- Email: [email protected]
Integrating Product Design and Entrepreneurship Education: A Stimulant for Enterprising Design and Engineering Students in South Africa
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect Procedia Technology 20 (2015) 276 – 283
The International Design Technology Conference, DesTech2015, 29th of June – 1st of July 2015, Geelong, Australia
Integrating Product Design and Entrepreneurship Education: a stimulant for enterprising Design and Engineering students in South Africa Odora R.J * Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, School of Education, Faculty of Humanities University of Limpopo, Sovenga 0727, Polokwane, South Africa
Abstract This paper presents the effects of product design projects on Design and Engineering students’ innovation and entrepreneurial skills. Design project, among other things, focuses students’ attitudes and interests towards entrepreneurship. Pre-survey and post-survey tests were administered to students during the introduction of product design project and after the completion of the design project. Five students were randomly selected and interviewed after the completion of the product design project. Analysis of the surveys indicates that students did not only improve their ability to design market-driven products but also learnt key entrepreneurial skills such as appreciating product design as a business niche area, conducting market research and identifying customer’s needs and wants. The interview results indicate that product design projects contributes to the development of positive attitudes and interest in entrepreneurship and has a significant effects on enterprising Design and Engineering students in South Africa. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. © 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license Peer-review under responsibility of School of Engineering, Faculty of Science Engineering & Built Environment, Deakin (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). University. under responsibility of School of Engineering, Faculty of Science Engineering & Built Environment, Deakin University Peer-review Keywords: product design; entrepreneurship education; design and engineering students
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +27 742129713; fax: +27 15268 3748. E-mail address: [email protected]
2212-0173 © 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of School of Engineering, Faculty of Science Engineering & Built Environment, Deakin University doi:10.1016/j.protcy.2015.07.044
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1. Introduction Entrepreneurship is seen as a key driver to any county’s economy. Wealth and a high majority of jobs are created by small businesses started by entrepreneurially minded individuals, many of whom go on to create big businesses [19]. People who are exposed to entrepreneurship frequently have more opportunity to exercise creative freedoms, higher self-esteem, and greater sense of control over their own lives. Entrepreneurship also contributes also to social cohesion, by increasing employment, economic reward and work satisfaction. In South Africa, entrepreneurship continues to assume a vital role in the country’s economy. The lack of new business activities in South Africa is still remains a major concern to policy makers. While the country is trying to intensify the amount of entrepreneurial activities there are still a wide variety of challenges. One of the greatest limitations to economic development can be ascribed to its lack of entrepreneurs [16][10]. The ratio of entrepreneurs to workers in South Africa is approximately 1 to 52, while the ratio in most developed countries is approximately 1 to 10 [15][13]. Furthermore, research findings shows that young South Africans believe significantly less in themselves as business starters, compared with similar developing countries such as Argentina, India, Brazil, and Mexico [38]. According to Natasha and Herrington [23] (see Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report 2012), the rate of perceived opportunities for South African youth is only 39%, compared to the youth from other sub-Saharan African countries such as Angola, Botswana Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia with the average of 70%. Also, the rate of perceived capabilities for South African youth is found to be 40%, the lowest of the participating African countries and far below the average for sub-Saharan Africa of 76%. According to GEM (2013) statistics, the pool of potential entrepreneurs in South Africa’s youth population is 2l0%, which is below the average of 60% for sub-Saharan Africa. Consequently a critical performance area must be to improve the level of overall education and training whilst promoting the notion of entrepreneurship as a viable option. 1.1 Entrepreneurship Education Since entrepreneurship education was introduced in the United States in the 1940s, this concept has been adopted and integrated into education in many countries as a component of new economic strategies for fostering job creation [17]. It has become such an important part of education that in 1998, UNESCO World Conference recognized its value and advocated cultivating entrepreneurship and skills in higher education [40]. Much has also been said, written and done in South Africa over the past 10 years to establish mechanisms whereby the youth can actively become involved in entrepreneurial activities, and which could nurture their entrepreneurial spirit [22]. The main aim of the various formal and informal programmes in entrepreneurship education is to teach young people to become creative and constructive members of their communities, and to develop their entrepreneurial skills. In the words of one