Biomedical Science

Objective:

The main benefits of this approach are to enable students to pick up the skills to summarise something in a focused and precise way. The outcome is often that they are aware how important lucky opportunities can be in entrepreneurship and to prepare for such opportunities should they occur.

Overview:

An Elevator Pitch (or Elevator Speech) is a brief overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The pitch is so called because it can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (say, thirty seconds or 100-150 words). The term is typically used in the context of an entrepreneur pitching an idea to a venture capitalist to receive funding. Venture capitalists often judge the quality of an idea and team on the basis of the quality of its elevator pitch, and will ask entrepreneurs for the elevator pitch to quickly weed out bad ideas. 

Activity:

In the entrepreneurship educators programme the elevator pitch is used to force participants to think carefully about their personal strengths and to be confident about these by making an explicit pitch. Within the entrepreneurship educators programme it is used to give participants experience of an elevator pitch. The basic approach is to invite individuals to develop their pitch beforehand with a strict time limit (usually 1 to 3 minutes). Participants are asked to compete in front of a panel of judges equipped with agreed judging criteria. Participants are lined up to encourage swift movement from one participant to another and they are timed – a whistle is blown at the end of the time and they must then depart.

Skill Development:

Elevator Pitches are commonly used in US Enterprise Education and are often used in business plan competitions. The purpose is to force students to prepare a short and focused explanation of their business should they have the opportunity to pitch it to somebody in an informal situation. It is an encouragement to think out the core of the business and find attractive ways of putting it over.

Resources:

• A Compendium of Pedagogies for Teaching Entrepreneurship. Professor Alan Gibb and Alison Price - (PDF)

Objective: 

Debate is used to provide a forum for delivery of argument for and against an issue. It provides a platform for exploring all relevant issues It also is a vehicle for practicing delivery skills and 'thinking on one's feet'. It also has to have audience appeal as the aim is to win their vote but also involve them.

Overview: 

A debate can be formal or informal. It is relatively easy to construct an issue for argument with a class, get them to consider arguments for or against and then speak to it from the 'floor'. A more formal version is described below (however it is possible just to work at an informal level, having established 2 sides for the debate and defined roles 1-3 below). 

Traditionally, a debate will have a 'Motion' (statement) which the 'House' (those attending) must address. For example, 'This House believes that entrepreneurs are 'born not made' or 'This House believes that entrepreneurial management can only be fully pursued in the independent business organisation'.

Activity:

The debate will need: (indicative timings included for an hour session)

1. A Chairperson:

• Who will introduce the Motion and the Proposers, Opposers and 'Summers up'.
• The Chair also sets out the rules of the game, the time limits and how he/she will enforce these and how the audience should contribute.
• A chair will explain the vote and how this will be for the best arguments best delivered not the audience's personal preference (as more reflective of the learning gained, rather than opinion at the time).

2. A Proposer

• To put up all the major positive arguments for the Motion {7 minutes}

3. An Oppose

• To put all the main arguments against the Motion {7 minutes}

4. A Seconded for the Motion

• To counter the arguments of the Oppose as they have been anticipated and as they occur in reality. Also to back up and add arguments to those of the Proposer {5 minutes}

5. A Seconded against the Motion

• To counter all the arguments of the Proposer and Seconded for the Motion as they have been anticipated and as they occur in practice and to back up the opposition arguments {5 minutes}

6. Speakers from the floor (the audience)

• Think of their own views and articulate them.
• Speakers do not ask questions but make points and arguments. They may of course take up what has been said by the speakers.
• In a small audience it should be emphasised that every member has to contribute

7. A Summariser for the Motion

• To summarise up the debate after the audience has contributed, using the key audience contributions, and emphatically inviting the audience to support the Motion {5 minutes}

8. A Summariser against the Motion

• To summarise up the debate after the audience has contributed, using the audience contributions that support their argument, and emphatically inviting the audience to oppose the Motion {5 minutes}

All speakers should not read from notes but should address the audience warmly and convincingly and should use humour sufficiently to entertain.

