Abstract
The introduction of entrepreneurship course as a core module in higher education institutions (HEIs) under the Malaysia Education Blueprint (MEB) 2015–2025 has not increased entrepreneurship initiatives. This is partly attributed to ineffective implementation of entrepreneurship skills in the HEI curriculum. Although attempts were made to delineate the central phenomena of entrepreneurship learning to develop entrepreneurial competencies and intention, there was no consistent outcome. This comparative study used empirical data to investigate the contribution of multidisciplinary learning environment and the use of “Through” methodology as an entrepreneurial education pedagogy to develop entrepreneurial competencies and intention among students. A two-phase stratified single-stage cluster sampling approach was adopted that involved stratifying the entire population of 260 second-year degree students into learning environment strata and partitioning the strata into mutually exclusive entrepreneurial education pedagogy clusters. Data was collected from every single subject within the clusters. Descriptive analytical statistics was used in gauging the effectiveness of the research learning environment and typology pedagogy. The findings revealed that even though entrepreneurial intention remains a challenge, multidisciplinary learning environment that involves students from different disciplinary programs doing entrepreneurial ventures such as experiential learning and taking calculated business risks are most effective in inculcating entrepreneurial competencies. This study has shown that having the appropriate learning environment and typology pedagogy, including consideration of the psychological appeal of students are essential in nurturing entrepreneurial competencies among students. The outcome of this study provides a better understanding for both, HEI academicians and the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) in making entrepreneurship learning more relevant to produce students with entrepreneurial competencies.
Highlights
The Malaysian government has introduced entrepreneurship as a core module in higher education institutions (HEIs) under the Malaysia Education Blueprint (Higher Education) 2015–2025
Whilst hygiene factor applies to various areas that are extrinsic to an individual, it is used for the purpose of this research to represent the multidisciplinary environment of which students interact
Prior to the actual experiment, a pilot test was conducted to gain better insight into the factor structure of the model using SPSS factor analysis. This exercise was carried out a semester prior to the actual test, involving a total of 125 students from four randomly selected classes
Summary
The Malaysian government has introduced entrepreneurship as a core module in HEIs under the Malaysia Education Blueprint (Higher Education) 2015–2025. In the cyclical entrepreneurial learning process, empowerment attained from inner-directed personal interest creates a strong internal motivation leading to the development of enterprising, and tacit learning as the by-product of the surrounding environment in which the student operates. This process continuously enhances and develops new knowledge in the cyclical process resulting in the development of entrepreneurial competencies (Taatila, 2010). Setting up a multidisciplinary learning environment in HEIs is always a challenge due to conflicting schedules and timetables set across different academic disciplines As such it is not unusual for individual academic disciplines to conduct their own lessons for common subjects that could otherwise be leveraged across all disciplines. The second objective is to determine the effect of a multidisciplinary learning environment in fostering entrepreneurial skills and the final objective is to evaluate the transformational effect of entrepreneurial traits based on a combination of “Through” methodology in a multidisciplinary learning environment
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