author [28] young entrepreneurs must become "... masters of their own destinies" (p.1). Several attempts have been identified in the literature to explain what entrepreneurship education is. For instance, entrepreneurship is known as, defines entrepreneurship education as “the purposeful intervention by an instructor in the life of a learner, to impart entrepreneurial qualities and skills to enable the learner to survive in the business world” [16]:2007:614). According to literature [2] entrepreneurship education is a structured and formal transmission of entrepreneurial competencies, which in other words, refers to the skills, concepts and mental awareness used by individuals during the process of starting and developing their growth oriented ventures. The latter definition suggests that some outputs for entrepreneurship education that can be measured include changes in entrepreneurial values, changes in people’s orientation towards entrepreneurial careers as well as changes in personal assessment of entrepreneurial knowledge and skills. It is clear from the above definitions that entrepreneurship education is critical in todays’ economy as it contributes to entrepreneurial knowledge and skills which leads to job creation and helps considerably to reduce poverty [33][3]. Entrepreneurship education leads to the improvement of the level of knowledge about how to launch and manage a new business venture [37]. Besides, it enables students to gain experience in a real business context, foster favourable attitudes towards entrepreneurial activities [9][36][14], It also develops
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perception of self-efficacy of students [39][31],raises the level of students’ entrepreneurial intentions [4],and stimulates students to choose an entrepreneurial career [42]. This implies that the development of positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship is significantly dependent on the awareness of entrepreneurship as an alternative which is achieved through entrepreneurship education. Higher Education institutions are therefore regarded as the centre of knowledge generation in society and play a very significant role in developing a nation. This is why entrepreneurship education therefore should not merely be a niche activity for a few departments but also extended to Technology and Engineering departments. Although more attention has recently been given to entrepreneurship education at higher institutions of learning, entrepreneurship education in engineering and technology is still largely lacking in majority of Universities worldwide. To this end, universities and other institutions of higher learning have the responsibility to play a leading role to imbue students with the entrepreneurial knowledge and skills that will be useful in their future career endeavours [29][27]. Entrepreneurship education has been recognised as one of the vital determinants that could influence students’ career decisions [18]. Due to that influence, there is a need to examine how product design approaches can enhance students’ innovation and entrepreneurial skills. As far as the researcher is aware, very little research has been done to investigate the use of product design relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial inclination particularly on South Africa university students. Currently entrepreneurship education in South Africa is not adequately addressed at strategic level by some universities or national policies. In the universities of Technology it is critical, in particular, considering the innovation potential coming from the technological studies and researches. The issue involves both the contents and the teaching methodologies since problem-solving and multidisciplinarity are important for the development of entrepreneurial attributes of students engineering fields [11]. According to literature [6], it is no longer enough to come out of the university with a purely technical education; engineers need to be entrepreneurial in order to understand and contribute in the context of market and business pressures. For engineers who intend to start their own businesses soon after graduation, entrepreneurship education gives them solid experience in product design and development, prototyping, technology trends, and market analysis [26]. These skills are just as relevant for success in established enterprises as they are in start-ups; students with entrepreneurial training who join established firms are better prepared to become effective team members and managers and can better support their employers as innovators. Therefore, instilling an entrepreneurial mind set in undergraduate design and engineering students is essential if we want them to innovate and produce those innovations to better people’s lives. Not all ideas from design and engineering students however, make it into the real world. Students’ prototypes often sit on the shelf because they were designed for an engineering class not as a potential business venture. Therefore, students with the intent to be self-employed require more action-based approaches to entrepreneurial learning, in comparison to traditional methods [21]. Action-based pedagogies potentially allow for learning from highly emotional critical incidents in the venture creation process, provided that action is paired with reflection activities [8]. The purpose of this study was to explore the use of product design approaches in enhancing students’ innovation and entrepreneurial skills in order to understand their impact on entrepreneurial self-efficacy. 2. Research Method This is an exploratory study based on a teacher-directed product design project. The hypothesis was that product design projects enhance students’ innovation and entrepreneurial skills. Before the start of the design project, students were introduced to product design topics through examples of real industrial products and taken through the design process. The topics covered include: generating and assessing design ideas, user-centered design, new product design, customers’ needs and wants and market research. 2.1 Procedures The product design module was offered to Diploma students doing Mechanical Engineering at one of the
