The impact of active learning on entrepreneurial capacity

Intangible Capital IC, 2023 – 19(4): 497-512 – Online ISSN: 1697-9818 – Print ISSN: 2014-3214 https://doi.org/10.3926/ic.2297 The impact of active learning on entrepreneurial capacity Virginia Rincón1, Pilar Zorrilla1, Juan A. Marin-Garcia2 1University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU (Spain) 2Universitat Politècnica de València. ROGLE. Departamento de Organización de Empresas (Spain) virginia.ri[email protected], pilar.zor[email protected], [email protected] Received February, 2023 Accepted July, 2023 Abstract Purpose: This paper intends to shed light on the teaching-leaning methodologies that best contribute to developing entrepreneurial competences. Design/methodology: We pose an active learning model that integrates the content of three subjects from the field of marketing in a single business project. We also measure the impact of this model on entrepreneurial competences through a validated questionnaire. The measurement instrument includes the short FINCODA questionnaire version to assess innovative behaviour and creativity, and indicators from the GEM survey on entrepreneurial perceptions for assessment of entrepreneurial spirit. Findings: The results show a slightly positive effect on creativity and innovation capacity but that some active models may not be sufficient to develop skills linked to starting up projects or risk-taking. Originality/value: It seems reasonable to consider rethinking the teaching-learning model used with marketing students in order to boost greater development of their entrepreneurial capacity. Setting up systems that promote greater engagement between universities and social, cultural or business agents in their area could foster entrepreneurial competences. This paper contribute to the debate on education policies that drive entrepreneurship and the possibility of designing new education models. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Creativity, Innovation, Competences, Marketing Jel Codes: M13, M31, I23 To cite this article: Rincón, V., Zorrilla, P., & Marin-Garcia, J.A. (2023). The impact of active learning on entrepreneurial capacity. Intangible Capital, 19(4), xx-yy. https://doi.org/10.3926/ic.2297 1. Introduction The current teaching-learning framework in higher education has moved beyond mere knowledge-based teaching to competence-based learning. This new education model poses curricula and learning outcomes in terms of competences which are understood as a set of skills, knowledge, attitudes and values (Halász & Michel, 2011). The entrepreneurial competence is key to quality education, training and lifelong learning (The Council of the European Union, 2018). It is therefore vital to foster training in this field within higher education (Achcaoucaou, -497- Intangible Capital – https://doi.org/10.3926/ic.2297 Guitart-Tarrés, Miravitlles-Matamoros, Núñez-Carballosa, Bernardo & Bikfalvi, 2014; Borrero-Sánchez & Borrero-Domínguez, 2022; Rueda-Sampedro, Fernández-Laviada & Herrero-Crespo, 2014; Vall-llosera Casanovas, Renart Vicens, Saurina Canals & Serra, 2022). Similarly, promotion of entrepreneurship in higher education can boost society’s economic development and well-being (Acs, 2006; Alvarez, DeNoble & Jung, 2006; Ferrandiz, Fidel & Conchado, 2018; Fuentelsaz, González, Maícas & Montero, 2015; Martins, Monsalve & Martinez, 2018; Taatila, 2010; Valencia Arias, Montoya Restrepo & Montoya Restrepo, 2016). Villa and Poblete (2010) explain that creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit form students’ entrepreneurial capacity. Therefore, fostering these competences in higher education takes on relevance which is even greater in studies related to Economics and Business (Cabana-Villca, Cortes-Castillo, Plaza-Pasten, CastilloVergara & Alvarez-Marin, 2013; Rincón & Zorrilla, 2017; Zorrilla, Rincón & Sáiz, 2020). Edwards-Schachter, García-Granero, Sánchez-Barrioluengo, Quesada-Pineda and Amara (2015) discuss the development of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship as a meta-competence and in their literature review note that these competences are widely recognised as a driver to promote entrepreneurial culture. Interest in the entrepreneurial competence is not only due to its connection with creation of firms but also its impact on fostering a vital state that strengthens personal initiative and business motivation (Peña Calvo, Cárdenas Gutiérrez, Rodríguez Martín & Sánchez Lissen, 2015; Pinho & Thompson, 2016; Uribe Toril, De Pablo Valenciano & Bonilla Martínez, 2013). In addition, it can also add value and benefit society when it is oriented towards solving social problems (García-González & Ramírez-Montoya, 2021; Markley & Koernig, 2015; Schlee, Curren & Harich, 2009). However, little research has been conducted on how