The sequence is as follows:

• Chairpersons Introduction of Motion, Speakers and Rules
• First Speaker for the Motion
• First Speaker against the Motion
• Seconded for the Motion
• Seconded against the Motion
• Floor opened to the audience
• Final Summary for the motion
• Final Summary against
• Vote by the audience
• Concluding remarks by the Chair

To engage all the participants in the debate it can be organised as follows: 

Divide the class into 6 groups

• Group 1 has to agree the main points for the Motion make suggestions as to innovative/entertaining arguments and choose a speaker.
• Group 2 has to agree the major points against the Motion, make suggestions for Innovative/entertaining arguments and choose a speaker.
• Group 3 has to brainstorm on the arguments that might be put by the opposition, think of counterpoints and ways of refuting them entertainingly and subsidiary points to reinforce the Motion. They then choose a speaker to second the Motion.
• Group 4 has to brainstorm on the arguments that might be presented by the proposers of the Motion and also how the points against might be attacked and choose a speaker to second the opposition to the Motion.
• Group 5 has to brainstorm on what they think will be the main points for and against (including any possible points from the floor). They then prepare an outline summary of the argument for supporting the motion and refuting the opposition. They then choose a speaker who has however to be prepared to build flexibly upon what goes on in the debate
• Group 6 goes through the same procedure as Group 5 except that they prepare an outline summary of the arguments for opposing the Motion and refuting proposition arguments. They then choose a speaker who has however to be prepared to build flexibly upon what goes on in the debate.

Skill Development:

The ability to think and speak on one's feet is tested and in particular the ability to have empathy with the alternative point of view. This also tests the capacity to argue and present a case in a flexible and innovative manner. Critically, it is a vehicle for exploring key issues in entrepreneurship development which creates group cohesion, bonding and fun.

Outcomes

Major outcomes to be targeted are the airing of key issues in entrepreneurship development via an innovative format. Participants can also apply their more formal learning in a flexible and demanding context and building a team spirit is also a key component, within a cohort.

Resources:

A Compendium of Pedagogies for Teaching Entrepreneurship. Professors Alan Gibb and Alison Price -  (PDF)

References:

N/A

Objective:

The objective is to sensitise participants to the need for different forms of communication with different audiences or interest groups, and to develop capacity to use this skill. In particular, emphasis is placed upon the 'ways of communicating' of entrepreneurs, informally, within constraints and on a need-to-know and know-how basis.

Overview:

Activity:

This can be approached in a number of ways, including by an exercise in writing for different kinds of audiences. To commence this exercise, participants, organised in small groups, can be given a copy of an article from a 'broadsheet' newspaper (in the UK, this would be the Times or Guardian) and then an article on the same subject from a 'tabloid' (in the UK these would be The Sun or The Mirror).

They are asked to analyse the differences. They can then be asked to write a short piece reporting an incident or covering an issue of relevance to the group in the language of the broadsheet (the Times) and then the tabloid (the Sun newspaper). The end discussion might focus upon the importance of considering the different 'word counts' and processes of communication for different audiences and discussion of the relevance of this for the participants.

An example focused upon reaching independent business owners might be that of designing a brochure to promote a programme on financial management for small firms. Participants might be asked to speculate on the different needs of different groups of firms at different stages and invited to consider ways of segmentation of the 'market. Particular attention will be paid to the educational/qualification background and the kinds of newspapers they might read. They might then brainstorm on the particular 'needs to know' (key knowledge and facts) and 'know how' needs of this group. What problems are they likely to have in the field of financial management and what opportunities for development might they face where financial skills mightbe needed? What barriers might there be to owners of the 'type' identified have to attending the programme and how does that affect the communication? Bearing the above in mind the brochure will be written and may be appraised by different groups.

Another example is organising and selling a briefing workshop to local entrepreneurs for the above programme, in particular, covering forms of verbal and written communication relating to processes of; attracting entrepreneurs to the workshop; creating the right environment for communication when they arrive; forms and content of presentations/discussions designed to excite and create interest; and methods of 'sealing the deal'.

Skill Development:

The focus is upon the art of communication and engagement with different audiences, a key component in the process of creating affectivity and co nativity in entrepreneurial learning processes.

This activity will result in an enhanced capacity to build promotional and learning relationships with different groups of participants and also an associated ability to communicate on a Know-How and Need-to-Know basis with small firms.

Resources:

The full text 'A Compendium of Pedagogies for Teaching Entrepreneurship. Professor Alan Gibb and Alison Price, can be found here  

Objective:

• An icebreaker (25 minutes) for a module or great background activity for a networking event
• To ensure the group engages in networking activities
• To introduce the importance of physical networking and hints and tips on how to go about it

Introduction:

A fun and interactive session that encourages networking which can be underpinned by theory and practical advice and support on how to improve physical networking. Each participant is given a card from a standard 52 deck. The participants keep their card for the duration of the game. Initially they find someone to pair up with to form a starting hand. The pair of participants then queue to visit the dealer who deals a Texas Hold'em hand and each participant is awarded points based upon the final hand obtained. Participants then have to find another partner to form a new starting hand and join the back of the queue. The gamification of networking encourages participants to meet as many people as possible and look to identify where they have commonality that could lead to mutual value. Each relationship is not equal as suits could represent sectors, face value could represent job roles. Yet sometimes cards that do not seem to have any strong connection can lead to a useful networking connection (and score in the game). The individual with the top score will win a prize; this is not always the person who made the most connections although playing as many scoring hands as possible (putting in the effort) obviously helps. Successful players are therefore selective in who they form a starting hand with. Through playing the game and talking whilst queuing to see the dealer, participants do engage in real networking as the conversation inevitable moves away from just game participation.