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University of Technology in South Africa. The module covered six weeks and students worked in teams of five on a design project that integrates business elements. In total 36 Mechanical engineering students completed the six weeks module. An important feature of this group project is that each group identify problem areas, customer needs, market niches, and then narrow the list down to one topic for their design project. The groups were required to take their projects through all the steps of the creative problem-solving model (design process) to develop a final concept or product. Then they have to prepare a group presentation on their final result which has to incorporate aspects of at least a rudimentary business plan as appropriate to their topic—or other appropriate aspects of their learning, including a design portfolio. At the end of the module each team was required to make oral presentation to the class about marketability of the ideas. Two surveys in the form of questionnaire were administered to students, one after the commencement of the product design project and another after the completion of the product design project. Students were asked to rank their innovation and entrepreneurial skills in both design projects on a scale of 1 to 4 where 1 = basic, 2 = medium, 3 = advanced and 4 = expert skill. . Five students were randomly selected and interviewed after the completion of the product design project. The purpose of the interview was to determine their perceptions regarding the effects of product design project on their values, attitudes and interest towards entrepreneurship education and training. 3. Results 3.1. Statistical analysis The statistical analysis was carried out in order to determine the effects of product design projects on students’ entrepreneurial skills. Table 1 shows the mean difference between design skills pre-survey (after introduction of the topic) and post-survey (after completion of the design project). Table 2 shows the mean difference between pre-test and post-test for entrepreneurial skills. Table 1 Mean difference between pre-survey and post-survey for design skills
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R.J. Odora / Procedia Technology 20 (2015) 276 – 283
As can be seen in Table 1, there was a general increase in all design skills after the completion of the design project. The greatest increase in the level of skills was observed in the ability to design products that are fit for purpose (M=1.22) and ability to choose appropriate material(s) for modelling a product M=1.08). As can be seen in Table 2 there was a significant mean increase in all the entrepreneurial skills with the highest mean difference (M=1.16) for teamwork, an indication that product design project had positive effects on students’ entrepreneurial skills. However, marginal mean increase in the level of entrepreneurial skills where observed in the ability to identify customer’s needs and wants (M=0.45), ability to carry out SWOT analysis (0.19) and ability to identify product benefits (M=0.39). These results corroborate the hypothesis that product design projects enhance students’ design and entrepreneurial skills. The mean difference for teamwork was found to be extremely high. This suggests that working in groups improved students’ design skills and ability to solve real life problems. 3.2. Interview results During interviews, students expressed their beliefs and experiences about their participation in the design project. Most students expressed their belief that the design project enabled them to improve on and acquire new entrepreneurial skills. For example, one student said during the interview: “The design project has enabled me to understand the importance of entrepreneurship education and how I will use the knowledge to start my own business” Findings from the interviews seem to reaffirm the belief that design projects if well organised may enhance students’ motivation and interest to start their own product design business, e.g. another student said during the interview: “The design project was an eye-opener for me and I believe that entrepreneurship education has broadened my career prospects and business choices”. During interviews many students expressed a number challenges they felt were hindrance to their ability to design and make a market-driven product. Students’ main challenge was limited understanding of design process. After the introductory lecture, students described felt that design process will no longer be a challenge to them, thus, one student had this to say: “This design project has improved my problem-solving skills. The project has also improved my interpersonal skills. Working as a group made me realise my strengths and weaknesses” From the interviews it is clear that the use of product design projects had positive impact on students’ attitude towards entrepreneurship and interest in starting their own business as indicated by (a) observed increase in students enthusiasm product design, (b) observed time invested by students in research (material, people’s needs and existing products), designing and prototyping; (c) students’ comments and feedback during class presentation and (d) increased knowledge and skills in post-test survey. The findings suggest that integrating product design and entrepreneurship can develop students’ attitudes, beliefs, interest for business venture. 