Engineering students' experiences of entrepreneurship education : a qualitative approach
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2015-04-09
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Abstract
Tuleviku insenerid peavad lisaks erialastele teadmistele oskama märgata ärivõimalusi, neid kriitiliselt hinnata ning ellu viia. Inseneril on muu hulgas tarvis teada, kuidas ettevõtteid luua ja neid jätkusuutlikuks muuta, kuidas moodustada meeskondi ja motiveerida töötajaid, kasuks tuleb oskus juhtida investeeringuid. Seega, tuleviku inseneridelt oodatakse nii sügavaid erialaseid teadmisi kui ka loovust, ettevõtlikku hoiakut ja suutlikkust kogutud teadmisi rakendada.
Kuigi inseneriõppe pakkujad võtavad õppetöö planeerimisel üha enam arvesse vajadust loomingulisuse ja innovatsiooniprotsesside tundmise järele, ei osata või ei soovita tihtipeale neid teadmisi ettevõtlusõppega lõimida. Taolisi lahknevusi õppekavade ja tööturu ootuste vahel kajastavad samuti paljud Euroopa Liidu (edaspidi EL) raportid, milles tuuakse välja, et just ettevõtlusõpe võimaldab haridust ajakohastada, toetada elukestvat õpet ning arvestada paremini tööturu ootusi. Ettevõtlusõpe õpetabki õppijat märkama enda ümber uusi (äri)võimalusi, lahendama probleeme loovalt, tulema toime ebakindluse ja kiirelt muutuvate või ootamatute asjaoludega. Ettevõtlusõppes õpitakse riske maandama, klientidele väärtust looma, turgude atraktiivsust hindama, oma ideid ellu viima ja palju muud elus vajalikku. Seetõttu aitabki ettevõtlusõppe lõimimine õppekavadesse tööturu ootustega paremini arvestada. Muu hulgas toetab ettevõtlusõpe üldiste oskuste, nagu eneseefektiivsuse ja –regulatsiooni arendamist.
Lähtudes ELi aruannetest ja nendega seonduvatest hariduse arendamist toetavatest rahastusvõimalustest, on ELi mitme riigi haridusministeeriumid algatanud programme ettevõtlusõppe edendamiseks ja lõimimiseks õppekavadesse kõikidel haridustasemetel. Paraku ei näe kõik haridusasutused eelmainitud arenguid ilmtingimata hariduse ajakohastamise ja tähenduslikuma õpikogemuse pakkumise võimalusena. Mõistmaks ettevõtlusõppe väärtust hariduse kaasajastamisel, on vaja rohkem informatsiooni ja paremat arusaama sellest, kuidas ettevõtlusõpet õppekavadesse integreerida, millised on ettevõtlusõppe protsessid ja sobivad õppemeetodid. Lähtuvalt eelnevast, oli doktoritöö eesmärgiks uurida inseneriõppe tudengite ettevõtlusõppe kogemusi kolmest vaatenurgast lähtudes: 1) kuidas inseneriõppe tudengid ettevõtlusõpet kogesid, 2) milliseid arusaamu oma õppimise tulemusel väljendasid ning 3) missuguseid emotsioone tudengid õppeprotsessist lähtuvalt kirjeldasid. Uuringu aluseks olnud ettevõtluskursus töötati välja integratiivse pedagoogika mudeli põhjal (edaspidi IPM). IPM toetub sotsiaal-konstruktivistlikule õpikäsitlusele ja võimaldab integreerida peamiselt nelja liiki teadmisi: teoreetilisi/kontseptuaalseid, praktilisi/kogemuslikke, sotsiaal-kultuurilisi ja eneseregulatsiooniga seonduvaid teadmisi. IPMile annab lisandväärtuse asjaolu, et seda saab rakendada lisaks ettevõtlusõppele ka üldiste oskuste arendamiseks paljudes õppekavades, sealhulgas inseneriõppes.