After a winner has been announced the sessions can be underpinned by introducing theory or practical tips.

Activity:

This session works well as an icebreaker at the beginning of a new module or extracurricular enterprise intervention or equally well at a formal networking event. This has been used with local Chamber of Commerce organisations, UGs, PGs and staff with excellent results. Please note a basic understanding of Texas Hold'em poker and hand dynamics does add value to the participant's experience. If the educator is not confident then it is likely a student or member of the group has the necessary knowledge to help.

Resources:

• Introduction handout
• Hand guide poster
• Score sheet
• Standard deck(s) of cards

Objective:

• The learner will discover that they have entrepreneurial abilities and potential
• The learner will get an insight into the world of 'everyday' entrepreneurship
• The learner will become more alert to opportunity recognition
• This is a useful session for the reluctant entrepreneur – those who might think it's not for them, particularly arts students.

Overview:

Activity:

This is a two hour session and it will begin abruptly by creating a case study with the student group.

The idea is to pick on a student and announce in 5 years' time "Jane"(or John) will run a successful arts consultancy. This will raise some surprised gasps and giggles which will immediately engage students' attention. The narrative that unfolds will demonstrate: how Jane started out in one direction but discovered, and followed, opportunities elsewhere, how she took a few risks, showed resilience in the face of setbacks and how she turned to her networks (other students in the room who come into the story) to help her fill skills gaps and capacity problems.

The case study is pre prepared and can be tailored to the cohort. It should be approximately 10 mins long and the story should be plausible – not extraordinary – a case of everyday entrepreneurship. It will be fun as it draws the students into a fictional story.

Following this there is a 30 min breakout to discuss in groups of 3 or 4 to analyse Jane / John's journey: how did he do it, the key factors for success, would you have done it differently, could you have done the same journey, have you encountered any similar situations to John, if so what did you do? Students post thoughts on stickies.

The management of feedback here is important because the students, who are reluctant entrepreneurs, should be led to the explanation that this behaviour is entrepreneurial. The session is to not only identify the behaviour as entrepreneurial but to get the students to reflect on their experiences in similar situations and imagine how they would respond. The idea is for the students to see enterprise as tangible, every day (familiar even), as a series of minor steps and small scale risks and about trying things out to see what happens.

The upshot of the feedback session is that the students 'discover' the entrepreneurial mind-set for themselves – they have not listened to an expert talk about it for 50 mins – and that they identify with it as something they can do themselves.

Skill Development:

The session finishes with 10-15 mins reflection where students have to pledge to do something entrepreneurial that week. It could be something they had been thinking about for a while but had made excuses not to do it. Others may need a little help and guidance from peers about what they might do, so reflection and pledge setting should be discussed in groups. The follow up session (if appropriate) will be when more detailed reflections can emerge and when students can get a measure of where they might be regarding their own development in terms of entrepreneurship and the enterprising mind-set.

Resources:

• Post-its or similar sticky pads
• Pens
• Flip chart

Objective:

• To design a research strategy for a summer laboratory studentship project
• To investigate the research background, experimental methods and timescales to achieve a set of aims
• To understand the research process and appreciate the contingencies required for real world research
• To engage in decision making and problem solving
• To evidence the power of group work as students peer learn and present together

Overview

The focus within this task is to stimulate team building and decision making through the research process.
Within this task, students will work together to explain their findings to group peers as they understand them and progress the plan as a group. (Some students may later undertake a summer studentship so they have been prepared for the situation as a result of this authentic assessment).

Activity

This task was based in Microbiology but would be accessible to any discipline where a research strategy and resources are required.
By placing the students into groups, issue the aims and introduction from a real research studentship (available from HEIs or via colleagues) and issue the task to design the activities required for the eight week research summer project.

This challenge is complex for the groups to address and requires them to utilise peer learning to understand what is required. Your role as tutor can beadjusted, depending upon the needs of the group, but it is suggested that you present yourself as a ‘resource’ to their learning, rather than ‘the guide to’ their learning.

