The Entrepreneurial Literacy Initiative: An Online Extra-Curricular Key Educational Experience

Marco Da Rin, M. Guasch

Research output: Book chapterChapterpeer-review

Abstract

Helping students to achieve meaning in their education beyond absorbing valuable skills and knowledge is a major educational challenge for universities. A contribution towards meeting this challenge comes from ‘key educational experiences,’ which are short and intense instructional episodes with long-term positive effects on those who experience them (Maslow (1968); Yair (2008)). The Entrepreneurial Literacy Initiative (ELI) at Tilburg University has been built as a key educational experience to help students to absorb knowledge and initiate a process of self-discovery that may lead them to more informed career planning, which is a predictor of future professional success (Shury et al. (2017)). Students interested in entrepreneurship are among those who most strongly need such advice on career planning, since there is no clearly structured path into this career, and traditional educational curricula rely on highly standardized programs. In this article, we describe the motivation, content, and structure of ELI, provide an overview of its pedagogical foundations, and discuss the implementation challenges of this online extracurricular course. We also briefly reflect on how such a modular online course can provide a blueprint for similar initiatives aimed at fostering the career preparation of individual students through effective information and meaningful reflection.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationWho Is It All For?
Subtitle of host publicationThe Student at Center Stage
EditorsTessa Leesen, Sander Bax, Gerwin van der Laan
Place of PublicationTilburg
PublisherTilburg University
Pages53
Number of pages64
Publication statusPublished - May 2024

Publication series

NameTilburg Series in Academic Education

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