Toetudes uuringu tulemustele, saab öelda, et inseneriõppe üliõpilaste õpikogemused ettevõtlusõppest varieerusid. Doktoritöö esimese uuringu tulemusena esitati neli kvalitatiivselt erinevat kategooriat , kus ettevõtlusõpet kogeti kui 1) esimest sammu enesejuhitud õppimise suunas, 2) ettevalmistust tööeluks, 3) esimest sammu ettevõtjaks saamisel ning 4) konteksti, kus saab arendada juhtimisoskusi ja võtta vastutust meeskonna saavutuste eest. Doktoritöö teises uuringus väljendasid inseneriõppe tudengid nelja kvalitatiivselt erinevat õpikontseptsiooni ettevõtlusõppest. Nendes tulemustes käsitleti ettevõtlusõpet inseneriõppes kui 1) allikat ideede rakendamiseks insenerivaldkonnas, 2) allikat uue ja sügavama arusaama tekkimiseks ettevõtlusega seonduvatest teemadest, 3) kindlale tegevusele suunatud personaalset arengut ning 4) eneseteostust meeskonnatöös. Nende kahe uuringu õpikogemuste ja õpikontseptsioonide variatsioonide tulemusena toodi välja õpiprotsessis esinevad pedagoogiliselt olulised aspektid, mis aitavad mõista, kuidas toimus õppimine ning millised meetodid õppeprotsessi planeerimisel ja rakendamisel toetavad nii õppijate enesearengut kui ka sügavamat, tähenduslikumat õppimist. Doktoritöö kolmandas uuringus on välja toodud kolm peamist emotsioonide tekkimise allikat, mis mõjutasid tudengite õppimist kõige enam. Nendeks olid 1) uus õpikeskkond (üleminek traditsiooniliselt õppelt aktiivõppele), 2) ühine ehk koosõppimine ja 3) raskusi valmistavad (keerulised) ülesanded. Need kolm peamist emotsioonide allikat sisaldasid omakorda emotsioonide alam-allikaid. Kõik analüüsi käigus välja toodud emotsioonide allikad esindavad õppimises neid aspekte, mis on pedagoogiliselt olulised. Lisaks õppimises esinenud emotsioonide allikate tuvastamisele avaldusid analüüsi käigus dünaamilised mustrid, mis aitavad mõista, kuidas ettevõtlusõppes õppijate emotsioonid väljenduvad ja aitavad luua paremaid võimalusi õppija toetamiseks õppeprotsessis.
Doktoritöö pedagoogiliste järelduste osas on välja toodud kõigi kolme uuringu tulemusel esile kerkinud olulisimad ettevõtlusõppega seonduvad põhimõtted, mis toetavad üliõpilaste tähenduslikumat ja sügavamat õppimist. Näiteks kirjeldatakse, millist mõju avaldab õppijatele üleminek traditsioonilisest õpikeskkonnast sotsiaal-konstruktivistlikule ja mida saab õppejõud teha selleks, et seda üleminekut toetada. Sotsiaal-konstruktivistlikus õpikäsitluses ja ettevõtlusõppes on keskne roll meekonnatööl. Just meeskonnatööga seotud mitmed olulised protsessid väärivad erilist tähelepanu, tagamaks sügavat õppimist. Seetõttu on meeskonnatöös kasulik rakendada sobivaid tehnikaid, mis toetavad õppimist. Õpikeskkond, meeskonnatöö, ajakasutus, keerulised ülesanded ja probleemid koostoimes välise maailmaga on õppimises paljude emotsioonide allikaks ja seda kõike on õpiprotsessis tarvis arvestada. Emotsioonidel on õppimises tähtis roll, mistõttu on õppejõul oluline mõista, kuidas toetada emotsioonide abil sügavamat õppimist nii õpet kavandades, õppe- ja õpiprotsessi kestel kui ka õppijate arengut hinnates.