You may wish to include regular contact time which could involve:

• an ice-breaker session (short tasks to develop analytical reasoning, team-decision making and reflection)
• a process of research session, looking at examples previously encountered and how these were approached,
• optional drop-in sessions (x2) to validate their ideas (which can be tutor-led or working groups that create peer review and comment).

Students prepare a one page summary on their approach and what part of the project they researched. They also present their group studentship plan as a short group presentation (10 mins). Questions and comments from other groups should be welcomed, with the aim of enhancing their approach and improving their work through this final opportunity for peer-review and tutor comment.

Skill Development:

This task helps the students develop the mind-set of a researcher; questioning why and how for each experiment, and evaluating feasibility with respect to cost and time. Usually students would not develop these skills until postgraduate studies level so this encourages students to develop key skills early (so they may be utilised or referred to in an employability context).

Key skills include

• Research and interpretation skills
• Decision making
• Resources
• Communication – formative with peers and summative through assessment
• Budgeting and time management
• Delegation and leadership skills

However it is important that you draw out this learning within their presentation or within a final group discussion. It might also be helpful to review the ‘changed’ role of you as tutor, in directing the journey of their learning, and providing opportunities for review and enhancements, rather than immediately resolving their problems.

You can also explore with the groups how the decisions were made and resources accessed, exploring social networks as well as traditional academic resources (Guides; texts etc). Those that contacted senior researchers or their subject club/society may have drawn on expertise and experience and thisproject encourages them to access support as widely as needed. It also gives the opportunity to review and evaluate sources, and comment upon the validity of different materials. 

Resources:

Flat floor teaching space with tables so students can engage in teamwork activities
Quick teambuilding games: re-ordering a sequence of events, contingency planning, structuring research, and decision making

References:

Enterprise for Life Scientists; Developing Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Biosciences. Adams. D.J, and Sparrow. J. (2008). Scion
Research scholarships information page (2015) www.ncl.ac.uk/students/wellbeing/finance/funding/ukstudents/vacation/

Objectives:

After participating in this exercise, learners should be better-able to:

• Achieve higher assessment literacy
• Formulate and negotiate assessment criteria for a task, and undertake the task with the criteria firmly in mind;
• Think constructively about the weighting of assessment criteria;
• Undertake peer assessment of other teams’ performance;
• Undertake self-assessment by reflecting on their own group’s performance;
• Recognise the benefits of team work (and address some of the problems of working in teams);
• On the basis of a ‘fun’ exercise, take forward useful thinking on assessment design.

Overview

The task is for groups of learners to make a container to hold an egg that is capable of being dropped from a specified height and position in the room without the egg breaking. To do this properly you need about two hours in a large flat room, big enough to enable groups to work independently. This is a practice task to familiarise learners with the concepts of meaningful assessment criteria, weighting and agency of assessment and is particularly useful during the first six weeks of the first semester of the first year. It is presented as serious fun which improves learners’ assessment literacy. It’s also a good staff development exercise to get staff to think hard about assessment issues.

Learners in a class (16-70) are divided into groups of 4-6, at separate tables around the room, and provided with a range of everyday objects as resources, including an unbroken fresh egg. They are briefed to use the resources in a specified time to arrange that the egg can be dropped from a specified height and position in the room to ground level, and remain unbroken by the fall. They are to use the various resources in a creative way to achieve this. But first the groups must come up with around five assessment criteria, which will be used by the other groups to assess each group’s achievement of the exercise, and the whole group of learners must assign weightings to each of the criteria. One criterion is not negotiable: “The egg remains unbroken by the fall”.