4. Discussion The Changing role of product designers and engineers in today’s global economy cannot be ignored. The role that product designers and engineers play in this ever changing globally competitive world is continually changing. This means product design and engineering student must evolve from a problem solver to an opportunity and business creator [32]. As stated by some authors [4] it is no longer enough for any undergraduate to come out of college with a purely technical education. Design and Engineering students need to be entrepreneurial in order to understand and contribute in the context of market and business pressures. For those Design and Engineering students who intend to start their own business soon after graduation, entrepreneurship education gives them solid experience in product design and development, prototyping, technology trends, and market analysis [26] These skills are just as relevant for success in established enterprises as they are in start-ups. As presently conceptualized, entrepreneurship education is implemented in most Universities of Technology in South Africa to equip the undergraduate with business skills that would make them job creaters rather than job seekers, at graduation. Based on the understanding that entrepreneurship education will enhance the enterprising and
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innovative spirit of students [30] many higher education institutions have incorporated it into their curriculum. Studies has shown that engineering students who take part in entrepreneurship programmes as undergraduates gain insights not available from traditional engineering education, such as understanding and designing for end users,, working in and managing interdisciplinary teams, communicating effectively, thinking critically, understanding business basics, and solving open-ended problems [1][24]. While much is written about the benefits of integrating entrepreneurship in higher education curriculum [35][5][20] little is known about the effects of such ventures on design and engineering students’ entrepreneurial skills. This study used pre and post-survey and interviews to determine the effects of product design project on students’ entrepreneurial skills. Analyses of statistical data reveal a positive change in entrepreneurial skills as a result of product design project. In particular, the study found a higher improvement in students’ ability to conduct market research, cost products and services, appreciate product design as a niche business area and to make informed choice about a new product. To further elaborate on the students’ perceptions and attitudes, the interview results show that engineering students are positive about the integration of entrepreneurship in product design course as it affords them the opportunity to develop their entrepreneurial skills students interviewed showed interested in learning more about entrepreneurship. The findings of this study is largely consistent with earlier work [41] which indicate that using product design projects was extremely motivating to the students in part because they had the opportunity to develop their design and business plan and be able to accomplish it successfully. In this case the effect might have been augmented because the students had hands-on experience and teamwork [20]. Like other findings [12] the students had an overwhelming positive attitude towards the product design project tending to gain more in-depth understanding of design and make process as is generally observed for many market-driven design projects. Finally, the findings of this study show that entrepreneurial education equips students with the knowledge and skills that appears to stirs up their interest, intention and motivation towards entrepreneurship. The findings of this study support the view that employing a more action-based approach to entrepreneurial learning is more likely to produce positive results as compared to traditional methods of learning [21]. Action-based pedagogies potentially allow for learning from highly emotional critical incidents in the venture creation process, provided that action is paired with reflection activities [25] call for expanding concepts of teaching entrepreneurship from a process-based approach with known inputs and outputs to a methods-based approach that supports iteration and creativity. The findings of this study support the thinking about the incorporation of entrepreneurship in design and engineering modules in which engineering problem solving takes place in the context of a business opportunity. 4.1 Conclusion In addition to increased design and entrepreneurial skills, the study recorded increased participation during the project, active as opposed to passive learning, Lots of design ideas generated and students appeared to have enjoyed the design process. The findings of this study therefore contribute to existing knowledge in four ways. First, using product design project as a pedagogical strategy has the potential of increasing design and engineering students’ entrepreneurial skills, attitudes and intent towards business enterprise. Secondly, if properly designed and implemented, product design projects are effective way of developing students’ design and manufacturing skills. Thirdly, product design projects are alternative pedagogical approach to providing entrepreneurship education and training in universities of technology in South Africa. Finally, the observations from the research findings may help universities of technology in their endeavours to integrate entrepreneurship in design and engineering programmes.
