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Intensive campus-wide innovation week and it ́s impact on student attitude towards and intended learning outcomes aiming at entrepreneurial mindset

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Intensive campus-wide innovation week and it ́s impact on student attitude towards and intended learning outcomes aiming at entrepreneurial mindset

Entrepreneurship is universally recognized as an important component of economic growth. To be an entrepreneurial university, the organization has to adopt entrepreneurial pedagogy. The purpose of this article is to describe an application of Design Thinking Methodology (DTM) implemented during an Intensive Innovation Week (IIW) at JAMK University of Applied Sciences, Finland. Approximately 600 students participated in the IIW week which was implemented as a multi-modal and multidisciplinary group activity. The aim was also to discuss the achieved learning outcomes and suggest areas for possible improvements. This study uses mix-method research. Quantitative data was collected from two surveys, ex-ante (sample 204) and ex-post (sample 412) the IIW. Qualitative data consisted of written reflective evaluations (all the participants). Empirical findings from quantitative data show that IIW had a significant influence on students’ abilities and attitude towards entrepreneurship and from qualitative data that IIW had a positive effect on entrepreneurial skills, methods and mindset. This paper makes original contribution in that the DTM was applied by majority of students throughout the University. The findings encourage universities to implement DTM in order to enhance the link between entrepreneurship and innovation in higher education and universities of applied sciences in particular.

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