to teach and learn this competence to prepare students to better identify opportunities to undertake new business or social ventures (Karimi, Biemans, Lans, Aazami & Mulder, 2016; Sherman, Sebora & Digman, 2008). As several aspects impact graduates’ entrepreneurial potential in this framework, our work focuses on evaluating the role of the teaching-learning model used in the classroom. We specifically pose an active learning model and examine its impact on achieving creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. This model implements ProjectBased Learning jointly in three subjects taught on the Bachelor’s degree in Marketing at the University of the Basque Country. Our research intends to shed light on the techniques and methodologies that best contribute to developing students’ entrepreneurial capacity. The aim is to specifically assess how the sub-competences that make up said capacity are affected by the proposed teaching-learning model, in order to help adapt, if necessary, the methodologies used. The work is organised into five sections. In the following section, we review the literature on active methodologies in relation to the entrepreneurial competence and we put forth, in addition to the main research hypotheses, a measurement instrument to assess the degree to which said competence is achieved. We then show the characteristics of the quasi-experimental intervention used to measure the active learning model’s impact on creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. In the fourth section, we present the results of the intervention. The last section shows the main conclusions of our study. 2. Literature review and hypotheses 2.1. The role of active teaching-learning methodologies in fostering entrepreneurial capacity There is currently wide debate on universities’ contribution to employability and numerous higher education institutions have begun to see this as a strategic issue and take action to achieve higher labour market insertion (Pérez García, 2018). Universities are playing a key role in economic and social development in their areas and have added the Third Mission, which is also known as the triple helix model: university-industry-government, to their traditional teaching and research roles (Saiz-Santos, Araujo-De la Mata & Hoyos-Iruarrizaga, 2017). A vital aspect of this approach consists of using new education models based on lifelong learning, innovation and a commitment to social and economic growth. Hence, it is critical to include teaching-learning strategies, methodologies and techniques that foster them (Arasti, Kiani & Imanipour, 2012). -498- Intangible Capital – https://doi.org/10.3926/ic.2297 Due to the role of the competence being studied, we raised the question of how to encourage and foster university students’ achievement of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. Can the teaching-learning model used have a positive impact on entrepreneurial capacity? In this sense, Paños Castro (2017) pointed out the importance of using active rather than traditional, one-way and passive methodologies that proved to be obsolete and failed to achieve students’ best performance in the entrepreneurial competence. Following her interesting bibliographic review, the above author gathered the most commonly used methodologies to develop the entrepreneurial competence. Although they are varied, they are all interactive and action-oriented and therefore different from traditional methods. Among the main methodologies, the author mentions case studies, games and simulations, cooperative learning, problem-based learning and Project-Based Learning (PBL). In this study, we pose a teaching-learning model based on the latter methodology and examine its impact on development of entrepreneurial capacity. The PBL methodology provides students with a learning experience that engages them in developing a project. During this process, students approach real-world situations, problems or challenges that must be solved by developing skills, which motivates them to learn. According to Maldonado Pérez (2008), PBL enables students to attain significant learning as the activities are relevant to the students themselves and often envisage objectives and content that go beyond curricular goals. This is a methodology that can promote creativity as students are required to seek solutions to specific problems and also entrepreneurship as decision-making is needed. However, there is little research that connects the use of PBL and competence acquisition. Some studies have analysed the relationship between certain active methodologies and engineering students’ level of innovation and entrepreneurship development (Chau, 2005; Doppelt, 2009; Malicky, Lord & Huang, 2007) or between those methodologies and acquisition of strategic management-related skills, also in