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The International Design Technology Conference, DesTech2015, 29th of June – 1st of July 2015, Geelong, Australia
Integrating Product Design and Entrepreneurship Education: a stimulant for enterprising Design and Engineering students in South Africa Odora R.J * Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, School of Education, Faculty of Humanities University of Limpopo, Sovenga 0727, Polokwane, South Africa
Abstract This paper presents the effects of product design projects on Design and Engineering students’ innovation and entrepreneurial skills. Design project, among other things, focuses students’ attitudes and interests towards entrepreneurship. Pre-survey and post-survey tests were administered to students during the introduction of product design project and after the completion of the design project. Five students were randomly selected and interviewed after the completion of the product design project. Analysis of the surveys indicates that students did not only improve their ability to design market-driven products but also learnt key entrepreneurial skills such as appreciating product design as a business niche area, conducting market research and identifying customer’s needs and wants. The interview results indicate that product design projects contributes to the development of positive attitudes and interest in entrepreneurship and has a significant effects on enterprising Design and Engineering students in South Africa. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. © 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license Peer-review under responsibility of School of Engineering, Faculty of Science Engineering & Built Environment, Deakin (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). University. under responsibility of School of Engineering, Faculty of Science Engineering & Built Environment, Deakin University Peer-review Keywords: product design; entrepreneurship education; design and engineering students
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +27 742129713; fax: +27 15268 3748. E-mail address: [email protected]
2212-0173 © 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of School of Engineering, Faculty of Science Engineering & Built Environment, Deakin University doi:10.1016/j.protcy.2015.07.044
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1. Introduction Entrepreneurship is seen as a key driver to any county’s economy. Wealth and a high majority of jobs are created by small businesses started by entrepreneurially minded individuals, many of whom go on to create big businesses [19]. People who are exposed to entrepreneurship frequently have more opportunity to exercise creative freedoms, higher self-esteem, and greater sense of control over their own lives. Entrepreneurship also contributes also to social cohesion, by increasing employment, economic reward and work satisfaction. In South Africa, entrepreneurship continues to assume a vital role in the country’s economy. The lack of new business activities in South Africa is still remains a major concern to policy makers. While the country is trying to intensify the amount of entrepreneurial activities there are still a wide variety of challenges. One of the greatest limitations to economic development can be ascribed to its lack of entrepreneurs [16][10]. The ratio of entrepreneurs to workers in South Africa is approximately 1 to 52, while the ratio in most developed countries is approximately 1 to 10 [15][13]. Furthermore, research findings shows that young South Africans believe significantly less in themselves as business starters, compared with similar developing countries such as Argentina, India, Brazil, and Mexico [38]. According to Natasha and Herrington [23] (see Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report 2012), the rate of perceived opportunities for South African youth is only 39%, compared to the youth from other sub-Saharan African countries such as Angola, Botswana Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia with the average of 70%. Also, the rate of perceived capabilities for South African youth is found to be 40%, the lowest of the participating African countries and far below the average for sub-Saharan Africa of 76%. According to GEM (2013) statistics, the pool of potential entrepreneurs in South Africa’s youth population is 2l0%, which is below the average of 60% for sub-Saharan Africa. Consequently a critical performance area must be to improve the level of overall education and training whilst promoting the notion of entrepreneurship as a viable option. 1.1 Entrepreneurship Education Since entrepreneurship education was introduced in the United States in the 1940s, this concept has been adopted and integrated into education in many countries as a component of new economic strategies for fostering job creation [17]. It has become such an important part of education that in 1998, UNESCO World Conference recognized its value and advocated cultivating entrepreneurship and skills in higher education [40]. Much has also been said, written and done in South Africa over the past 10 years to establish mechanisms whereby the youth can actively become involved in entrepreneurial activities, and which could nurture their entrepreneurial spirit [22]. The main aim of the various formal and informal programmes in entrepreneurship education is to teach young people to become creative and constructive members of their communities, and to develop their entrepreneurial skills. In the words of one author [28] young entrepreneurs must become "... masters of their own destinies" (p.1). Several attempts have been identified in the literature to explain what entrepreneurship