Interactive approaches for teaching entrepreneurship

Abstract: Games are not a new method of teaching in education; however, their impact is not well understood in Entrepreneurial Education. These two concepts have been merged in the past with mostly quantitative approaches viewing existing structures. This study contributes to the combination by inductively elaborating on a gamified experience (The Mount Everest Challenge) by presenting the perception of students and a teacher in Entrepreneurial Education. Initially the domain of Entrepreneurial Education is presented in a theoretical framework. The phenomenon seems to have transitioned from a strict causal practice to a socially constructed complex experience. Institutions have adapted and adopted action oriented and experiential methods for approaching this complexity in Entrepreneurial Education, including games and gamified simulations. With theory on Entrepreneurial Education, we define three dimensions in fostering entrepreneurial activities: agency, self-awareness and social awareness. With the commonly presented perspective in entrepreneurship of effectuation and the perceptions from students in Entrepreneurial Education we found that institutions are well aligned with theory in the understanding of what fosters entrepreneurial activities however both effectuation and gamification appear to have limited impact on students’ social awareness. This has implications to further explore methods for increased social awareness in entrepreneurial education.