Entrepreneurship
The Entrepreneur In You
A guided exploration
Ashenafi Biru
Senior Lecturer, Management (Entrepreneurship)
Senior Lecturer, Management (Entrepreneurship)
Spyros Schismenos
Lecturer, Humanitarian Engineering, School of Engineering
Lecturer, Humanitarian Engineering, School of Engineering
This project integrates analogue and collaborative gamification into class activities, to provide students with a dynamic and engaging learning environment and the opportunity to cultivate essential entrepreneurial skills, mindset and behaviours. This project was piloted in the foundation courses in Business and Engineering.
Resources
> Teacher resource
> Board game + resources
Problem Statement
Students across disciplines often show a strong desire to engage in entrepreneurial activities and demonstrate potential for success as entrepreneurs. However, they don't always have the entrepreneurial capabilities to effectively explore, innovate, and leverage opportunities for creating valuable products and services. This project developed an analogue board game to support students to develop entrepreneurial skills that also supported collaboration, communication and empathy
Project Overview
This project aims to elevate the personal entrepreneurial capabilities of students enrolled in The Foundations of Entrepreneurship (a core course in the Bachelor of Business) and Introduction to Professional Engineering Practice (a core course in the Bachelor of Engineering) at RMIT University - a combined number of over 1500 students. Recognising the imperative to bridge the gap in entrepreneurial competencies among RMIT students, our multifaceted approach revolves around serious (educational) gamification. The activities have been meticulously designed to cultivate and enhance students’ personal entrepreneurial capabilities while concurrently fostering the development of crucial digital skills. For the development of the game, we used Adobe Tools, including Adobe FireFly, Photoshop and Express. Through the game, students will be encouraged to utilise Adobe tools to present their outcomes in class, enhancing digital literacy and interpersonal skills.
Emergent Outcomes
The board game has been trialed with RMIT students in 2024 to evaluate its effectiveness and gather constructive feedback for refining the rulebook. During the trial phase, students actively engaged with the game, participating in both the development and testing processes. Their involvement provided valuable insights into the game’s functionality and areas for improvement. Examples of their work include initial game prototypes and feedback reports, which highlight how students navigated the entrepreneurial scenarios and applied their learning. The feedback collected will inform the final adjustments to the rulebook and ensure the game’s full integration into the course curriculum for the first semester of next year (2025, S1). Supporting materials created for the project include revised game rules, instructional guides, and digital resources to aid in both game development and classroom implementation. These materials are designed to enhance student engagement and ensure a seamless integration of the board game into the course curriculum.
Digital Capability Building
Our strategy acknowledges the significance of tailoring learning experiences to cater to individual learning styles. In the game ‘The Entrepreneur In You’ we used Adobe FireFly, Photoshop and Express to forge a personalised learning environment that is responsive to students’ strengths and areas for improvement. This was achieved through an emphasis on self-paced learning, allowing students to explore and develop entrepreneurial skills at their comfort level. The gamified activities which were developed using the aforementioned Adobe programs, immersing students in realistic entrepreneurial scenarios, demanding navigation of digital tools commonly used in the business world. This hands-on approach is geared towards cultivating digital competence and providing practical experiences in areas such as ideation, value creation, and market research.
Key Learnings
Adobe tools can be used in hands-on activities. We’ve learned that gamifying course activities make teaching and learning enjoyable and enhance creativity and critical thinking of students. Our project embeds the principles of Active, Applied, and Authentic learning in the digital context. This ensures that students actively engage with digital content and apply digital skills in authentic entrepreneurial scenarios. By mirroring real-world challenges, our alignment with industry practices prepares RMIT students for the authentic digital demands of the entrepreneurial landscape, underscoring the practical application of digital skills in their future endeavours.
