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A Summer Program Focused on Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset in the Context of the NAE Grand Challenges for Engineering

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Conference

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Location

Virtual On line

Publication Date

June 22, 2020

Start Date

June 22, 2020

End Date

June 26, 2021

Conference Session

ENT Division Technical Session: Competitions, Challenges, and Teams

Tagged Division

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

Page Count

26

DOI

10.18260/1-2--34063

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/34063

Download Count

522

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Paper Authors

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Jared Schoepf Arizona State University

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Jared Schoepf is the Director of Operations for Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) at Arizona State University. Jared received his PhD in Chemical Engineering at ASU, developing a tiered approach to rapidly detect nanomaterials in the environment and consumer products. Jared has been a lecturer of EPICS for 6 years, mentoring over 300 teams. Currently he teaches introduction to engineering, EPICS, and chemical engineering courses. He has founded 2 starts ups and has 3 patents for water purification, removal of trash from storm water, and antibacterial liquid hand soap formula. He has a passion for teaching and mentoring students, aiming to help each student achieve their goals

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Stephanie M. Gillespie University of New Haven

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Stephanie Gillespie is a lecturer at the University of New Haven in the Engineering and Applied Science Education department. She previously specialized in service learning while teaching at the Arizona State University in the Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) program. Her current teaching and research interests are in developing study skills and identity in first-year engineering students and improving retention rates. She acts as the faculty liaison for the University of New Haven Makerspace and facilitates student and faculty training. She received her Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and her BSEE from the University of Miami.

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Amy Trowbridge Arizona State University

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Amy Trowbridge is a Senior Lecturer in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University and is the Director of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Grand Challenge Scholars Program (GCSP) at ASU. Through the GCSP, Amy aims to prepare students to become globally and socially aware engineers who will lead future efforts to solve the world’s biggest challenges. Amy also helps new schools to develop GCSPs as part of the NAE GCSP Proposal review committee. She is also actively involved in the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN), focused on students’ development of entrepreneurial mindset through GCSP and curriculum. Amy recently received the 2019 KEEN Rising Star award for her efforts in encouraging students to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Amy has contributed to the development of a new hands-on multidisciplinary introduction to engineering course and a unique introduction to engineering MOOC. She is interested in curricular and co-curricular experiences that broaden students’ perspectives and enhance student learning, and values students' use of Digital Portfolios to reflect on and showcase their accomplishments. Amy earned her Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Arizona State University (ASU), and is currently pursuing her PhD in Engineering Education Systems and Design.

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Alison Cook-Davis Arizona State University

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Dr. Alison Cook-Davis is Assistant Director for Program Evaluation at the Arizona State University’s Office of Evaluation and Educational Effectiveness (UOEEE). She has a BA in Psychology, MS in Social Psychology, MLS Legal Studies, and a Ph.D. in Experimental Social Psychology. Prior to joining UOEEE, she supported the research and program evaluation efforts of Maricopa County Adult Probation Department, coordinated and executed the research and program evaluation for a large Department of Justice Second Chance Act grant. These efforts included monitoring, assessing, and evaluating the impacts of program outcomes. Since joining the UOEEE in 2015, Dr. Cook-Davis has led research and evaluation activities for over 50 separate grant-funded programs or initiatives funded by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institutes of Health, and The Kern Family Foundation. These projects have focused on the evaluation of student success, outreach impacts, innovative learning techniques, and STEM-related interventions and curricula.

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Kristen Peña Arizona State University

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Kristen Peña is the Senior Program Coordinator for the Arizona State University (ASU) Kern Grant. The project’s goal is to instill an entrepreneurial mindset (EM) in engineering education. She works closely with the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering and Undergraduate Student Engagement office. Kristen manages several entrepreneurial programs and events across the project’s initiatives at ASU including: KEEN Entrepreneurial Catalysts, KEEN student grants, the Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP) Entrepreneurial Experience, NAE Grand Challenges for Engineering Speaker Series, and the Robots That Matter series.

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Courtney Argenti Arizona State University

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Daniel J. Laxman Arizona State University

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Building on existing research, I use advanced statistical analyses and research methods to answer questions regarding parenting, family relations, disabilities, and other topics. I also use these skills to evaluate the effectiveness of programs. I use R and other statistical software for my analyses and reports. I am continually expanding my skill set in statistics and data science to best answer research questions.

Leaders in science, policy, and business committed to evidenced-based decision-making embrace the refrain, "Data or it didn't happen." I have adopted this refrain as a guiding principle in my life and work. I use data to make sound decisions and draw conclusions that do not extrapolate beyond the data. When hard data are not available, I wait to make a decision, when possible, or critically evaluate what is known before making a decision.

My extensive training and experience have focused on obtaining and analyzing data. As a firm believer that days of statistical analyses cannot make-up for a missed hour of project design, I value the design process of generating good data. Indeed, some have suggested a revised refrain "Good data or it didn't happen." Good data are data that answer the right question. Part of the design process involves updating measures and methods to answer the question and, in many cases, revising the question to address what we really want to know.

I have invested and continue to invest significant time and effort into developing quantitative and qualitative analytic skills. I do this because it allows me to select the methods that best answer a research question. It also allows me to balance methodological rigor and practical constraints, but still obtain the most correct answer possible. My approach to data analysis is (paraphrasing Einstein) that data analysis should be as simple as possible, but not simpler.

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Abstract

This paper describes the development and implementation of a three-week project-based entrepreneurial experience summer program focused on the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Grand Challenges for Engineering through the theme of Sustainability. This program aimed to give students opportunities to (1) apply an entrepreneurial mindset, human centered design process and related tools to solve a problem for a client; (2) observe and/or experience Sustainability work in the private, public, and non-profit sectors; and (3) identify and explain the influence of societal, technological, economic, political, and environmental challenges and impacts related to Sustainability challenges and solutions. An additional aim of this program was to provide students in the NAE Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP) at different institutions with an opportunity to meet and work with each other. Since this program was designed for GCSP students, it was intended to be an experience that students could utilize to fulfill requirements within the Viable Business/Entrepreneurship competency of the NAE GCSP.

This program, created as part of the authors’ work with the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) and hosted at Arizona State University (ASU), was designed to provide students with hands-on project-based experiences to learn and apply entrepreneurial tools without the pressures of starting their own business. The primary learning activity of the program was a three-week team project in which students worked to develop a solution to a real-world opportunity presented by a real client. Students applied the human centered design process to perform customer discovery, specifications development, brainstorming, and prototyping to develop effective solutions. Students also learned and applied business tools such as a business model canvas and elevator pitches to develop a business model and communicate the value of their solutions to the clients and other expert judges.

A pre-post program evaluation survey created to assess the program outcomes was administered to all participants. Follow-up interviews were also conducted with several student participants to evaluate the impact of this program on students’ actions after the program. Twenty-five students from thirteen different institutions participated in the first implementation of this program. Results obtained from the pre-post program evaluation survey indicate that the program was successful and met its intended learning outcomes. Findings from the interviews complemented the survey results, providing some indication of longer-term impacts of the program on participants. Participants described the connections and network of peers they gained, increased entrepreneurship and business-related knowledge and skills, and increased confidence and/or self-efficacy as key takeaways from the program.

Schoepf, J., & Gillespie, S. M., & Trowbridge, A., & Cook-Davis, A., & Peña, K., & Argenti, C., & Laxman, D. J. (2020, June), A Summer Program Focused on Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset in the Context of the NAE Grand Challenges for Engineering Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--34063

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2020 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015