engineering students (Williams & Figueiredo, 2014). Similarly, nursing students who have used problem-based learning showed better development of critical thinking than those who had learned with a traditional methodology (Tiwari, Lai, So & Yuen, 2006). Other studies have focused on the teaching-learning process of skills related to creativity and innovation in students from different degree disciplines (Fixson, 2009; Ruano-Borbalan, 2019). There is even less research on this topic among business administration students. Nevertheless, there seems to be a certain positive relationship between problem-based learning and “managerial thinking” which can be understood as an approach to entrepreneurial capacity (Scarbrough, Bresnen, Edelman, Laurent, Newell & Swan, 2004; Sherwood, 2004; Smith, 2005) or unstructured problem-solving (Bigelow, 2004). Along the same lines, Bissola, Imperatori and Biffi (2017) and Dias, Sauaia and Yoshida (2013) presented an interesting active learning experience in postgraduate entrepreneurial studies. The relationship between variables linked to entrepreneurial capacity like critical thinking and creativity has also been analysed with business students in firm creation simulations (Eggers, Lovelace & Kraft, 2017). Similarly, Hebles, Yaniz-Álvarez-de-Eulate and Jara (2019) gave empirical evidence that connects cooperative learning and teamwork competence development. In the field of business ethics and social innovation, Dal Magro, Pozzebon and Schutel (2020) posed the emancipating and transforming nature of active teaching techniques and their capacity to promote critical reflective thinking as well as encourage deep value changes in international students on business programmes. Nor are there many teaching experiences published for the field of marketing and even fewer that analyse transversal competences related to entrepreneurial capacity. However, active learning can be considered, at least tangentially, to contribute to better skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, marketing decision-making and perhaps entrepreneurial capacity (Geitz, Brinke & Kirschner, 2016; Hsu, 2011; Klebba & Hamilton, 2007; Metcalf, 2010; Nouwen & Van Hoorick, 2014; Rincón & Zorrilla, 2015a; Theodosiou, Rennard & Amir-Aslani, 2012; Wee, Alexandria, Kek & Kelley, 2003). In short, the contexts studied to date are diverse, the samples used are limited, the replication rate of studies that analyse the impact of the learning system on similar competences is low and works that examine intervention with a PBL model in comparison to traditional methodologies are lacking. We therefore understand that it is not possible to give a conclusive answer on the true effects that a PBL model can have. Hence, it is necessary to nurture this research with new field work that helps to expand on the published experiences (Hansen, 2003; -499- Intangible Capital – https://doi.org/10.3926/ic.2297 Lopes & Lima, 2019). Analyzing the impact of active learning on the sub-competences that make up entrepreneurial capacity in the context of marketing studies contributes to fill this research gap. With this study, we aim to learn more about the process of acquisition of transversal skills and the role that teaching-learning methodologies play in achieving skills linked to entrepreneurship in marketing studies. Thus, we intend to put forth arguments that help to answer questions such as: Does the teaching-learning model influence development of entrepreneurial capacity in marketing courses? Do active learning models have a positive influence on entrepreneurial capacity in marketing studies? Bearing in mind the literature reviewed, active methodologies set up suitable contexts for the acquisition of transversal competences (Amador Alarcón, Torres Gastelú & Lagunes Domínguez, 2023; Larraz, Vázquez & Liesa, 2017; Luka, 2019; Urquidi Martín & Tamarit Aznar, 2017). Learning techniques focused on student participation and involvement seem to have a positive impact on skills related to entrepreneurship (O’Brien & Hamburg, 2019). In this study we analyze the impact of an active teaching-learning model on creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. The aim is to understand in detail the effect of the proposed model on entrepreneurial capacity in order to identify possible improvements that foster its acquisition. Taking this approach into account, we have formulated our first hypothesis as follows. H1. A comprehensive teaching-learning model based on implementation of PBL has a positive impact on ENTREPRENEURIAL CAPACITY in marketing studies. 