Student Engagement in Entrepreneurship Education Programs: a Comparison between the Ca' Foscari Contamination Lab and the Australian eChallenge.

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to understand the insights of student engagement in entrepreneurship education projects and introduce a comparative perspective to improve the Ca’ Foscari experience. The case of the Ca’ Foscari Contamination Lab will be considered and it will be compared to a similar experience in Adelaide, the Australian eChallenge.

The first part provides an overview of the literature on student engagement. The main purpose of engagement is the improvement of students’ learning. A growing body of literature has identified several correlations between engagement and specific outcomes, such as critical thinking, practical competence and skills transferability, cognitive development, student satisfaction, and improved grades. After a general part on student engagement, the thesis narrows its focus to a more specific topic, namely entrepreneurship education, which includes a set of projects aimed at developing the entrepreneurial mindset of students through engaging methods. A ‘sense of initiative and entrepreneurship’ is one of the key competences recognized by the European Union as the tool to transform opportunities and ideas into value for others. The objectives of entrepreneurship education are to develop the entrepreneurial skills, to encourage the creation of small businesses and to improve young people’s enterprising role in the society and the economy. The Ca’ Foscari Contamination Lab is examined as an example of entrepreneurship education program that utilizes engaging methods to deliver its content and activities. Finally, a comparative perspective is introduced to compare the Contamination Lab with the Australian eChallenge and identify possibilities for the improvement of the Venetian workshop.