Entrepreneurship Education

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Assessment within Entrepreneurship Education

Vocational business courses tended to be assessed wholly or mainly by internally set and marked assignments relying on written submissions.

The lack of clear learning outcomes in these areas meant that learners gained limited understanding of the economy, interest rates and their impact, recession, inflation, why prices vary and the ownership of companies.

This was held to be due to a narrow and simplistic approach to the identification of assessment criteria that was common on such courses, and the fact that assignments were designed only to ensure that students were able to demonstrate these criteria in their written submissions

Even coursework that achieved high grades was often descriptive, included little evidence of first-hand research or direct contact with businesses, and lacked evidence of analysis or evaluation.
Source: Economics, Business and Enterprise Education June 2011, No 100086

Regular evaluation of the activities are carried out including student feedback using concrete learning outcomes that are also defined and assessed as part of formal exams. Positive student feedback is seen as a driver for the development of entrepreneurial learning.

Source: Entrepreneurship Education - A Guide for Educators

Student assessment methods are also needed which evaluate them against appropriate criteria related more to the essential features of entrepreneurship such as learning from mistakes, risk taking, innovation and creativity, rather than knowledge acquisition. If such methods don’t change, the job of the teacher as facilitator will be impossible to realise fully in practice.
Source: Entrepreneurship Education: Enabling Teachers as a Critical Success Factor

Entrepreneurial learning outcomes most often referred to in primary education are those linked to attitudes, specifically entrepreneurial attitudes of ‘taking the initiative and risk taking, critical thinking, creativity and problem solving’. At this level of education, no country defines learning outcomes linked to practical entrepreneurial skills despite the widespread support for experiential learning.  

In secondary schools, the most widely applied category of learning outcomes for entrepreneurship education is for  attitudes ‘taking the initiative and risk taking, critical thinking, creativity and problem solving’. The number of countries promoting learning outcomes linked to entrepreneurial knowledge increases with the level of education.
Source: Entrepreneurship Education at School in Europe: National Strategies, Curricula and Learning Outcomes