Activity

1. Divide the learners into small teams (groups of about 4-6 work well). This activity can be done with a class size of up to 50, but for smaller classes the minimum group size is 3.
2. Advise the learners of the purpose of the task, emphasising that it is competitive but essentially fun, and that actually the discussion around the task is much more important to their understanding of assessment conventions than the task itself.
3. Issue the materials to the groups, instructing them that no other items may be used, including waste paper bins, people and furniture. Insist no one handles the materials and egg before the start signal. You may need to be very strict about this. You may also wish to ham up the rawness of the egg by chucking them to the learners or ‘accidentally’ dropping one. Get each group to check their egg is not cracked when they receive it.
4. Ask learners to brainstorm up to 5 criteria on which they should be judged (5 mins)
5. Collate the criteria on a flipchart or white board, and telling them that the egg not breaking is the non-negotiable criterion, get them to collectively prioritise their further criteria. Ask them to include both product and process in the criteria. (Typical criteria include effective planning, aesthetic beauty, sustainability (all items could be reused), using all items provided or smallest number of items, team all worked together well, everyone contributed to the task in some way, achieving the task within the set time, and so on). You shouldn’t need to spend more than 10 mins on this but if you get into discussing how you judge aesthetic beauty it could take 15 mins.
6. Explain the concept of weighting of assessment criteria. Tell them that the egg not breaking is worth 40% and ask them to propose weightings for the other four criteria that add up to 100% with the most important things being given the highest weighting. (5 mins).
7. Negotiate agreed weightings for the criteria for the whole group and put on flipchart or white board. (5 mins).
8. Get the whole group to think up who will actually do the assessmenti.e. agency for 5 mins. Forexample, most product items could be assessed by the tutor or the learners acting as peers rating other groups (inter-peer assessment). If they are judging items like how well they worked as a team, this will have to be rated within the group by four peers each rating the fifth, i.e. intra peer assessment. Self assessment might be used for example if a negotiated criteria is something like individuals contributing to the best of their capabilities or enjoyment. Even if you only use a couple of agents, its helpful to discuss the full range and mention that other possibilities on future group work might include employers, placement managers and clients. (10 mins).
9. Get the groups to talk for 5 mins about what they plan to do and insist no one touches the materials until you start the task. 
10. Start the task advising them they have say 8 minutes in which to complete it. You may wish to add to the sense of fun by blowing a whistle, setting a kitchen timer, phone timer or whatever.
11. Watch learners in action, talking no part in the activity but you may wish to record any breach of the rules which you can bring up in your moderation/summing up.
12. Stop the task exactly on time. Blowing your whistle loudly is fun! Notice any learners who choose to carry on regardless and decide whether to penalise them totally by giving no marks at all (this gives you a chance to mention things like plagiarism policies and rules on issues like mitigation) and the risks learners can run by ignoring the detail of assignment brief.
13. Allow each group in turn to come to the ‘dropping point’ and use their equipment to drop their egg from the specified height to the floor, and prove whether or not their egg has been broken, carrying out the assessment using tutors and peers as appropriate. If you have a lot of groups, this can take quite a while. Discuss the assessment of the first six or so in detail, and then tell learners that to do every one in detail would take ages and this is after all a game about assessment (but do drop every egg and check the egg isn’t broken or else learners will feel cheated).
14. It is really important to get the learners back into small groups after the assessment to discuss the assessment issues for at least five minutes (try to stop them having endless discussions about whether their design was actually best or whether they were fairly treated, and so on) and then have 5-10 minutes in plenary with you summing up the learning points.
15. You might then wish to issue to learners the assignment brief for the next actual assessment task that follows in their course or module, and get them to bring along to the next session any queries they have about criteria, weighting, agency or anything else, arising from their reflections on the egg game.

Skill Development:

• Assessment literacy
• Team working.
• Creativity and originality of design.
• Time and task-management.
• Learners formulating and agreeing assessment criteria for the task.
• Learners proposing and agreeing the weighting of the assessment criteria.
• Peer-assessment of other groups’ performances.
• Self-assessment and reflection on what happened in each group. 

Resources:

Flipchart of white board to display agreed assessment criteria.
Supermarket carrier bag, per group, in which you place:

• a pair of scissors
• a small roll of sellotape
• a selection of about 4 items from the following: a newspaper, a plastic cup, paper plate, tissue paper (or a tissue), length of string (about 2 metres seems to work well), cocktail sticks, wooden or plastic clothes peg, square of bubble wrap (if you want to make it really easy for them) or whatever is available.
• one uncooked egg in shell.

It is important that each bag contains more-or-less identical kit, otherwise appeals of ‘unfairness of assessment’ may arise (though of course you might wish this to be one of the matters which will arise, in which case allow some differences in the kit).

References:

• Brown, S. (2015) Learning, teaching and assessment in higher education: global perspectives, London: Palgrave-MacMillan.
• http://sally-brown.net

Author's Website:

http://sally-brown.net

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Objective:

To develop attributes in, and offer experience of, the following to students;

• Authentic problem enquiry and response
• Innovation and Creativity
• Risk-taking
• Taking action
• True collaboration

Introduction:

Module Title: BMS 246 Introduction to Human Anatomy

This module is a core unit run over two semesters for second year students studying Biomedical Science at the University of Sheffield. Students are introduced to the basic structure and functions of the human body, through a mixture of lectures and practical sessions.

