Assessing engineering entrepreneurship

Abstract

Cross-disciplinary technology entrepreneurship programs are rapidly emerging in colleges and universities across the United States, as well as Europe and Asia. But what effect do these programs have on their students? How can these effects be measured? These questions are beginning to be answered in the new Engineering Entrepreneurship Minor at The Pennsylvania State University. We have brought together faculty from the colleges of engineering, business, and IST (Information Sciences and Technology) to develop a problem-based curriculum designed to encourage creativity, customer-oriented design, and to foster understanding of the entrepreneurial business world. This paper will present the outline and initial findings of our assessment plan. Lessons learned in the first 18 months of course offering will be shared, and recent improvements (inclusion of online portfolios and improved curriculum co-ordination between courses) are discussed.