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This Innovative Practice Category full paper presents research in which Entrepreneurial Minded Learning (EML) was implemented in introductory engineering classes, as an intervention, to study how EML influences self-efficacy between students of Hispanic and non-Hispanic ethnicities at a Hispanic Serving Institution. The EML tenet is to include the “three C’s” in project-based learning: curiosity, connections, and creating value. A key question is whether EML not only influences student learning but also the students’ confidence in being successful engineers. Much work has been done studying how EML affects learning, yet few studies look into the effect of the mindset on self-efficacy. Moreover, self-efficacy is known to differ depending on a person’s race and ethnicity. We studied three groups: (i) a cohort not exposed to EML; (ii) a cohort exposed to EML design projects lightly guided by a student mentor; (iii) a cohort exposed to EML design projects heavily guided by faculty and a graduate student. We performed pre and post-surveys to evaluate how strongly students identify as engineers when exposed (or not) to EML. We find that participation in an introductory engineering course itself may have more influence on students’ engineering self-efficacy than the specific level of EML within the course.
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This content will become publicly available on March 9, 2026
Fostering Entrepreneurial Mindsets: Designing Foundry-Guided Strategies to Develop Interdisciplinary Skills in Student Teams
This work-in-progress explores two critical components central to the foundations of our research. The first component is the introduction of a pedagogical approach for fostering collaboration and interdisciplinary communication, which is grounded in principles guided by an innovation-driven learning model (the Renaissance Foundry) and tied to the three core components of the KEEN Entrepreneurial Mindset: Curiosity, Connections, and Creating Value. We emphasize how these three components play a vital role in enhancing communication and collaboration across disciplines, particularly within Foundry-guided activities. The second component describes preliminary work of student teams from a required second-year course in a National Science Foundation National Research Traineeship (NSF-NRT) graduate level program, which included 11 trainees. As part of this work, we showcase the outcomes of their projects, drawing connections to the three C's of the KEEN Mindset, with a specific focus on how "Creating Value" is achieved through effective communication strategies.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2152218
- PAR ID:
- 10603938
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Society for Engineering Education Southeastern Annual Meeting
- Date Published:
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Renaissance Foundry Model KEEN Entrepreneurial Mindset Holistic Professional Foundry-guided learning Interdisciplinary communication
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Starkville, MS
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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