Project-based learning (PBL) has been gaining popularity for some time in engineering education. There are several studies, including meta studies, that show the effectiveness of PBL, especially in terms of increased understanding, motivating students, retaining students, and helping to bridge the gaps between the classroom and workplace. Being able to work on real-world problems in a group setting is an important, necessary step to becoming a successful engineer; though, there is more to being a good engineer than simply being able to solve problems. More universities are starting to introduce entrepreneurial-minded learning (EML) as well (e.g.,). EML focuses on teaching the students to go beyond problem solving to be able to identify a need, who is affected by this need, and how to satisfy the need (solve the problem) in a fashion that creates value. Studies show that EML is successful in doing this and helps to create engineers better posed to make an impact in the workplace. Duval-Couetil discusses the proliferation of entrepreneurial-focused education and that there is strong anecdotal evidence of its benefits; though she also emphasizes the lack of studies with validated assessment tools. While the number of participants involved was not large enough to fully validate the assessment surveys used for this work, the surveys were based on validated assessment methods, as discussed in Section 4.
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