The 'enterprise' aspect of this module currently counts for 5% of the module assessment; students have to prepare and pitch an organ donation campaign, based on their anatomical knowledge, targeted to a particular audience. The first round of pitches is judged by the module tutor, after which a shortlist of the best campaigns (judged on both innovation and accuracy of anatomical knowledge) is constructed. The second round of pitches takes place in front of the whole cohort, plus external partners such as NHS specialist organ donation nurses. Clickers are used to vote for the final winners.

Activity:

Students are given an 'authentic' challenge – to design an organ donation campaign for a target audience. Students have the opportunity to meet and present their ideas to a specialist organ donation nurse from the NHS – making them aware of the audiences that most need to be targeted, and the profile of those audiences. The students are free to construct the campaign 'for real' if they want, and previous cohorts on the module have produced Facebook campaigns, apps, and pitched their ideas directly to the NHS.

Students are challenged to design a unique campaign which utilises their anatomical knowledge. Students are not limited to any particular format, and previous campaigns have ranged from Spotify adverts to apps and even a song! They are supported in their campaign development by guest lectures from Diva Creative, a local marketing agency specialising in health campaigns, and from other local charity campaigners.

Because this element of the module forms a relatively small part of the final assessment, students are free to try something different and perhaps 'have a go' at a new skill – e.g. coding a basic app.

Students work in self-directed groups. As instructions are minimal, the onus is very much on the students to take action and make a personal decision to engage with the task.

Students have to communicate their detailed knowledge of anatomy to a non-specialist audience. They have to work effectively in teams with a tight deadline and pitch their campaigns professionally to a target audience which includes external partners.

Learner outcome:

Student feedback included;

"I'm not sure organ donation was something that our year group had really thought about before being set the enterprise task. Although it was a non-assessed piece of work, everyone seemed to be driven to produce something both sympathetic and effective that did organ donation justice. This task has been particularly useful to refer to in both CVs and personal statements for further employment or study. It addressed many skills that employers look for in candidates such as teamwork, communication skills and leadership. Presenting to a member of the Yorkshire division of the NHS Blood and Transplant service as well as lecturers and peers was also a great way to practice our presentation skills in a professional environment. I liked that we were given little instruction as it didn't limit our creativity and differed from the standard poster task many courses are set. It also combines both marketing skills and science which hasn't been done before in the Biomedical Science course. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to do something new and creative in a team environment and hope it is kept for the anatomy module next year."

Resources:

• More information can be found via the following link > www.sheffield.ac.uk/enterprise-education/resources/case-bms246

References:

• Case Study: BMS246 Introduction to Human Anatomy - Resources - Enterprise Education - The University of Sheffield. 2015. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/enterprise-education/resources/case-bms246. [Accessed 01 August 2015].

Author:

With thanks to The University of Sheffield Enterprise Academy (USEA) - http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/enterprise-education

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Objective:

• To stimulate entrepreneurial effectiveness (QAA 2012) cross campus
• To demonstrate entrepreneurial practice across the region
• To promote creative thinking, problem solving and wider entrepreneurial skills

Introduction: 

Each year an institution and region wide Business Idea Competition is run as a broad tool to stimulate and support entrepreneurship in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The competition promotes creative thinking and problem solving for learners at all stages of the learning journey including upon graduation. Our institution comprises a network of tertiary colleges and research centres, spread across the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The competition was devised and is organised by Create, an Enterprise and Innovation Learning centre based within Inverness College UHI and delivered across the university and all partner institutions including the surrounding Highlands and Islands community (subject to T&Cs).

Activity: 

The competition is supported across campus to significantly raise ‘Enterprise Awareness’ (via induction, workshops, talks, e-comms), develop ‘Entrepreneurial Mindset’ (through intensive engagement and support to submit entries to the competition with learners from all faculties) and for some students (who progress in the competition and beyond) to start to develop their ‘Entrepreneurial Capabilities’. We have examples of this being delivered as an extra curricula workshop/activity and within the curriculum as a tool to aid experiential learning.

The competition opens in August each year and is promoted widely across the university, all colleges and research centres and in the local community.  Lecture ‘shouts’ and workshops have proven to be the most effective technique to engage the broadest range of staff and learners.  Short films are included on our website to give tips on entering. 

Online entries seek information on an idea, inspiration, resources, next steps rather than a business plan. It was inspired by the culturally popular ‘Dragons Den’ but was dubbed the friendly ‘Highland Dragons Den’. Plenty of support is provided for developing application, pitching and presenting.  Independent and experienced judges are engaged each year and relevant follow-up support and advice is offered to all entrants. For winning entrants, start-up support is offered in addition to cash prizes.

