Group Size
?
1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any
Learning Environment
?
1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special
QAA Enterprise Theme(s)
?
1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
Objective:
Introduction:
During the Autumn term of 2012 Cardiff University Enterprise in conjunction with staff from the Cardiff School of Chemistry carried out an enterprise education intervention delivered as part of a 20 credit module entitled ‘Training in Research Methods’ on which both final year undergraduate and Masters level postgraduate students were enrolled.
The intervention delivered concurrently to a total of 45 students.
The intervention sought to provide experienced Chemistry students who will soon be entering the employment market with an introductory understanding of commercial drivers and processes and an awareness of issues specific to industries which draw upon graduates of Chemistry. Additionally the reflective element of the assessment tasks addressed issues of professional identity and development among learners by requiring them to consider how they might apply their learning in a professional context.
The need for science graduates to enter the workplace with an awareness of the commercial environment and appropriate professional skills has been extensively asserted in recent years.
Examples include:
Activity:
The intervention consisted of 6 hours of contact time delivered in 3 x 2 hour sessions over a period of 3 weeks. This was supported by directed reading, provision of relevant documentation and web sources delivered via Learning Central. Teaching content provided an introductory overview of the commercial process, where appropriate highlighting aspects specific to Chemistry related industries and included presentational delivery supported by discipline specific video resources. This was consolidated via class based discussion and active learning tasks which encouraged the application of knowledge and skills addressed in the content delivery.
There were two parts to the enterprise education element of the module assessment, both specifically aligned with delivered content.
The first part was a group assessed experiential learning project requiring students to engage in collaborative enquiry based learning which saw them researching the commercial process as it applied to a product solution of their own creation. The task required students to form their own teams of up to 4 persons, identify a real market need, generate a fictional product solution, identify and research an appropriate real world company that might take such a product to market, write a collaborative feasibility report addressing key aspects of the commercial process, and finally arrive at an informed conclusion as to the business viability of their proposed product.
The second part of the assessment required learners to individually reflect upon the learning they had undertaken via the delivered content and the first part of the assessment. Additionally learners were prompted to consider how such learning might be applied or have relevance within future professional ambitions.
Impact:
The teaching intervention was successful with generally positive student engagement and feedback. A survey of the feasibility report assessment submissions demonstrates a good level of research, interpretation, understanding and application of commercial awareness and associated skills among students. There were several outstanding submissions which demonstrated an impressive level of engagement. A review of student reflective reports further evidences a high level of student learning progression and contextualisation of the subject matter with many communicating insight as to the relevance and importance of commercial awareness with regards to graduate employment opportunities.
It was noted that there had been some initial resistance to the enterprise element of the course from certain student sections. This stemmed from the fact that students had had no contact with enterprise education in any form prior to their final year studies, resulting in the perception that it was not relevant to their theoretical learning. The learning and assessment exercises played a key role in addressing and over turning this perception, with a number of student reflective papers highlighting an increased understanding of the relevance of commercial awareness to the professional application of Chemistry studies. This experience has resulted in the School of Chemistry identifying a need for earlier small scale enterprise interventions in Years 1 and 2 of the Chemistry programme, something Cardiff University Enterprise will be supporting the development of during the next year.
Learner outcome:
Examples of student reflection;
“At the time of commencing the business module, I was confused as to the relevance that enterprise and commercial awareness had on my chemistry degree . . . It soon became apparent that in the post–degree economic working environment, a knowledge and awareness of commercialisation would stand me in good stead for any career path I choose to follow.”
“The module has made me feel more confident in applying the skills associated with business and commercial awareness to my knowledge in Chemistry. The video clips from the RSC about the commercialising of chemical inventions definitely opened my eyes to the great potential of launching a business product using both my Chemistry knowledge, and the processes learnt from the business module.”
“The authoring of the feasibility report has given me much greater awareness of the business process and the importance of a feasibility study prior to committing investment. As a science student I enjoy applying scientific principles of logic and analysis and was pleased to find similar principles in the process of a feasibility study, in that specific criteria, such as viable market, production and distribution cost are applied to a concept to establish its commercial viability.”
“On attending three classes specifically aimed for a student who had not taken any previous business classes I gained answers to questions I did not know I needed to ask. I found the class on intellectual property most interesting as I wish to pursue a career in scientific research I think patenting and protecting new designs and innovation takes a very important role in my potential line of work. I see this as a vital part for any business and it has the up-most priority over other aspects. The implications of patenting a product and such were something I had not thought about before, however I now see the significance of IP.”
“If I was to choose to become an entrepreneur, I would consider taking a Masters course in business management after my degree, as I have found the sessions very inspiring and would like to know more.”
“My learning of the steps required for a product to go to market has increased significantly. I have benefited from this enormously as before I thought it was a lot easier to bring a product to market. I did not understand the finance side or implications on the public. Just to have a good ‘idea’ is not enough and I now have a more clear idea of how, if I wanted to, to go through taking a product to market. There are a lot more financial implications that I previously reasoned with. It was good practise to perform a SWOT analysis for the product and have since done one of my own relating to my future professional career; I feel this is now a good basic process for any person/company to go through.”
“Reflecting back on the audit of my enterprise skills I filled out at the start of this enterprise and entrepreneurship section of the module and how poorly I rated myself in most categories I begin to realise how much I have learned over its duration, especially considering the scepticism I held for it at its introduction. For me the most one of the challenging aspect of the sessions was the introspective learning that arose from analysing my own inadequacies and addressing them. . . I believe that analysing my skills and seeing the improvements that can be made in them in a relatively short space of time as improved my self-confidence, not just in my own enterprise skills but generally.”
“Having analysed my personal learning outcomes of these sessions I now feel I have significantly developed my skills in enterprise and improved my understanding of business and entrepreneurship as a whole. Most importantly I have learned their relevance to my professional career and therefore developed an ambition to further improve and develop this skill set in preparation for the challenges I will face in my professional career. This understanding will be essential to me in professional life and I am not yet entirely confident about many aspects of it, I will therefore need to continue to put into practice what I have learned develop these areas further.”
“A section of the report I found most interesting was the research on patents. . . There are so many types and they are applicable to so much more in everyday life than expected. In reference to the pharmaceutical industry in particular, I found how the law limits or prevents certain patents interesting, because as a result, some companies mark up prices to retain profits. This I found especially interesting as it is relevant to my degree. The pharmaceutical industry employs a high number of chemistry graduates and so knowledge will always be beneficial to me, but more so that I identified this as an area where I may actually want to seek further employment.”
These examples of curriculum development for enterprise related outcomes were originally outlined by Neil Coles at the International Enterprise Educators Conference under the heading 'From Archaeology to Zoology; an A-Z of enterprise in the curriculum'.
For his work in contextualising enterprise for any subject, Neil won the 2013 National Enterprise Educator Award.
References
