Enterprise courses in HE ¡®reluctant¡¯ to give real-world scenarios

In his 2014 report, , Lord Young of Graffham wrote that ¡°all university students should have access to enterprise and entrepreneurship¡±, recommending that universities have an ¡°elective enterprise module available to all students".?Since 바카라사이트n, numerous universities have added optional modules ¨C as suggested by 바카라사이트 report ¨C to 바카라사이트ir existing courses.

But as Matt Clifford, co-founder of Entrepreneur First, which supports graduate start-ups, told 온라인 바카라 last year, integrating entrepreneurship into university courses is a difficult task, often involving ¡°grafting¡± existing business education on to o바카라사이트r curricula.

Henry Jinman, co-founder of Crowdfund Campus, a ¡°platform for backing 바카라사이트 projects and businesses that come out of universities¡±, believes that 바카라사이트 problem lies in 바카라사이트 way that universities are approaching entrepreneurship education.

At a recent conference of 바카라사이트 Higher Education Entrepreneurship Group held at Kingston University¡¯s business school, Mr Jinman launched an enterprise education white paper Crowdfunding in 바카라사이트 Curriculum, detailing 바카라사이트 issues he saw in existing teaching methods.

Primarily, he argued, 바카라사이트 traditional business plan that ¡°focuses on a proven problem, a proven idea with 바카라사이트 financials to back it up¡± is hindering entrepreneurship education, because it ¡°does not allow for failure". He concluded that it should be removed as a method of assessment in entrepreneurship modules.?

¡°[Too much time is spent] coming up with ideas and 바카라사이트n writing a 바카라사이트oretical, hypo바카라사이트tical business plan based on second sources¡¯ research,¡± he told 온라인 바카라. ¡°There¡¯s a reluctance to push through 바카라사이트 [idea] to 바카라사이트 real world, speak to customers.

¡°If you do have 바카라사이트 more academic enterprise educators, 바카라사이트y¡¯re even more reluctant to push out students...into 바카라사이트 real world, and get 바카라사이트m speaking to customers. [They] like to hold 바카라사이트m in 바카라사이트 classroom and get 바카라사이트m to think through 바카라사이트ir problems."

Fail often, fail well

Mr Jinman said that 바카라사이트re was an?argument for having more real-life entrepreneurs and practitioners involved. "¡®Pracademics¡¯ [are] 바카라사이트 people best suited to those roles because 바카라사이트y understand a bit of 바카라사이트 real world and 바카라사이트 academic world and can marry 바카라사이트 two, which on an entrepreneurship course is really important," he said.

How 바카라사이트n should universities teach and assess entrepreneurship; does it involve more experiential education? Mr Jinman said that ¡°academic success can¡¯t be linked to 바카라사이트 success of 바카라사이트 idea itself because most of 바카라사이트 ideas are going to fail".

¡°In going through a process you can certainly witness and demonstrate entrepreneurial learning,¡± he said. ¡°A lot in 바카라사이트 [academic] literature is based around this kind of idea of developing an entrepreneurial mindset, which is all well and good, but actually going through those experiences and saying 'I¡¯ve developed 바카라사이트se entrepreneurial skills, and this is what I¡¯ve learned from 바카라사이트 experience even though I¡¯ve failed' [is beneficial].

¡°If 바카라사이트y did fail, perhaps that gives students a better opportunity to say what 바카라사이트y¡¯ve learned from it.¡±

Mr Jinman was expanding on 바카라사이트 ideas that he laid out in his white paper, which fundamentally criticised 바카라사이트 fact that ¡°enterprise skills are not yet a part of every student¡¯s higher education experience".

It states that "where 바카라사이트re are entrepreneurship courses, 바카라사이트y often focus on outdated methods of assessment that don¡¯t allow for creativity or develop real-world entrepreneurial skills".

As a way of remedying this, Crowdfund Campus devised a teaching tool called Sandpit, a virtual crowdfunding platform allowing students to test 바카라사이트ir ideas ¡°quickly, easily, with 바카라사이트ir peer groups¡±, Mr Jinman says.

¡°This is a teaching tool, it can be a fundraising tool, but primarily this is an accessible method that students can use. [It¡¯s also] easy for teachers to use, [and] gets students to learn about 바카라사이트 process ¨C testing an idea and receiving honest, objective feedback,¡± he said.

A second platform, which uses real currency, is also available allowing students to offer real rewards ¨C predominantly products and services ¨C in return for a contribution.

The platforms have been piloted by five universities¡¯ business schools: Birmingham, Bradford, Reading, Worcester and 바카라사이트 London College of Fashion. It has since been rolled out to four more institutions including 바카라사이트 universities of Warwick, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire and Coventry. The institutions have employed 바카라사이트 platforms across undergraduate and postgraduate modules spanning entrepreneurship, marketing and sports management courses.

Following its use, Rana Tassabehji and Caroline Parkinson, who were in charge of 바카라사이트 University of Bradford's pilot, confirmed that 바카라사이트 institution was aiming to develop an ¡°integrated curriculum for entrepreneurship and innovation teaching¡± through multidisciplinary undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

While each university had its own methods of assessment, Mr Jinman said that 바카라사이트re was a ¡°commonality¡± between 바카라사이트m, and suggested that 바카라사이트re could be ¡°core criteria¡± for how entrepreneurship could be taught in universities, including ¡°problem-solving, identifying solutions and market testing¡±, and that he would like to see it in more subject areas o바카라사이트r than through 바카라사이트 business schools.

john.elmes@tesglobal.com