Impact: 

CREATE has worked closely with regional partners and the business community to ensure the competition reaches the maximum potential budding entrepreneurs across the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.  The competition was launched in 2006 with 27 entrants and has grown significantly to 150 entrants in 2014 representing all industry sectors and parts of the region.  Subsequent business start-ups in both the commercial and social sector have proved to be a recognised economic benefit to the region.  

In addition to business start-up, it is considered that the competition also has two key impacts: it significantly enhances ‘Enterprise Awareness’ across curricula areas (both academic/careers staff and students); and helps to encourage stronger working relationships with local business and enterprise support organisations.

Learner outcome: 

This activity shows how education ‘for’ enterprise can successfully engage a wide range of students, staff and members of the community both within and outside the curriculum. Over the years, more teaching and career staff are building in this opportunity as an awareness raising and experiential tool for learners at all levels. Those who participate, are extremely positive about the experience and can articulate evidence of creative thinking, opportunity spotting, and business awareness and, for those who proceed in the competition, they are able to develop their presentation, commercial awareness and network building skills. They talk of an increase in confidence and greater awareness of ‘know who’ and ‘be known’. Through CPD sessions, more academic staff now have the confidence to introduce these concepts and encourage learners to try this opportunity ‘to make something happen’ which adds to a student’s experience of how it ‘feels’ to be enterprising, which is very much in tune with the philosophy of enterprise education.

For 2015/6, we are extending the competition to early stage start-ups as we find many entrepreneurs start to test their idea earlier each year and still benefit from this type of engagement and encouragement.

Resources: 

Partnership: A critical success factor for this type of region wide initiative is partnership working.  Within the institution, we engage with Deans, Faculty and Subject Leaders as well as Careers and Student Services areas. 

Externally, this initiative has helped to build strong working partnerships which have grown year on year with local enterprise support organisations (Business Gateway, Prince’s Trust Youth Business Scotland, HISEZ, FirstPort and SIE) together with an extensive range of regional businesses (large corporates and SMEs) who wish to be associated with helping to build a vibrant entrepreneurial culture.

Funding: The activity has been substantially funded by institutional funding with support in the early years from the local enterprise agency, latterly EU funding sources and local council funds. All prizes (£8,000 in 2015) are sourced via sponsorship from local business and enterprise support organisations which CREATE attracts each year.

References:

http://www.createhighland.com/

Objective:

• To provide students with an opportunity to identify and reflect on their own skills.
• To provide students with an opportunity to generate business ideas, and identify opportunities.
• To provide students with knowledge and understanding of how to write and structure a business plan.
• To provide students with an understanding of how to use a business plan effectively.
• To provide students with an awareness of the advice, resources and support available to them.

Overview:

A well-structured, well-research and well-written business plan is an invaluable asset to any new enterprise. Yet many students considering starting up report difficulty in developing business plans and in particular, plans which actively work for them and their business.

Business Planning is a workshop serving as an introduction to the subject, inclusive of opportunities to reflect on skills and generate ideas, and information regarding how to build a strong and cohesive plan around those ideas, and advice regarding using that plan, to turn those ideas into successful businesses.
 
The activity is designed to fit within a typical one hour lecture session, but inclusive of ample opportunities for extension, through practical activity, group discussion or independent research, and could easily form the basis of a more comprehensive scheme of work on the subject. It is designed to be appropriate for students of any level or programme of study. It was originally developed through the HEFCW funded pan-Wales Enterprise Support Programme.

Lesson plans and AV presentations for use in the delivery of the workshop can be downloaded via the link to the ‘ZONE Enterprise Hub’ webpages listed in ‘References’ and ‘Resources.’

Activity:

The activity follows the structure outlined in the ‘Business Planning’ PowerPoint presentation, inclusive of all links and examples.

_{Figure 1. PowerPoint presentation which accompanies this activity.}

Pre-Activity

Students are not required to prepare anything in advance of this workshop. For workshop leaders, preparation is minimal, other than ensuring supporting AV resources are displaying correctly.

Introduction

• Students are welcomed and introduced to the themes that will be covered during the workshop.
• The group may be invited to share their own business experience or business ideas.

Why Bother?

• Students are asked to discuss and share where they see their ideas and business endeavours 10 years from now.
• Students are provided with a basic definition of a business plan.
• Students discuss the purpose of a business plan. Points are suggested and debated.

What to think about?

