Entrepreneurship Education Pedagogical Approaches in Higher Education

Abstract

Entrepreneurship education, as an emerging scientific field, has undergone significant evolution at the conceptual and praxis levels. The concept of entrepreneurship was considered from a broad perspective as the capacity to act upon opportunities and ideas, thereby creating social, cultural, or financial value in diverse contexts. The study and cultivation of this competence are highly relevant to enhancing employability and equipping young people with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary within an entrepreneurial culture for the exercise of active citizenship. This study aims to consolidate the concept and analyse the pedagogical approaches in entrepreneurship education, particularly focusing on experiential learning. It also explores the most frequently used instructional methods in higher education programmes. The research is based on a comprehensive literature review, complemented by a case study of the entrepreneurship education programme implemented at the University of Lisbon, in Portugal, enriched by data collected from one of its curricular units. Experiential learning emerges as a valid approach in entrepreneurship teaching, especially when teachers effectively combine practical experience with theory while learners assume the shared responsibility of learning from experience. As the most recommended instructional methods, one can point to collaborative pedagogical models, namely problem-based learning, project-based learning, peer assessment, design thinking, formative feedback, service learning, and active methodologies that integrate digital technologies.

1. Introduction

Entrepreneurship education is a loosely defined concept used in different ways across different perspectives and contexts. As a scientific field, it has been developed in recent decades, particularly with links between education for entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial intentions, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, development of entrepreneurial skills, and cultural context, according to a study on the conceptual evolution of entrepreneurship education [1].

Another study relating Entrepreneurship Education (EE) and Students’ Entrepreneurial Intention in higher education found that entrepreneurship education has a positive effect on entrepreneurial intention [2]. This underscores the significance of this topic, which is justified by the challenges of employment and changes in the labour market.

Fostering EE can be important to equip young people with skills, knowledge and attitudes that are indispensable for the development of entrepreneurial culture not only in the work and business context but also in the general context of life [3]. It highlights the need to develop various skills, referred to in several studies [4,5,6,7], namely innovation, autonomy, creativity, communication, critical thinking, adaptability, planning and management, financial and technological literacy, teamwork and problem-solving.

In a broader sense, EE can be seen as a dimension of Citizenship Education, a lifelong competence that intends to form more autonomous and proactive citizens with a democratic, pluralistic, critical and creative spirit, contributing to the sustainability of the global world [8].

Global citizenship education, according to UNESCO’s definition, “aims to empower learners to assume active roles, both locally and globally, in building more peaceful, tolerant, inclusive and secure societies” [9] (p. 3). Higher education can play an important role in global citizenship education at a time when students are experiencing intense personal, social, political, and professional exploration and will be able to incorporate these skills and values into their future adult lives.

Entrepreneurial competencies, as part of the European Reference Framework of Key Competences for Lifelong Learning from the European Commission, are currently embodied in EntreComp: the Entrepreneurship Competence Framework. In this, entrepreneurship is a competence defined as the capacity to act upon opportunities and ideas to create social, cultural, or financial value for others, whether in the school curriculum, innovation in the workplace, community or at university [4]. Additionally, entrepreneurship skills build competencies in students. It enhances their abilities to put knowledge into action, contributing to their employability and advantage to the workforce, the community and ultimately the economy [10].

In this regard, due to the direct positive relationship between entrepreneurship education and employability [11], entrepreneurship in recent years has been included as part of the curriculum in many universities and colleges. However, in Europe, educational institutions have not yet managed to consistently implement EE in the curricula or in the real context, nor have they yet promoted the necessary pedagogical innovations [1,3].

This is why this study is important and aims to contribute to research into the effective integration of EE at all levels of education and in various areas of study, particularly in higher education. Additionally, pedagogical approaches in entrepreneurship education may constitute a key factor for the development and consolidation of this field of study.

Experiential approaches are common in the pedagogical process, especially when one of the goals is to develop entrepreneurship skills and mindset. Therefore, it is important to relate educational theory to pedagogical practice [12].

