Expansion of the Entrepreneurs in Action! program: Evaluation of the effectiveness of a medical practice management case study for a university nursing program.

摘要

This study examines the usefulness of a technology-based, multi-disciplinary approach to entrepreneurship education at the college level. Shown to be effective in previous dissertations---at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels---this is the first in this series to explore possibilities on the college level. Through a unique blending of learning modalities---like problem-based learning, situated cognition, anchored instruction, just-in-time learning, and whole-part-whole learning---students used a Web-based case study, augmented with online experts, to enhance their creativity and entrepreneurial skills. This approach---called Entrepreneurs in Action!---is an initiative started by Professor R. Wilburn Clouse so that students at all academic levels might enhance their entrepreneurial abilities across all parts of the curriculum, rather than the traditional approach of learning skills within narrow disciplinary frameworks.;Aided by the availability of online experts that offered timely advice about the subject matter, students worked in groups to solve problems embedded within real-world scenarios requiring multi-disciplinary solutions. Students determined the case's salient features, researched the material, and developed holistic solutions to the problems. By so doing, it is hoped that students will appreciate the interconnectedness of academic disciplines, absorb the material better, become better problem solvers, and enhance their entrepreneurial abilities---thus aiding them in future endeavors.;This study sampled 50 graduate nursing students from a public university in the southern United States. A quasi-experimental methodology, utilizing quantitative and qualitative analysis, determined whether changes in students' creativity and entrepreneurial thinking occurred over the course of this curricular intervention. This was assessed through analysis of pre- and post-intervention essays, students' emails to online experts, student groups' submitted business plans, and students' and their professor's post-study questionnaires.;Results showed statistically significant increases in students' entrepreneurial thinking over the course of the intervention. The professor and the students noted that they believed that the project helped enhance students' general problem-solving abilities. This successful curricular intervention is a further indication of the usefulness of Entrepreneurs in Action! across the academic spectrum, helps validate previous research in this series, and indicates that a fuller exploration of the Entrepreneurs in Action! program is warranted.