Kokkuvõtteks, doktoritöö tulemused parendavad seniseid õpetamistavasid, tõstes õpetajakoolituses tähelepanu keskpunkti ettevõtlusalaseid teadmisi, mis on pedagoogiliselt olulised ja toetavad õppijat. Rõhutamist väärib, et käesoleva doktoritöö pedagoogilised järeldused ületavad ettevõtlusõppe piire ja on rakendatavad paljudes tõsielulise sisuga (või tõsielu simuleerivates) õpikeskkondades. Ettevõtlusõppe integreerimiseks ja õpetamiseks välja pakutud sotsiaal-konstruktivistlikel põhimõtetel põhinev IPM pakub hea raamistiku ja vahendid üldiste oskuste ning ettevõtliku meelelaadi arendamiseks eri valdkondades mittemajanduse erialadel.
Future engineers need to develop skills beyond expertise specific to their field. They should be able to recognise and evaluate business opportunities and commercialise them. In sum, future engineers are expected to possess professional expertise, creativity, an entrepreneurial attitude and the ability to apply these characteristics to real life situations. Nonetheless, while engineering education providers strive to take into account the need for innovation and creativity, they often overlook the importance of integrating this knowledge with entrepreneurship education. The lack of yet need for this type of knowledge is also highlighted in many reports within the European Union and abroad. Entrepreneurship education is believed to be able to fill this gap, since it is about spotting new opportunities, developing real products for real customers, coping with unplanned randomly occurring real-life events, taking risks, and discerning, evaluating and commercialising opportunities for today’s changing markets. Among other things, entrepreneurship education supports the development of generic skills, coping with uncertainties and being effective. Based on European Union reports and co-existing funding opportunities, ministries of education in EU countries have started to launch various programmes for promoting and integrating entrepreneurship education in curricula on all educational levels. However, educational institutions do not always see this development as an opportunity to modernise education and enrich and deepen students’ learning experiences. To promote modernising education through entrepreneurship education, a better understanding of how to integrate it into curricula as well as about entrepreneurial learning processes and learning methods is needed. Based on this line of thought, the overall aim of this dissertation was to acquire information about and increase the understanding of engineering students’ learning experiences in entrepreneurship education from the learners’ perspective. Students’ experiences were investigated from three different angles, with three specific questions, as follows: 1) How did engineering students experience studying entrepreneurship as part of their study programme? 2) What kind of conceptions of entrepreneurial learning did engineering students express during their entrepreneurship course? 3) What are the sources and dynamics of emotions in entrepreneurial learning? The entrepreneurship course that was investigated was designed based on the integrative pedagogy model (IPM). IPM is based on socio-constructivist principles and the integration of different types of knowledge, namely, theoretical/conceptual, practical/experiential, sociocultural, and self-regulative knowledge. The real value of this learning model lays in its functionality and offering practical tools for teaching, which means that it could be applied for developing generic skills across curricula, not only in engineering education. The results of this doctoral study revealed variation in students’ learning experiences. The findings of the first sub-study resulted in four qualitatively different categories of experiencing entrepreneurship; namely, as: 1) a first step to self-directed learning; 2) a preparation for work life; 3) a path to possible self-employment; and 4) a context for developing leadership and responsibility for team achievement. The analysis of the second sub-study revealed four qualitatively different engineering student conceptions of entrepreneurial learning; namely, they saw its main use in: 1) applying entrepreneurial ideas to engineering; 2) understanding entrepreneurial issues in a new way; 3) learning action-oriented personal development; and 4) achieving self-realisation through collective effort. The third sub-study revealed three main sources of emotions toward entrepreneurship education; namely: 1) a new kind of learning environment; 2) a collaborative learning; and 3) challenging tasks. Furthermore, each source of emotions consisted of three subcategories. Pedagogical implications identified during this research highlight pedagogically important aspects that are crucial in order to support students’ more significant learning experiences. For example, the kind of effects the transition from a traditional to a socio-constructivist learning environment might have and what could be done to support such a transition. Team-based learning, which is central to socio-constructivist and entrepreneurial learning, has different phases and aspects that need to be addressed during learning processes. Other aspects of learning, such as time constraints, challenging tasks, interaction with the outer world were found to have a significant impact on learning experiences. Thus, pedagogically important aspects have to be taken into account while planning teaching/learning, as well as during the process and when assessing students’ progress. Being aware of pedagogically important aspects that can lead students toward significant and deep learning experiences should also be addressed in teacher training. This information can be used to improve teaching practices. It is also important to emphasise that the pedagogical implications presented in this dissertation are not limited to entrepreneurship education, but can be applied to different learning settings that feature authentic, real-life (simulating) content.
