Using Entrepreneurial Education to Develop Reflective Graduate Attributes - Transcript

Ilija Rašović:

In the final year of the Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences programme, we have two 20-credit modules dedicated to the development of students’ entrepreneurial mindset: they are Entrepreneurial Skills and the follow-on, Entrepreneurial Start-Up.

These modules allow students to engage in active and practical modes of learning, leveraging design thinking to generate and develop business ideas off their own bats, starting only from a problem statement.

The learning process is tough—at different times students find it exciting, frustrating and rewarding, and, as expected of working in an entrepreneurial environment, they develop many other graduate attributes along the way. Taking stock of this learning journey though is incredibly important.

Zoe Hope Bulaitis:

The assessment design for these modules asks students to demonstrate entrepreneurial skills within a university mark scheme. For example, students create business pitches in teams.

Importantly, the assessment design also includes reflective tasks, including an individual interview about their experience as entrepreneurs. In this, students are encouraged to articulate how they have cultivated the skills.

The new graduate attributes recognise ‘reflectiveness’ as a key skill in Birmingham students developing as ethical and active citizens. Embedding this skill within reflective assessments helps ensure that student self-awareness of their individual educational journeys can be foregrounded at module level.