Evaluating an interfaculty entrepreneurship program based on challenge-based learning through the EntreComp framework

Abstract

This paper evaluates an interfaculty entrepreneurship program delivered by means of challenge-based learning, where 25 students from diverse faculties and degree programs worked in teams on diverse challenges for a week. Students' learning was assessed through an online survey based on the EntreComp framework and focus groups, both administered at the end of the experience. The results suggest that the main competence developed was teamwork in the context of heterogenous groups, although teamwork also fostered the development of a wide range of other EntreComp competences. The EntreComp framework was useful for evaluating competence development, providing a “top-down” framework that acted as a benchmark, provided it was complemented by a contextual “bottom-up” approach that accounted for the learning outcomes achieved by students. Taking the literature on wicked problems as a basis, the paper next focuses on the features a challenge should have to trigger learning in students. The results suggest that the choice and formulation of challenges should take account of the degree of wickedness of the problem and the solution as well as learners’ previous knowledge of the business.