Future engineers need to develop skills beyond expertise specific to their field. They should be able to recognise and evaluate business opportunities and commercialise them. In sum, future engineers are expected to possess professional expertise, creativity, an entrepreneurial attitude and the ability to apply these characteristics to real life situations. Nonetheless, while engineering education providers strive to take into account the need for innovation and creativity, they often overlook the importance of integrating this knowledge with entrepreneurship education. The lack of yet need for this type of knowledge is also highlighted in many reports within the European Union and abroad. Entrepreneurship education is believed to be able to fill this gap, since it is about spotting new opportunities, developing real products for real customers, coping with unplanned randomly occurring real-life events, taking risks, and discerning, evaluating and commercialising opportunities for today’s changing markets. Among other things, entrepreneurship education supports the development of generic skills, coping with uncertainties and being effective. Based on European Union reports and co-existing funding opportunities, ministries of education in EU countries have started to launch various programmes for promoting and integrating entrepreneurship education in curricula on all educational levels. However, educational institutions do not always see this development as an opportunity to modernise education and enrich and deepen students’ learning experiences. To promote modernising education through entrepreneurship education, a better understanding of how to integrate it into curricula as well as about entrepreneurial learning processes and learning methods is needed. Based on this line of thought, the overall aim of this dissertation was to acquire information about and increase the understanding of engineering students’ learning experiences in entrepreneurship education from the learners’ perspective. Students’ experiences were investigated from three different angles, with three specific questions, as follows: 1) How did engineering students experience studying entrepreneurship as part of their study programme? 2) What kind of conceptions of entrepreneurial learning did engineering students express during their entrepreneurship course? 3) What are the sources and dynamics of emotions in entrepreneurial learning? The entrepreneurship course that was investigated was designed based on the integrative pedagogy model (IPM). IPM is based on socio-constructivist principles and the integration of different types of knowledge, namely, theoretical/conceptual, practical/experiential, sociocultural, and self-regulative knowledge. The real value of this learning model lays in its functionality and offering practical tools for teaching, which means that it could be applied for developing generic skills across curricula, not only in engineering education. The results of this doctoral study revealed variation in students’ learning experiences. The findings of the first sub-study resulted in four qualitatively different categories of experiencing entrepreneurship; namely, as: 1) a first step to self-directed learning; 2) a preparation for work life; 3) a path to possible self-employment; and 4) a context for developing leadership and responsibility for team achievement. The analysis of the second sub-study revealed four qualitatively different engineering student conceptions of entrepreneurial learning; namely, they saw its main use in: 1) applying entrepreneurial ideas to engineering; 2) understanding entrepreneurial issues in a new way; 3) learning action-oriented personal development; and 4) achieving self-realisation through collective effort. The third sub-study revealed three main sources of emotions toward entrepreneurship education; namely: 1) a new kind of learning environment; 2) a collaborative learning; and 3) challenging tasks. Furthermore, each source of emotions consisted of three subcategories. Pedagogical implications identified during this research highlight pedagogically important aspects that are crucial in order to support students’ more significant learning experiences. For example, the kind of effects the transition from a traditional to a socio-constructivist learning environment might have and what could be done to support such a transition. Team-based learning, which is central to socio-constructivist and entrepreneurial learning, has different phases and aspects that need to be addressed during learning processes. Other aspects of learning, such as time constraints, challenging tasks, interaction with the outer world were found to have a significant impact on learning experiences. Thus, pedagogically important aspects have to be taken into account while planning teaching/learning, as well as during the process and when assessing students’ progress. Being aware of pedagogically important aspects that can lead students toward significant and deep learning experiences should also be addressed in teacher training. This information can be used to improve teaching practices. It is also important to emphasise that the pedagogical implications presented in this dissertation are not limited to entrepreneurship education, but can be applied to different learning settings that feature authentic, real-life (simulating) content.
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