Strategies for teaching opportunity identification at science students. Experiences of expert teachers.

Abstract

In Europe entrepreneurship education is promoted by governmental policies at al levels of education. Because opportunity identification or opportunity recognition is at the heart of entrepreneurship (Nixdorff & Solomon, 2007), it should be part of entrepreneurship education. In most programs opportunity identification is an implicit element in entrepreneurship education. For example in writing business plans tudents are expected to come up with business ideas, and subsequently explore their market potential and feasibility. However, the process of business identification is hardly emphasized in education. Some studies have been reported on this issue (DeTienne & Chandler, 2004; Saks & Gaglio, 2002; Kickul, 2006), however validated strategies on how to design education on opportunity identification have scarcely been published and are hard to deduct from scientific and non-scientific sources. Therefore a need exists for validated guidelines or strategies for teaching opportunity identification. In a previous study strategies to foster science students’ competence to identify opportunities were elaborated, grounded on practical experiences and on literature, and evaluated in the classroom (Nab, Pilot & Bulte, 2009). In this study four design strategies have been proposed: 1) stimulate knowledge and skills on idea generation techniques, 2) stimulate the conceptualization and evaluation business opportunities, 3) let students transfer their knowledge and skills in authentic tasks, and 4) challenge students to abandon their comfort zone. The present study intends to evaluate the value of these strategies in education by asking expert teachers in science education whether they use these strategies in teaching opportunity identification, and in what way, and whether they use other successful strategies. This study aims at refinement and adjustment of strategies that might be used for designing education on opportunity identification.