In the literature, experiential learning theory, defined by Kolb [13], is the pedagogical approach associated with entrepreneurship education most often referred to, e.g., [14,15,16], and seems to be the most consensual and appropriate for the development of entrepreneurial skills [17]. Different learning methodologies and instructional methods are also referred to. One can find collaborative pedagogical models, design thinking, problem-based learning [5], experience-based learning [18], service-learning [19], and others related to the integration of digital technologies, as the use of films [20], simulations [21] or gamification [22]. Furthermore, entrepreneurship education can increase students’ propensity to launch social enterprises using an experiential learning process in which students co-create shared communities of practice [23].

This study aims to conduct a literature review on the concept of entrepreneurship education, relating it to its integration into curriculum, the entrepreneurial competencies a characterisation of pedagogical approaches in entrepreneurship education, and the most commonly used instructional methods in entrepreneurship education programmes in higher education.

This will be illustrated with a case study of the entrepreneurship education programme that is being implemented at the University of Lisbon. The case study is enriched with the data collected in one of the curricular units of this programme running in the Education and Training degree. In this unit, we tested and analysed which instructional methods are best suited to the development of entrepreneurial competencies, and we evaluated students’ perceptions regarding the evolution of their entrepreneurial skills supported by technology. Insofar as technology can complement emerging pedagogical approaches such as project-based, experiential or inquiry-based and facilitate the teaching of 21st-century skills [24].

2. Literature Review

2.1. The Entrepreneurship Education Concept and Its Integration into Curriculum

Research in Entrepreneurship Education (EE) has had exponential growth, and by bringing together two different scientific areas, business and education, it presents high complexity and fragmentation [25], hence the difficulty in defining the concept. Additionally, the contexts in which it is operationalised also present themselves as very diverse and with distinct objectives. We can, for example, look at entrepreneurship education at a level of personal and social development or at a professional or economic level.

In the first decade of this century, UNESCO [26], using a definition by Bechard and Toulouse, defined Entrepreneurship Education as “a collection of formalised teachings that informs, trains, and educates anyone interested in participating in socioeconomic development via a project to promote entrepreneurship awareness, business creation, or small business development”. Additionally, consider Enterprise Education (also called Entrepreneurial Education), conceived more broadly, including the promotion of self-esteem and confidence, creativity and the skills and values that might expand students’ perspectives on schooling and career opportunities.

In 2021, UNESCO, with the definition of the European Commission, considered that

Entrepreneurship education is about learners developing the skills and mindset to be able to turn creative ideas into entrepreneurial “action”. This is a key competence for all learners, supporting personal development, active citizenship, social inclusion, and employability. It is relevant across the lifelong learning process, in all disciplines of learning and to all forms of education and training (formal, non-formal and informal) which contribute to an entrepreneurial spirit or behaviour, with or without a commercial objective.

[27] (p. 10)

Therefore, it can be verified in various documents and in the literature that the concept of entrepreneurship education has evolved over time and differs according to various contexts. The first entrepreneurship class was dated in 1947 at Harvard University, but only years later, Katz [28] attested that EE was already a mature field that became an increasingly interdisciplinary field, cited in Tiberius and Weyland [25].

These authors conducted a bibliometric analysis of the EE literature in June 2021. 680 Articles of the dataset were assigned to 65 different scientific disciples by the Web of Science (WoS), 348 were assigned to Business and Economics and 319 to Education and Education Research. “The most productive journals and book series are Education + Training, Industry and Higher Education, and Annals in Entrepreneurship Education. The journals with the highest impact are the Journal of Business Venturing, Academy of Management Learning and Education, and the Journal of Small Business Management” [25] (pp. 12–13). The research themes in the top 25 most cited articles were Entrepreneurial intention, Entrepreneurial skills, Experiential teaching and learning, Course contents, Action-based teaching and learning, teaching and learning in groups, Entrepreneurial attitudes, and Entrepreneurial self-efficacy.

