Perceived Gaps in Infopreneurship Education and Research in the Faculty of Communication and Information Science at the National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe, in the Period 2011–2018

Abstract

Infopreneurship education at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Zimbabwe is a course designed to provide students with the requisite skills and knowledge to identify a potential business idea centred on information- or knowledge-related services. Besides a few studies that have been done to date by academics and students, the infopreneurship content offered at NUST seems to be thin and excludes key topics. This study sought to investigate the perceived gaps in infopreneurship education and research in the Faculty of Communication and Information Science (CIS) at NUST in the period 2011–2018. A descriptive survey research design was employed and data were collected using content and document analysis, questionnaires, and interviews. Purposive sampling was used to select 46 undergraduate students from the departments of Library and Information Science (LIS) and Records and Archives Management (RAM) who had just completed a course on infopreneurship. The findings reveal that very few studies on infopreneurship have been conducted by undergraduate and postgraduate students in the RAM and LIS departments from 2011 to 2018, let alone academics in the same faculty. The findings indicate that although the infopreneurship curriculum has undergone some changes over the years, it still lacks content on business aspects. This study recommends that students be encouraged to undertake research on infopreneurship, and that the infopreneurship course be reviewed to include topics on business analysis, innovation and idea generation, market research, technology entrepreneurship, and financial management and planning. The study also recommends that the CIS Faculty engage in field trips to established infopreneurship businesses to facilitate practical learning orientation for infopreneurship education.