Final report - European Commission - Europa

TEACHING OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP ACROSS DIFFERENT SUBJECTSAngela Short, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Ireland.Entrepreneurship as a module in its own right has been taught at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DKIT) in some formsince the mid 1980s. Initially originating from within the Institute’s Business School, entrepreneurship first appearedon the curriculum as “Innovation Studies” and “Enterprise Development”. The content, structure, duration anddelivery style of such modules have developed significantly over the years, resulting in a differentiation between bothlevels and disciplines. Currently, entrepreneurship is taught at DKIT across all four schools/faculties (Business &Humanities; Informatics & Creative Media; Nursing & Health Studies; Engineering) and across levels 6, 7, 8 and 9 ofthe NQAI framework.Commencing at level 6 (Higher Certificate), students within the School of Business & Humanities will encounterentrepreneurship under the heading of “Creativity & Innovation” – an exciting and highly practical one-semestermodule which introduces students to problem solving and idea generation for the purposes of new venture creation.The module is taught interactively in workshop-style sessions and, although it carries 5 ECTS, there is no formal writtenexam. Rather, a team-based creativity project forms the basis of the assessment. Students can then progress tolevel 7, where they will encounter “Entrepreneurship”, a module offering a higher level of study with a more theoreticaland academic content, along with the “Business Project” where students will research the potential for settingup a new business in the region.Entrepreneurship is taught within programmes as diverse as Agricultural Science, Sports Leadership, Hospitality andTourism, Event Management, Food Science, Engineering, Early Childhood Studies, Creative Multi-Media, CulturalStudies, Business Information Systems, Accounting & Finance, Marketing and Business Studies. DKIT, through itsCentre for Entrepreneurship Research, keeps up to date with current research in the field of entrepreneurshipeducation and continues to develop and enhance its entrepreneurship programme offerings. A recently funded EUprogramme – INICIA – in which DKIT played a key role through the Irish organisation TecNet, helped the Institute tocompletely redesign its first year entrepreneurship modules. As a result, only the practical creative and innovativeelements of entrepreneurship are taught in first year, with the theoretical components being covered later in thecurriculum. This facilitates students to think creatively right from the beginning.41Entrepreneurship Education in Europe: Fostering Entrepreneurial Mindsets through Education and Learning