However, they verified that in EE research, the emphasis is not on ‘education’ yet. “Its pedagogy is still almost a black box” [25] (p. 12), and it is still necessary to open this box and think about the objectives, contents, teaching/learning methods and respective assessment.

Katz [28] considers that entrepreneurship as a discipline has pioneered the pedagogically organised use of practitioners in the classroom and that the maturity of the concept means that the discipline has come to some agreement on its identity and on what pedagogically should be taught.

In turn, Carpenter and Wilson [29] verified using a systematic review that, apart from the great potential of EE to enhance student creation skills, knowledge, and attitudes, one of the strongest consistent findings is the benefit of using an experiential/practice-oriented pedagogy that puts the responsibility on the student to construct learning over their experience learning outcomes.

The maturity of the EE concept is confirmed with initiatives such as the setting of a national standard for training in entrepreneurship education from youth to adults in the United States and a similar effort in Europe via the European Commission to promote entrepreneurship [28]. This author also noted the development of several entrepreneurship niches in colleges and universities, with the creation of formal entrepreneurship collaboration programmes between schools of business and other scientific areas such as engineering, law, or arts.

Thus, the field of EE is growing very quickly, with the potential to strengthen business education, innovation, and economies [29], but it has presented methodological limitations, including an inadequate description of EE programs. However, some studies provided evidence of the effectiveness of experiential programs within university extracurricular programs.

Entrepreneurship has been introduced as a course in the curriculum of various colleges and Universities across the world. A significant number of entrepreneurship course contents, research and new ideas have been integrated into this field in terms of content and professional skills [10]. These authors state that most of the entrepreneurship education courses embedded in the curriculum are offered not only in business schools but also in non-business schools. They are vital as they address an interdisciplinary approach relevant to students of all disciplines with contemporary socioeconomic and political challenges.

2.2. Teaching Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Competencies

In 1985, Peter Drucker already considered that Entrepreneurship, being a discipline, like every discipline, can be learned [30], and according to Minai et al. [17], entrepreneurial education can influence and improve entrepreneurial competencies, and in turn entrepreneurial competencies can be generated from the entrepreneurship education.

Despite the debates about whether entrepreneurship can be taught or not, different schools offer various pedagogical approaches to entrepreneurship education, and there are some aspects that can encourage international entrepreneurship education [31]. First, writing about educational insights in research papers to convey takeaways to other educators. Second, bring international entrepreneurship research into the classroom, linking teaching and research. Third, make efforts to know the context of the students to be able to convey messages that they better understand. Fourth, promote curriculum development that provides tools for understanding the roles of law, culture, economics and finance, and other issues and opportunities in different parts of the world. Fifth, encourage students to learn from each other’s entrepreneurship experiences.

Lackéus [32] draws a parallel between a ‘traditional’ and an ‘entrepreneurial’ form of teaching, considering traditional teaching supported on a standardised, content-centred, passive and single-subject-based curriculum in contrast to the individualised, active, process-based, project-centred, collaborative, experiential and multidisciplinary approach in enterprise education, associating it with progressive education. It highlights the similarities between entrepreneurship education and other concepts and learning methodologies, such as experiential learning by Kolb, situated learning by Lave and Wenger, service learning by Meyers, or even problem/project-based learning, adult learning, cognitive learning, and social constructivist learning [32].

Additionally, Norberg [33] (p. 139) noted that “entrepreneurship in school contains many similarities with the ideas of progressive education, especially in the way students work and participate in activities”. However, there is a discrepancy between entrepreneurship and John Dewey’s ideas of progressive education in that we can educate enterprising citizens and develop entrepreneurial skills but risk neglecting the development of democratic values.

However, more than comparing or verifying similarities and differences between entrepreneurial education and some pedagogical approaches, it will be important to analyse the contribution of these approaches to entrepreneurship education from a perspective of valuing human and economic development, not forgetting democratic and global values.

In this sense and considering the literature found on the relationship between entrepreneurship education and experiential learning, it seems more relevant to deepen this approach and some of the most preferred instructional methods.