education is. For instance, entrepreneurship is known as, defines entrepreneurship education as “the purposeful intervention by an instructor in the life of a learner, to impart entrepreneurial qualities and skills to enable the learner to survive in the business world” [16]:2007:614). According to literature [2] entrepreneurship education is a structured and formal transmission of entrepreneurial competencies, which in other words, refers to the skills, concepts and mental awareness used by individuals during the process of starting and developing their growth oriented ventures. The latter definition suggests that some outputs for entrepreneurship education that can be measured include changes in entrepreneurial values, changes in people’s orientation towards entrepreneurial careers as well as changes in personal assessment of entrepreneurial knowledge and skills. It is clear from the above definitions that entrepreneurship education is critical in todays’ economy as it contributes to entrepreneurial knowledge and skills which leads to job creation and helps considerably to reduce poverty [33][3]. Entrepreneurship education leads to the improvement of the level of knowledge about how to launch and manage a new business venture [37]. Besides, it enables students to gain experience in a real business context, foster favourable attitudes towards entrepreneurial activities [9][36][14], It also develops
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perception of self-efficacy of students [39][31],raises the level of students’ entrepreneurial intentions [4],and stimulates students to choose an entrepreneurial career [42]. This implies that the development of positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship is significantly dependent on the awareness of entrepreneurship as an alternative which is achieved through entrepreneurship education. Higher Education institutions are therefore regarded as the centre of knowledge generation in society and play a very significant role in developing a nation. This is why entrepreneurship education therefore should not merely be a niche activity for a few departments but also extended to Technology and Engineering departments. Although more attention has recently been given to entrepreneurship education at higher institutions of learning, entrepreneurship education in engineering and technology is still largely lacking in majority of Universities worldwide. To this end, universities and other institutions of higher learning have the responsibility to play a leading role to imbue students with the entrepreneurial knowledge and skills that will be useful in their future career endeavours [29][27]. Entrepreneurship education has been recognised as one of the vital determinants that could influence students’ career decisions [18]. Due to that influence, there is a need to examine how product design approaches can enhance students’ innovation and entrepreneurial skills. As far as the researcher is aware, very little research has been done to investigate the use of product design relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial inclination particularly on South Africa university students. Currently entrepreneurship education in South Africa is not adequately addressed at strategic level by some universities or national policies. In the universities of Technology it is critical, in particular, considering the innovation potential coming from the technological studies and researches. The issue involves both the contents and the teaching methodologies since problem-solving and multidisciplinarity are important for the development of entrepreneurial attributes of students engineering fields [11]. According to literature [6], it is no longer enough to come out of the university with a purely technical education; engineers need to be entrepreneurial in order to understand and contribute in the context of market and business pressures. For engineers who intend to start their own businesses soon after graduation, entrepreneurship education gives them solid experience in product design and development, prototyping, technology trends, and market analysis [26]. These skills are just as relevant for success in established enterprises as they are in start-ups; students with entrepreneurial training who join established firms are better prepared to become effective team members and managers and can better support their employers as innovators. Therefore, instilling an entrepreneurial mind set in undergraduate design and engineering students is essential if we want them to innovate and produce those innovations to better people’s lives. Not all ideas from design and engineering students however, make it into the real world. Students’ prototypes often sit on the shelf because they were designed for an engineering class not as a potential business venture. Therefore, students with the intent to be self-employed require more action-based approaches to entrepreneurial learning, in comparison to traditional methods [21]. Action-based pedagogies potentially allow for learning from highly emotional critical incidents in the venture creation process, provided that action is paired with reflection activities [8]. The purpose of this study was to explore the use of product design approaches in enhancing students’ innovation and entrepreneurial skills in order to understand their impact on entrepreneurial self-efficacy. 2. Research Method This is an exploratory study based on a teacher-directed product design project. The hypothesis was that product design projects enhance students’ innovation and entrepreneurial skills. Before the start of the design project, students were introduced to product design topics through examples of real industrial products and taken through the design process. The topics covered include: generating and assessing design ideas, user-centered design, new product design, customers’ needs and wants and market research. 2.1 Procedures The product design module was offered to Diploma students doing Mechanical Engineering at one of the
