The Role of Challenge Based Learning in Improving the Entrepreneurial Mindset of Students: A Case Study

Abstract

The article highlights the influence of various elements of entrepreneurial education on students' entrepreneurial mindset. A case study of teaching entrepreneurship at GEA College — Faculty of Entrepreneurship (Entrepreneurship Programme), Slovenia, which has been investing for years in innovative forms of teaching entrepreneurship with an emphasis on challenge-based learning, is presented. We used a longitudinal qualitative research approach to analyse challenge-based learning interventions and progress of the students' entrepreneurial mindset. A longitudinal analysis was conducted between 2017 and 2020. The results showed that the third-year students provided more solution proposals compared to first- and second-year study students. Their solutions to the problems the company faced in the case study were more multidisciplinary, interconnected and they showed more maturity and comprehensiveness of the overview of the situation. Students in the third year also showed a higher degree of entrepreneurial mindset. Our results confirmed existing studies that challenge-based learning activities positively impact the entrepreneurial mindset and opens a new area of research on the connection between the study curriculum, challenge-based learning interventions, and the entrepreneurial mindset of students. We cannot generalize the results more widely, but they can represent good practice for entrepreneurship faculties in planning their curriculum.