2.2. Creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit Competence is a holistic concept that describes a person’s capacity to manage a specific context (Mulder, 2012). According to the classification of competences to be developed in higher education set out in the Tuning Project, the so called generic or transversal competences are common to all university students. In other words, they go beyond the limits of the different disciplines as they are considered necessary to perform in all of them (González & Wagenaar, 2003). Creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit determine entrepreneurial capacity (Villa & Poblete, 2010) and are therefore key for all twenty-first century graduates from various points of view. On the one hand, from the traditional approach of creation of new business or opportunities to obtain profits (Shane & Venkataraman, 2000), and on the other, in the creation of self-employment and identification of opportunities, including intrapreneurship or social entrepreneurship (Alvarez & Barney, 2007; Kirby, 2004). Assessment of the role of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit in the framework of transversal competences as drivers of entrepreneurial culture requires studying their content. Although the different degree programmes at our faculty set them out together as the capacity for development of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, in our analysis we can break this down into three closely interrelated sub-competences. Rincón and Zorrilla (2015b) cite various authors and explain that creativity is linked to the capacity to tackle situations in new and original ways, finding an appropriate answer in a certain context. On the other hand, they state that innovation is deliberate action that implies introducing new developments in a system or organisation intending to achieve better results. As regards entrepreneurial spirit, they define it as the capacity to develop projects of one’s own accord in order to take advantage of an opportunity, accepting the risks that this involves and organising the necessary resources to do so. According to the description, acquisition of these competences empowers students to better carry out their activities not only in the professional but also in the personal sphere. In this work, we use the Framework for Innovation Competencies Development and Assessment (FINCODA) model to assess a person’s innovative behaviour and creativity. This model poses that innovation may be understood as a set of capabilities, skills or behaviours and is determined by three aspects: creativity, critical thinking and intrapreneurship. In turn, the latter is formed by initiative, teamwork and networking. According to this approach, creativity forms part of a skill set that shapes a person’s capacity to develop innovation. MarinGarcia et al. (2016) presented the model mentioned and defined innovation as the introduction of a new development or improvement of something that already exists. It must be useful and add value to meet the needs of people or organisations. The components of the assessment model used can be defined as follow. -500- Intangible Capital – https://doi.org/10.3926/ic.2297 Creativity: The capacity to think beyond traditional ideas, rules, patterns or relationships and create or adapt significant alternatives, ideas, products, methods or services, regardless of their potential usefulness and future added value. Critical thinking: The capacity to analyse and deconstruct problems for a purpose (assess advantages and disadvantages, foresee how events will unfold, estimate the risks involved). Initiative: The capacity to make decisions or carry out actions that start up ideas and promote positive changes, as well as manage and mobilise creative persons and those who have to implement ideas. Teamwork: The ability to work efficiently with others in a group. Networking: The capacity to involve external stakeholders. These skills related to innovative behaviour can be fostered by active learning systems (Audet & Marcotte, 2018; Gittings, Taplin & Kerr, 2020; Levkoe, Brail & Daniere, 2014; Sgambi, Kubiak, Basso & Garavaglia, 2019). In this sense, a greater engagement of the students with their learning process promotes favourable situations to develop said abilities. This study aims to identify the impact of an active learning model on each of the components that determine entrepreneurial competence. Therefore, taking into account the skills that make up entrepreneurial capacity and specifically persons’ innovative behaviour, we have formulated the hypotheses shown below. H2. A comprehensive teaching-learning model based on implementation of PBL has a positive impact on CREATIVITY in marketing studies. H3. A comprehensive teaching-learning model based on implementation of PBL has a positive impact on CRITICAL THINKING in marketing studies. H4. A comprehensive teaching-learning model based on implementation of PBL has a positive impact on INITIATIVE in marketing studies. H5. A comprehensive teaching-learning model based on implementation