2.3. Entrepreneurship Education Pedagogical Approaches

For John Dewey (1859–1952), one of the founders of American pragmatism, education has a fundamental role in the process of humanisation, development and growth and can have three functions: as preparation in the sense of socialising people, as potential to increase the possibility of acting creatively on reality, and as action to enable problem-solving [34].

Drawing on the work of Dewey, Lewin and Piaget, David Kolb laid the foundations for Experiential Learning, consisting of four stages: concrete experience (CE), observation of and reflection (RO) on that experience, formation of abstract concepts (AC) based upon the reflection, and testing the new concepts (AE). Kolb’s learning cycle focuses on the process and not the results, considering learning as an experiential process that progresses through experiences, reflection, conceptualisation and experimentation in a holistic perspective that involves the relationship between the individual and the environment, leading to the creation of knowledge [34].

Thus, Kolb considers in his Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) learning as a process of apprehension and transformation through experience that allows knowledge creation [13]. According to Mainemelis, Boyatzis and Kolb [35], individual learning styles are determined by how they relate concrete experience (CE) and abstract conceptualisation (AC)—and the dialectically related modes of transforming experience—reflective observation (RO) and active experimentation (AE). Three instruments have been created to assess of experiential learning theory: the Learning Style Inventory (LSI), the Adaptive Style Inventory (ASI), and the Learning Skills Profile (LSP). The LSI uses a forced-choice ranking method to scale an individual’s preferred modes of learning, the ASI uses a paired comparison method to rank learning preferences for the four learning modes in eight personalised learning contexts, and the LSP is a method to assess levels of skill development in four skill areas that are related to the four learning modes—interpersonal, information, analytical and behavioural skills. They found that ASI adaptive flexibility is related to integrating the experiencing/conceptualising learning style dialectic [35].

Another study [16] also found that experience alone is not a factor in the construction of knowledge, as theoretical and practical reflection should be added to it, as recommended by ELT. Experiential learning can be a valid possibility in teaching entrepreneurship, especially if the teacher is trained to use practical experience and theory in the classroom.

In addition to the characteristic of this theory that the different stages are associated with distinct learning styles, teachers also need to recognise their own individual learning styles as a basis for the development of effective teaching and learning strategies because learning can be hampered by the discrepancy between the learner’s style and the teacher’s approach [15].

The last ones believe that the strengths of Kolb’s theory in higher education include providing ready pointers to application, ensuring a range of teaching methods is used, providing a theoretical rationale to practice and offering suggestions on how to improve on that practice, making explicit the importance of the student’s reflection and giving them with feedback; support the developing a diverse, aware classroom; make aware of the way in which different learning styles have to be combined for effective learning; can be applied to all areas of the discipline; can be used by individuals and course teams; and can be applied in a single session or to an entire degree program.

A study has been conducted in shared five entrepreneurship project course examples in higher education applying Kolb’s experiential learning theory [14]. The authors verified that learning by doing methodology observed to deliver experiences is also a characteristic of entrepreneurship education. Thus, the instructional theme objectives included are “(a) environment (experiences are mostly delivered outside the classroom), (b) real-life projects and/or clients, (c) reflection (as an integral part of the learning process), (d) active student engagement, and (e) subject matter expertise (all instructors had industry experience)” [14] (p. 42). They concluded that it is essential that instructional themes are supported by learning outcomes and to select the instructor who can add value to the student experience.

The distinguishing feature of experience-based learning (or experiential learning) is that the experience of the learner occupies a central place in teaching and learning, whereby learners analyse their experience by reflecting, evaluating, and reconstructing that experience (individually and/or collectively) in order to draw meaning from of prior experience [18].

Research has argued that to learn the practice of entrepreneurship; individuals must engage to gain experiential knowledge, stated as ‘learning by doing’, putting the learner on centre in the process, and requiring that he take shared responsibility for learning from the experience [36].

