A project-based learning approach as a method of teaching entrepreneurship to a large group of undergraduate students in South Africa

Abstract

This paper discusses the development and execution of an entrepreneurship exhibition project held in South Africa, in which 1 500 undergraduate first-year students took part. The current teaching practices in the course, resulting from project-based learning practices, have been developed out of an extensive review of entrepreneurship education literature and frameworks. The results of the assessment, conducted to measure student satisfaction with and opinions of the course, are included along with a summary of the experience gained while taking part in the project. In addition to the assessment, the results of the students’ perceptions of entrepreneurial skills gained after the project are presented. Factor analysis took place and several statistical tests were performed to provide significant findings. This paper aims to share implementation – and assessment – of such a project as an opportunity for entrepreneurship educators to learn from others’ experiences, and to contribute to the entrepreneurship education literature.