of PBL has a positive impact on TEAMWORK in marketing studies. H6. A comprehensive teaching-learning model based on implementation of PBL has a positive impact on NETWORKING in marketing studies. Furthermore, we have adapted the indicators included in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) survey to specifically assess a person’s entrepreneurial spirit. The survey results are published yearly in different reports on the entrepreneurial activity of countries across the world. The GEM project is an international observatory which measures and assesses entrepreneurial phenomena through a harmonized approach (Saiz et al., 2019). The theoretical model of the GEM project poses the population’s entrepreneurial perceptions and capabilities as one of the key areas of entrepreneurship. According to this approach, it is vital to assess issues like perception of opportunities to undertake entrepreneurial activity, risk tolerance, the existence of entrepreneurial points of reference or the possession of entrepreneurial knowledge and skills (Arenius & Minniti, 2005). These skills linked to the entrepreneurial spirit can be promoted through active methodologies and learning environments where students are the protagonists of their learning (Noorlizawati, Zainai, Zaidatun & Sya Azmeela, 2022). In this sense, by examining the components of entrepreneurial capacity, we formed the following hypothesis. H7. A comprehensive teaching-learning model based on implementation of PBL has a positive impact on ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT in marketing studies. 3. Intervention and methodology This research follows the three-stage publishing approach (Marin-Garcia, 2021). Although not yet common in the field of management, this approach has been utilized in some studies (Marin-Garcia, Villaescusa & Bonavia, -501- Intangible Capital – https://doi.org/10.3926/ic.2297 2019; Robles-Santana, Sanchez-Ruiz & Gomez-Lopez, 2022; Alkurdi & Vazquez-Bustelo, 2022; Marin-Garcia, Garcia-Sabater, Garcia-Sabater & Maheut, 2020; García Magro, Martín-Peña & Díaz-Garrido, 2019; OltraBadenes, 2020; Diez-Busto, Sanchez-Ruiz & Fernandez-Laviada, 2020). The description of the intervention is adapted to the recommendations of Marin-Garcia and Alfalla-Luque (2021). The initial protocol was published in 2017 (Rincón & Zorrilla, 2017) and provides additional details regarding the methodology of this research. For this study, the PBL methodology was applied jointly and simultaneously in the following subjects: Product and Price Decisions (PPD), Commercial Distribution (CD) and Commercial Communication: Fundamentals and Planning (CCFP), in the second year of the Bachelor’s degree in Marketing. Its impact on entrepreneurial capacity was then measured. The students were initially asked to develop a business idea and turn it into an attractive product with commercial feasibility to create jobs and profits. In this respect, the marketing students developed product, price, distribution and communication policy around the same business project thus covering the content of the three subjects mentioned. This system allows students to design actions related to the four marketing mix variables in a consistent manner and provides a comprehensive vision of the role of marketing. The quasi-experimental intervention was held during the second term of the 2018-19 academic year at the University of the Basque Country. A total of 257 students were involved in this study. The total number of participants included 68 second-year students on the Bachelor’s degree in Marketing who were enrolled in the three above subjects. The control group was formed by 189 second-year students on the Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration who were enrolled in the subject Commercial Management Policies, whose content is equivalent to that of PPD. The methodology used with the control group was not strictly traditional and lecturebased as active methodologies were also used to some extent. In this sense, traditional teaching is complemented with group or individual activities to encourage the participation of students attending class. However, the teacher is the main actor in the classroom and the one who sets the pace and sequence of student learning. Therefore, it is different from the methodology applied in the Bachelor’s in Marketing which is a comprehensive Project-Based teaching-learning model and develops the content of the subjects PPD, CD and CCFP in a coordinated manner. The students’ level of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit was measured through a self-assessment questionnaire. This was due to the fact that the subjects in which the new teaching-learning model was used do not have a specific assessment system for the transversal competences mentioned. Specifically, a questionnaire was