However, in their study of entrepreneurship programmes in four European universities, they have identified experiential forms of learning that placed the learning inside the experience but not at its centre, as none of the programmes are purely experience-based. Learners can decide autonomously, by taking responsibility for their learning, which role they would like to take in their experience and how they would like to make sense of their experiences. However, these educations are in conflict or simply not appreciated within the existing educational frameworks of their universities. The pedagogical format would have to be entrepreneurial, with more external resources and appropriate learning spaces outside the walls of the schools [36].

2.4. Instructional Methods in Entrepreneurship Education

In turn Cumming and Zhan research [31] found many studies with common pedagogical approaches in business education, namely using problem-based learning (PBL) and the “learning-by-doing” approach that provide a conducive environment for constructive sharing of ideas. And also experiential, problem-solving, project-based, and creative learning, including peer assessment; and service learning which provide students with real-life scenarios in which they can apply and examine academic.

In parallel, there is a need to use collaborative pedagogical models in entrepreneurship education to develop entrepreneurial skills, namely using design thinking and problem-based learning. Finding, framed within experiential pedagogical approaches, that the most referred pedagogical methods in entrepreneurship education are student-centred [5]. In addition, problem-based and project-based learning in entrepreneurship education enables competency building, promotes students’ personal development and can contribute to making learning more meaningful and valuable at various levels [37].

Additionally, other authors verified that project-based learning allows the construction of transversal competencies for the exercise of active citizenship and democratic participation in contemporary society. In the development of these skills, in the study conducted, the following were important: the possibility for students to choose the theme of the project; group work with incentives for collaboration between its elements; the availability of a work guide and pedagogical resources in digital format for autonomous reading, analysis and interpretation; and permanent formative feedback [38,39].

In the last few years, the adoption of service learning in higher educational institutions has emerged as a modern teaching and learning strategy in different academic disciplines, including business and economics, computer science and information systems, social studies, or teacher education, based on systematic literature review [19].

On this, service learning is recognised as an innovative pedagogy that provides an opportunity to learn from real-world application of theories and concepts, in which students gain vital skills, such as communication skills, the ability to work independently and in a collaborative environment, teamwork, critical thinking, analytical and problem-solving skills, social awareness and sense of civic responsibility. This experiential learning environment is very effective to capture students’ attention and to enhance their understanding of real-world problems. It can also contribute to their overall personality, character building, growth, and development.

Experiential education is key to empowering students to recognise opportunities, exploit them and succeed in entrepreneurship. Experiences facilitate the bridge between theory and practice, and experiencing something serves as the linking process between action and thought [20].

Moreover, in the global and digitalised society, we cannot neglect the importance of the use of digital technologies and online education as a complement, allowing for more dynamic and participatory classes with the use of active learning, namely flipped classroom, project-based learning and collaborative teaching [40]. Therefore, we should consider the integration of digital technologies in higher education [38,41], for example, with the introduction of films, simulations, and gamification in entrepreneurship education.

Capitalising on technological advances, film can be incorporated into entrepreneurship classrooms as an experiential pedagogical approach. Contemporary films can help extend learning, engage students more in class content and be a cognitive channel that facilitates understanding of more complex material, making them a valuable complementary pedagogical tool [20].

Simulations and serious games can be significant tool in entrepreneurship education insofar as allows students to engage in experiential learning and they provide excellent support in the subject for student education. Games place students in interactive virtual environments, allow them to test decisions, solve problems, learn by doing and encourage forms of reflective learning [21].

Additionally, the 3D virtual reality educational environment utilises pedagogical approaches that are based on gamification principles, allowing students to study in immersive ways as well as in game-based learning activities on real challenges that can be found in business environments. The game-based learning activities can help students gain the necessary skills, helping them to tackle everyday obstacles on their entrepreneurial pathways [22].

To summarise, Entrepreneurship Education is an evolving field that is complex and fragmented. Its definition varies according to context and can cover personal and social development as well as professional and economic aspects.

Despite the growth of research into EE, it is an interdisciplinary field that needs to be consolidated, particularly regarding pedagogy and ways of incorporating the subject into curricula. Other relevant aspects identified could and should be further explored in other studies, such as the relationship with skills development and the probable positive correlation with employability.

