Abstract
In this paper we present the results of a scholarship of teaching and learning research project we conducted in 2016/17 at Renaissance College, University of New Brunswick. Our case study describes the challenges and successes of the student-centered re-design of a course about social entrepreneurship, a mandatory component of an undergraduate interdisciplinary leadership program. In particular, the project aimed at improvingStudents' engagement, andStudents' satisfactionparticularly for students who start the course at a lower engagement level.We first systematically evaluated pre-existing data on earlier runs of the course. Then we conducted interviews and a focus group with graduates in 2016 which provided additional information. The analysis of this dataset informed our comprehensive and systematic evidence-based redesign of the course for the offering in the winter of 2017. Finally, we used targeted surveys in March 2017 that provided data on the results of the course redesign and on student learning.In summary, the data suggested that the redesign of this course has significantly improved students’ learning experience, the clarity of course requirements, and students’ self-directed learning. This paper may be helpful also for scholarship of teaching and learning projects in other fields of study aiming at adult learner oriented and evidence-based course redesign.
Highlights
Putting you in the driver seat of your social innovation and entrepreneurial learning journey, this course focuses on social entrepreneurship in the context of social innovation and change leadership
While the response rates for both surveys and the resulting data may not be sufficient for robust statistical analyses, the data resulting for this case study suggested that the redesign and implementation of the syllabus and teaching and learning approach for this course was successful in terms of the key criteria of students' assessment of their learning experience in this course, their perception of clarity requirements, and their perception as to what degree this course encouraged them to think for themselves
The results suggest that more clarity in regard to course requirements and more engaging learning activities for all students may help overcome the potential dichotomy between students who enter the course with a strong interest and level of engagement in the subject area and those who mainly take the course because it is a mandatory component of their program (Mengel, forthcoming)
Summary
Putting you in the driver seat of your social innovation and entrepreneurial learning journey, this course focuses on social entrepreneurship in the context of social innovation and change leadership. Drawing heavily from self-directed and participative learning approaches, in this course you will explore frameworks, methodologies and implementations to experience, assess and analyze the impact, viability, and sustainability of strategies used by social enterprises; in particular, it investigates how entrepreneurs create and sustain socially oriented organizations and act as change agents in their respective communities. This course explores how entrepreneurs initiate, design, and implement change strategies in organizations in the context of social innovation; the latter can be done either by developing your own or by critiquing another social enterprise business plan. Learner expectations and introductory case study I Social
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