership over their learning. Education literature argues that existentially transforming pedagogy, much like that of student venture creation programmes (VCP), is not fit for all students, hence leading some to thrive, and others to fear failure. Data collected from a purposive homogeneous sample of 185 undergraduate students at a Dutch university, using reliable measures for self-efficacy and readiness for self-directed learning were analysed. The results of the mixed-methods study suggest that students gain self-efficacy (readiness) to independently take ownership of their learning process through a pedagogical approach that facilitates gradual competence development in each phase of the VCP. A teaching / learning framework is discussed that may help educators foster perceived task-readiness for the radically new learning activities that characterise VCP education.