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University of Technology in South Africa. The module covered six weeks and students worked in teams of five on a design project that integrates business elements. In total 36 Mechanical engineering students completed the six weeks module. An important feature of this group project is that each group identify problem areas, customer needs, market niches, and then narrow the list down to one topic for their design project. The groups were required to take their projects through all the steps of the creative problem-solving model (design process) to develop a final concept or product. Then they have to prepare a group presentation on their final result which has to incorporate aspects of at least a rudimentary business plan as appropriate to their topic—or other appropriate aspects of their learning, including a design portfolio. At the end of the module each team was required to make oral presentation to the class about marketability of the ideas. Two surveys in the form of questionnaire were administered to students, one after the commencement of the product design project and another after the completion of the product design project. Students were asked to rank their innovation and entrepreneurial skills in both design projects on a scale of 1 to 4 where 1 = basic, 2 = medium, 3 = advanced and 4 = expert skill. . Five students were randomly selected and interviewed after the completion of the product design project. The purpose of the interview was to determine their perceptions regarding the effects of product design project on their values, attitudes and interest towards entrepreneurship education and training. 3. Results 3.1. Statistical analysis The statistical analysis was carried out in order to determine the effects of product design projects on students’ entrepreneurial skills. Table 1 shows the mean difference between design skills pre-survey (after introduction of the topic) and post-survey (after completion of the design project). Table 2 shows the mean difference between pre-test and post-test for entrepreneurial skills. Table 1 Mean difference between pre-survey and post-survey for design skills
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R.J. Odora / Procedia Technology 20 (2015) 276 – 283
As can be seen in Table 1, there was a general increase in all design skills after the completion of the design project. The greatest increase in the level of skills was observed in the ability to design products that are fit for purpose (M=1.22) and ability to choose appropriate material(s) for modelling a product M=1.08). As can be seen in Table 2 there was a significant mean increase in all the entrepreneurial skills with the highest mean difference (M=1.16) for teamwork, an indication that product design project had positive effects on students’ entrepreneurial skills. However, marginal mean increase in the level of entrepreneurial skills where observed in the ability to identify customer’s needs and wants (M=0.45), ability to carry out SWOT analysis (0.19) and ability to identify product benefits (M=0.39). These results corroborate the hypothesis that product design projects enhance students’ design and entrepreneurial skills. The mean difference for teamwork was found to be extremely high. This suggests that working in groups improved students’ design skills and ability to solve real life problems. 3.2. Interview results During interviews, students expressed their beliefs and experiences about their participation in the design project. Most students expressed their belief that the design project enabled them to improve on and acquire new entrepreneurial skills. For example, one student said during the interview: “The design project has enabled me to understand the importance of entrepreneurship education and how I will use the knowledge to start my own business” Findings from the interviews seem to reaffirm the belief that design projects if well organised may enhance students’ motivation and interest to start their own product design business, e.g. another student said during the interview: “The design project was an eye-opener for me and I believe that entrepreneurship education has broadened my career prospects and business choices”. During interviews many students expressed a number challenges they felt were hindrance to their ability to design and make a market-driven product. Students’ main challenge was limited understanding of design process. After the introductory lecture, students described felt that design process will no longer be a challenge to them, thus, one student had this to say: “This design project has improved my problem-solving skills. The project has also improved my interpersonal skills. Working as a group made me realise my strengths and weaknesses” From the interviews it is clear that the use of product design projects had positive impact on students’ attitude towards entrepreneurship and interest in starting their own business as indicated by (a) observed increase in students enthusiasm product design, (b) observed time invested by students in research (material, people’s needs and existing products), designing and prototyping; (c) students’ comments and feedback during class presentation and (d) increased knowledge and skills in post-test survey. The findings suggest that integrating product design and entrepreneurship can develop students’ attitudes, beliefs, interest for business venture. 