distributed to students on paper which contained different variables related to creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit and enabled us to assess the students’ level of development at the beginning and end of the term. All the variables included in each of the categories of the questionnaire are shown in the results section (Creativity as part of innovative behaviour, Innovation and Entrepreneurial spirit). The measurement instrument included the short FINCODA questionnaire version to assess innovative behaviour and creativity (Marin-Garcia, 2018; Marin-Garcia et al., 2016). It also contained indicators on entrepreneurial perceptions and attitudes from the GEM survey for assessment of entrepreneurial spirit (Saiz et al., 2019). This self-diagnostic tool had previously been validated and includes components like those studied by Andreu-Andres, González-Ladrón-de-Guevara, García-Carbonell and Watts-Hooge (2018), Arenius and Minniti (2005), Marin-Garcia et al. (2023), Edwards-Schachter et al. (2015), Hernández et al. (2014), Keinänen, (2019) or Watts, García-Carbonell and Andreu-Andrés (2013). The validation process is shown in detail in Marin-Garcia (2018). The students assessed the different characteristics related to creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit with this instrument by using a metric scale from 0 to 5 (0: not observed / not demonstrated, 5: excellent). This enabled us to study the improvement they had perceived in the different aspects related to the transversal competences mentioned, both in the intervention and control groups. We were thus able to examine the impact of the comprehensive teaching-learning model on entrepreneurial capacity. In all cases, different one factor analyses of variance were used to detect the indicators that show significant differences at the beginning and end of the term. With this technique it is possible to identify significant differences in the values of a dependent variable according to the categories of an independent variable or -502- Intangible Capital – https://doi.org/10.3926/ic.2297 factor. In each of these analyses, the dependent variable is a self-assessment variable of entrepreneurial capacity and the independent variable shows whether said perception has been collected before or after having studied the course. We were therefore able to detect variables related to the transversal competences analysed that show significantly higher values at the end of the term than at the beginning. We present the main results obtained for the group receiving the intervention as well as the control group in the following section. 4. Results Firstly, we show the marketing students’ perception of their creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit before and after having studied the subjects PPD, CD and CCFP, in which the new comprehensive teachinglearning model was used. In addition to comparing the information collected before and after the intervention, the variables which showed significant changes are indicated. We also study the improvement perceived by the control group throughout the term. DIDACTIC INTERVENTION PRE-TEST POST-TEST M SD M SD F CREATIVITY Think differently and adopt different perspectives 3.45 .711 3.69 .796 1.588 Use intuition and own knowledge to start actions 3.61 .747 3.82 .626 1.670 Find new ways to implement ideas 3.21 1.023 3.71 .710 5.580* Generate original solutions for problems or to opportunities 3.55 .754 3.51 .919 .023 Make suggestions to improve current process, products or services 3.58 .663 3.80 .833 1.497 Present novel ideas 3.39 1.088 3.46 .817 .074 Show inventiveness in using resources 3.45 .869 3.80 .759 3.056 Search out new working methods, techniques or instruments 3.18 .983 3.43 .948 1.110 Refine ideas into a useful form 3.42 1.032 3.49 .781 .077 CRITICAL THINKING Use trial and error for problem solving 3.36 1.084 3.51 .742 .451 Develop and experiment with new ways of problem solving 3.52 .870 3.40 .847 .306 Challenge the status quo 3.91 .879 3.83 .985 .126 Face the task from different points of view 3.39 .788 3.51 .702 .443 Forecast impact on users 3.06 1.116 3.31 .718 1.256 Ask “Why?” and “Why not?” and “What if?” with a purpose 3.70 .770 4.11 .832 4.592* INTRAPRENEURSHIP Initiative Foster improvements in work organization 3.58 .751 3.69 .832 .326 Take an acceptable level of risk to support new ideas 3.39 .788 3.68 .912 1.836 Go beyond expectations in the assigned task or job without being asked 3.39 .899 3.49 .853 .187 Convince people to support an innovative idea 3.52 1.004 3.57 .979 .055 Systematically introduce new ideas into work practices 3.42 .902 3.57 .948 .429 Act quickly and energetically 3.64 .962 3.46 .950 .597 Teamwork Be attentive when others are speaking, and respond effectively to others’ comments during the conversation 3.97 .728 3.89 .867 .186 Invite feedback and comments 3.76 .969 3.91 .887 .485 Obtain constructive comments from colleagues 3.48 .834 3.94 .851 4.914* Identify sources of conflict and take steps to overcome disharmony 3.36 1.194 3.80 .833 3.083 Provide constructive feedback, cooperation, coaching or help to team colleagues 3.70 .684 3.86 .772 .816 Work well with others, understanding their needs and being sympathetic with them 3.91 .843 3.86 .974 .055 Consult about essential changes 3.53 .950 3.89 .832 2.650 Networking Meet people with different kinds of ideas and perspectives to extend your own knowledge domains 3.42 .792 3.60 .881 .745 Acquire, assimilate, transform and exploit external knowledge to establish, manage and learn from informal organisational ties 3.06 .827 3.60 .775 7.714** Share timely information with the appropriate stakeholders 3.55 .905 3.71 1.017 .521 Build relationships outside the team 3.33 1.242 3.60 1.143 .850 -503- Intangible Capital – https://doi.org/10.3926/ic.2297 DIDACTIC INTERVENTION PRE-TEST POST-TEST M SD M SD F Engage outsiders of the core work group from the beginning 2.88 1.219 3.37 1.087 3.103 Work in multidisciplinary environments 3.36 .994 3.51 1.121 .342 ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT Existence of reference points 3.25 1.047 3.34 1.327 .100 Perception of opportunities to undertake entrepreneurial activity (next 6 months) 2.69 1.091 2.54 1.421 .215 Perception of possession of knowledge and skills to undertake entrepreneurial activity 2.91 1.027 3.00 1.085 .131 Intention to undertake entrepreneurial activity in the next three years 2.59 1.478 2.71 1.624 .086 Perception of fear of failure as an obstacle to undertaking entrepreneurial activity 3.00 1.164 3.06 1.371 .034 Perception of entrepreneurship as a good career option 3.44 .840 3.43 1.092 .001 ANOVA’s significance values: * p<.05; ** p<.01 Table 1. Evolution of entrepreneurial capacity in marketing studies The results presented reflect the new teaching-learning system’s impact on entrepreneurial capacity. This effect can mainly be observed in the students’ innovation capacity. Use of this new teaching-learning system had a positive influence on some of the students’ skills that are related to their capacity to develop creativity, critical thinking, teamwork and networking. According to the students’ perception, their capacity to find new ways to put ideas into practice, their skill to ask why, why not and what would happen if, pursuing an objective, their aptitude to elicit constructive remarks from their peers and the ability to acquire, assimilate, transform and exploit external knowledge, to establish, manage and learn from the organisation’s informal relationships improved significantly following the didactic intervention. In this respect, the results support, at least partially, the ideas stated in hypotheses H2, H3, H5 and H6. It is remarkable that, contrary to the expected results (H4 and H7), the indicators related to aspects like initiative or entrepreneurial spirit did not show a significant impact. Through use of the teaching-learning model proposed, students develop a project from the perspective of different subject areas in order to attain a comprehensive vision of the role of marketing and more experiential learning in closer contact with reality. Nevertheless, it seems mainly to have had little effect on areas related to implementing projects or risk-taking. The business administration students’ opinion of their creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit at the beginning and end of the term is compared below. The following table shows the results for this 189 students who made up the control group where the new teaching-learning model was not used. CONTROL GROUP PRE-TEST POST-TEST M SD M SD F CREATIVITY Think differently and adopt different perspectives 3.32 .872 3.35 .874 .037 Use intuition and own knowledge to start actions 3.48 .795 3.64 .802 1.743 Find new ways to implement ideas 3.19 .800 3.22 .791 .062 Generate original solutions for problems or to opportunities 3.31 .859 3.46 .838 1.466 Make suggestions to improve current process, products or services 3.29 .912 3.51 .816 2.850 Present novel ideas 2.99 .908 3.12 1.001 .911 Show inventiveness in using resources 3.28 .831 3.43 .946 1.218 Search out new working methods, techniques or instruments 3.11 .863 3.36 .824 4.191* Refine ideas into a useful form 3.28 .815 3.52 .930 3.241 CRITICAL THINKING Use trial and error for problem solving 3.36 .954 3.46 .861 .547 Develop and experiment with new ways of problem solving 3.32 .738 3.35 .832 .045 Challenge the status quo 3.72 .879 3.60 .944 .790 Face the task from different points of view 3.52 .795 3.57 .844 .143 Forecast impact on users 3.19 .788 3.35 .894 1.491 Ask “Why?” and “Why not?” and “What if?” with a purpose 3.77 .894 3.77 .876 .001 -504- Intangible Capital – https://doi.org/10.3926/ic.2297 CONTROL GROUP PRE-TEST POST-TEST M SD M SD F INTRAPRENEURSHIP Initiative Foster improvements in work organization 3.81 .692 3.63 .815 2.615 Take an acceptable level of risk to support new ideas 3.37 .802 3.58 .821 3.027 Go beyond expectations in the assigned task or job without being asked 3.48 .795 3.71 .810 3.815 Convince people to support an innovative idea 3.41 .856 3.46 .939 .142 Systematically introduce new ideas into work practices 3.28 .727 3.47 .832 2.646 Act quickly and energetically 3.39 1.038 3.58 .839 1.985 Teamwork Be attentive when others are speaking, and respond effectively to others’ comments during the conversation 3.96 .907 3.91 .978 .117 Invite feedback and comments 3.73 .949 3.77 .897 .072 Obtain constructive comments from colleagues 3.53 .798 3.63 .861 .612 Identify sources of conflict and take steps to overcome disharmony 3.36 .864 3.55 .925 1.889 Provide constructive feedback, cooperation, coaching or help to team colleagues 3.72 .708 3.79 .799 .332 Work well with others, understanding their needs and being sympathetic with them 4.13 .827 3.97 .915 1.484 Consult about essential changes 3.62 .976 3.83 .943 2.072 Networking Meet people with different kinds of ideas and perspectives to extend your own knowledge domains 3.52 .891 3.49 .949 .044 Acquire, assimilate, transform and exploit external knowledge to establish, manage and learn from informal organisational ties 3.45 .843 3.48 .867 .037 Share timely information with the appropriate stakeholders 3.59 .790 3.53 .900 .219 Build relationships outside the team 3.55 .905 3.65 .865 .573 Engage outsiders of the core work group from the beginning 3.11 .945 3.29 1.019 1.581 Work in multidisciplinary environments 3.38 .989 3.55 .994 1.390 ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT Existence of reference points 3.21 1.233 3.15 1.210 .114 Perception of opportunities to undertake entrepreneurial activity (next 6 months) 2.55 1.142 2.89 1.303 3.465 Perception of possession of knowledge and skills to undertake entrepreneurial activity 2.95 1.019 3.12 1.075 1.152 Intention to undertake entrepreneurial activity in the next three years 2.85 1.312 3.24 1.364 3.742 Perception of fear of failure as an obstacle to undertaking entrepreneurial activity 3.09 1.176 3.21 1.219 .455 Perception of entrepreneurship as a good career option 3.48 1.095 3.49 1.087 .002 ANOVA’s significance values: * p<.05; ** p<.01 Table 2. Evolution of entrepreneurial capacity in business administration studies In the business administration programme, the students’ opinion of their entrepreneurial competence did not change considerably during the term. The only aspect in which they perceived improvement was related to creativity. Specifically, a significant improvement was detected in the interviewed students’ opinion of their capacity to search for new work methods, techniques or instruments. The methodology used with this group is not solely based on lectures and some active learning activities are carried out. However, a learning system based on a single project related to other subjects in the programme was not applied, which was the case of the Bachelor’s degree in Marketing. This may have influenced the results shown in the above table. If we compare the students’ self-assessment in the control group with the results obtained for the marketing students, with whom the new PBL model was applied, we can state that said model seems to have a positive influence on the level of entrepreneurial capacity development, which would support the statement in hypothesis H1. In summary, the results show that the teaching-learning model studied seems to have a positive impact on skills related to the marketing students’ entrepreneurial capacity, specifically those linked to their creativity and innovative behaviour. -505- Intangible Capital – https://doi.org/10.3926/ic.2297 Sherman, P.S., Sebora, T., & Digman, L.A. (2008). Experiential entrepreneurship in the classroom: Effects of teaching methods on entrepreneurial career choice intentions. Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 11, 29-42. https://www.abacademies.org/articles/jeevol112008.pdf Sherwood, A.L. (2004). 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Journal of Management and Business Education, 3(1), 16-28. https://doi.org/10.35564/jmbe.2020.0003 Intangible Capital, 2023 (www.intangiblecapital.org) Article's contents are provided on an Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 Creative commons International License. Readers are allowed to copy, distribute and communicate article's contents, provided the author's and Intangible Capital's names are included. It must not be used for commercial purposes. To see the complete license contents, please visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. -512-