• Students are asked to reflect on the skills which they possess.
• Students are asked to explore and identify the products and services they can offer, supported by their skill set.
• Students explore how, by reflecting on a particular product or service, they can consider pricing, branding, marketing and sales.
• An indicative example is offered within the PowerPoint presentation to illustrate this. If desired, you may wish to reinforce this by working through a real example offered by a member of the audience.
• (An activity allowing students to identify their skills, and explore opportunities in a greater degree of depth can be found in How To Guide ‘Workshop: Breaking Problems Down and Putting Solutions Together.’)

What to write down?

• The key elements of a basic business plan are covered step by step, with class discussion of the key points at each stage. Namely, the elements covered are; The Executive Summary, The Business Vision, Marketing, Running the Business, Finance.
• Students are introduced to SWOT analysis. If desired, a member of the audience may be invited to offer their own business idea as an example, which a SWOT analysis can be worked through for collectively.
• Students are introduced to cash flow forecast. Again if desired, an indicative example may be offered to demonstrate how the forecast works.

Help and support

Students are provided with links and information regarding the support, advice and assistance available to them as they develop their business plans.

Conclusion

The key themes covered in the workshop are re-capped, and students are invited to ask any outstanding questions which they may have.

Post-Activity

This workshop is intended only as an introduction to the subject of Business Planning. Following the activity, students may utilise the information provided to research and develop their plans independently, or each element of the workshop may be revisited and explored in more depth by the group.

Skill Development:

Students will leave the workshop with greater confidence in their ability, with a better understanding of their skills, and how these skills will support the development of their endeavours. They will have a better knowledge and understanding of business plans and how to develop them, and a greater awareness of how to use business plans to effectively support them in their endeavours.

Resources:

PowerPoint Slides accompanying this activity can be downloaded here > Business Planning [PDF]

References:

Zone Enterprise Hub, Topic: ZONE Resources. 2015. [ONLINE] Available at: https://moodle.glyndwr.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=37§ion=11 . [Accessed 05 August 2015].

Objective:

• The learner will understand the importance of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial behaviour in the context of their subject area
• Will engage with subjects outside their discipline to pitch for and explore ideas and concepts
• To reflect and draw personal conclusions about their capacities and capabilities for entrepreneurial behaviour
• To research and persuade others of the feasibility and viability of their ideas
• To conclude with a ‘live’ opportunity which they can research and develop further through a research project/dissertation, employment or a new business venture

Overview: 

This type of module is appropriate on applied courses, or courses ‘with enterprise’. It is especially valuable where students from a range of disciplines are taught together, invited to ‘bring their discipline and interests with them’ (of course, discipline and interests are not always/often synonymous, and this approach helps with that!)

Activity: 

Students engage in a shared first lecture, setting the context for the module, discussing, and responding to individual learner expectations, and an introduction to innovation, delivered by an inventor, which asks the students to invest in one of a series of inventions, based on a case study of each in practice. They are encouraged to reflect on their choice, and in particular the reasons why they feel that their chosen option represents most value.

In week 2 students return to their own discipline (or choose an area of interest based on the available disciplines) and a session is led by academics and industry guests/entrepreneurs focussing on ‘the current and future trends in the XYZ industry’. This tends to be ‘products for users in Science and Engineering’ subjects (e.g. pets and children), and ‘approaches’ in other subjects (e.g. social and online media). 

Week 3 is a facilitated session in which students join interdisciplinary groups (formulated with as wide a variety of disciplines as possible (e.g. 1xcomputing science, 1xbiology, 1xmarketing and management) and share their findings from the previous week to identify areas of shared interest and the skills each member can contribute.

The remainder of the sessions are built around convincing the module assessors, and industry/entrepreneurs that your emerging idea is worth spending more time, money and effort on developing, and that individual students have the appropriate skills and motivations to deliver on the opportunity. The design of the remaining sessions is aimed at students achieving this objective. Remaining module content and tools can be designed together with the students, using flipped classroom, online resources, and update meetings alongside taught lecture material.

Skill Development: 

The confidence gained by the students is seen as they engage with each other and with externals (industry experts).  They are exposed to entrepreneurship through opportunity spotting and evaluation, and through building their reflective and persuasive/selling skills.  By working in teams they are building collaborative approaches to problem solving and task completion.

Resources: 

Planned engagement – including engagement of academics, entrepreneurs and industry partners in each discipline where a student originates.

Time to coach groups individually, access to mentors or online interaction.

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If you would like to have your Case Study featured, please download the template and email the completed version to hello@etctoolkit.org.uk.

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