4. Discussion The Changing role of product designers and engineers in today’s global economy cannot be ignored. The role that product designers and engineers play in this ever changing globally competitive world is continually changing. This means product design and engineering student must evolve from a problem solver to an opportunity and business creator [32]. As stated by some authors [4] it is no longer enough for any undergraduate to come out of college with a purely technical education. Design and Engineering students need to be entrepreneurial in order to understand and contribute in the context of market and business pressures. For those Design and Engineering students who intend to start their own business soon after graduation, entrepreneurship education gives them solid experience in product design and development, prototyping, technology trends, and market analysis [26] These skills are just as relevant for success in established enterprises as they are in start-ups. As presently conceptualized, entrepreneurship education is implemented in most Universities of Technology in South Africa to equip the undergraduate with business skills that would make them job creaters rather than job seekers, at graduation. Based on the understanding that entrepreneurship education will enhance the enterprising and
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innovative spirit of students [30] many higher education institutions have incorporated it into their curriculum. Studies has shown that engineering students who take part in entrepreneurship programmes as undergraduates gain insights not available from traditional engineering education, such as understanding and designing for end users,, working in and managing interdisciplinary teams, communicating effectively, thinking critically, understanding business basics, and solving open-ended problems [1][24]. While much is written about the benefits of integrating entrepreneurship in higher education curriculum [35][5][20] little is known about the effects of such ventures on design and engineering students’ entrepreneurial skills. This study used pre and post-survey and interviews to determine the effects of product design project on students’ entrepreneurial skills. Analyses of statistical data reveal a positive change in entrepreneurial skills as a result of product design project. In particular, the study found a higher improvement in students’ ability to conduct market research, cost products and services, appreciate product design as a niche business area and to make informed choice about a new product. To further elaborate on the students’ perceptions and attitudes, the interview results show that engineering students are positive about the integration of entrepreneurship in product design course as it affords them the opportunity to develop their entrepreneurial skills students interviewed showed interested in learning more about entrepreneurship. The findings of this study is largely consistent with earlier work [41] which indicate that using product design projects was extremely motivating to the students in part because they had the opportunity to develop their design and business plan and be able to accomplish it successfully. In this case the effect might have been augmented because the students had hands-on experience and teamwork [20]. Like other findings [12] the students had an overwhelming positive attitude towards the product design project tending to gain more in-depth understanding of design and make process as is generally observed for many market-driven design projects. Finally, the findings of this study show that entrepreneurial education equips students with the knowledge and skills that appears to stirs up their interest, intention and motivation towards entrepreneurship. The findings of this study support the view that employing a more action-based approach to entrepreneurial learning is more likely to produce positive results as compared to traditional methods of learning [21]. Action-based pedagogies potentially allow for learning from highly emotional critical incidents in the venture creation process, provided that action is paired with reflection activities [25] call for expanding concepts of teaching entrepreneurship from a process-based approach with known inputs and outputs to a methods-based approach that supports iteration and creativity. The findings of this study support the thinking about the incorporation of entrepreneurship in design and engineering modules in which engineering problem solving takes place in the context of a business opportunity. 4.1 Conclusion In addition to increased design and entrepreneurial skills, the study recorded increased participation during the project, active as opposed to passive learning, Lots of design ideas generated and students appeared to have enjoyed the design process. The findings of this study therefore contribute to existing knowledge in four ways. First, using product design project as a pedagogical strategy has the potential of increasing design and engineering students’ entrepreneurial skills, attitudes and intent towards business enterprise. Secondly, if properly designed and implemented, product design projects are effective way of developing students’ design and manufacturing skills. Thirdly, product design projects are alternative pedagogical approach to providing entrepreneurship education and training in universities of technology in South Africa. Finally, the observations from the research findings may help universities of technology in their endeavours to integrate entrepreneurship in design and engineering programmes.
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