However, research has shown that EE can influence and improve entrepreneurial skills, and we can opt for different pedagogical approaches to the teaching and learning of entrepreneurship, especially using student-centred collaborative pedagogical models in technology-enriched environments.

The most common pedagogical approaches and instructional methods in entrepreneurship education include experiential learning, problem-based learning, project-based learning, peer assessment, design thinking, formative feedback, and service learning.

3. Method

This study is based on a solid and comprehensive literature review, illustrated with a case study selected by convenience, the Entrepreneurship Education Programme of the University of Lisbon, in Portugal. For this purpose, a documental data collection was carried out in one of the programme curricular units, which is taught by the author. An exploratory study with participant observation was conducted by her. The work developed by the students in classes was used as data, complemented with a perceptions-gathering questionnaire applied to these students.

Thus, a qualitative approach was used via the development of the case study from a naturalistic and phenomenological perspective, using participant observation [42] and content analysis of the student’s work. The questionnaire administered to the students of this class included mainly open-ended questions that focused on direct questions of fact and opinion [43]. In other words, it is a support questionnaire for collecting and analysing data from an interpretative perspective. It aimed to obtain students’ perceptions of the lessons taught, the pedagogical approach, instructional methods used and the importance of these lessons.

This method is an approach that is well suited to research in education, where the researcher is faced with complex situations in which it is difficult to select variables but seeks to describe and analyse a phenomenon and its interactions [44], not intending to quantify or generalise. Case studies, based on an inductive perspective and with participant observation, can easily be used as narratives of detailed analysis of a given real-life context as a research method [45] and by focusing on the analysis of processes rather than outcomes [46]. The case study as a research strategy makes a unique contribution to understanding social and political phenomena [44], particularly in the field of education [42].

The research questions arising from the study’s objectives are: What are the most appropriate pedagogical approaches in entrepreneurship education, and which instructional methods are most commonly used in higher education entrepreneurship education programmes?

3.1. Case Study

The University of Lisbon, Portugal, aims to foster an environment and culture favourable to open innovation and entrepreneurship, leading to the co-creation of social, cultural, or economic value. It created in the academic year 2022/2023 an Entrepreneurship Education programme for the training and capacity building in entrepreneurship and innovation of its undergraduate, master and doctoral students (link y).

Based on the curricular units (CU) or subjects already existing in the various faculties related to entrepreneurship and innovation, an internal mobility programme was created for students who can attend the CUs in this area in other faculties, free of charge, integrated into their course curricula.

Whenever the study cycle curricula include the possibility of students taking optional CUs, places in entrepreneurship and innovation CUs will be made available for internal mobility of students in the different faculties. These students can also take these CU as isolated curricular units as a supplement to the diploma.

Thus, any student can take, for example, as optional or complementary curricular units of his/her degree, Entrepreneurship in Sciences at the Faculty of Sciences, Entrepreneurship at the Higher Institute of Economics and Management, Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Faculty of Human Motricity or Entrepreneurship at the Institute of Education.

An exploratory study was conducted on this last CU of Entrepreneurship at the Institute of Education, an optional CU for the 3rd year of the degree in Education and Training, starting in the 2nd semester of 2022. It aimed to (i) observe and analyse the level of development of entrepreneurial skills, supported by technology, built by students over a semester of classes; and (ii) test and analyse which pedagogical methodologies are best suited to the development of entrepreneurial competencies and to assess students’ perceptions regarding the evolution of their entrepreneurial skills.

Participant observation using field notes, document analysis of the written reflections produced by the students, and a final evaluation questionnaire at the end of the semester were used to collect the data in this class of twelve students.

This CU aims to (a) develop attitudes of entrepreneurship, autonomy, and innovation; (b) identify basic concepts of financial literacy; (c) mobilise knowledge in solving real-life cases and exercises; (d) create, develop and budget an innovative project in the area of education/training; and (e) promote collaborative and cooperative teamwork.

The main instructional methods used were case studies, practical activities, debates, and project-based learning. Students worked in groups, with high interaction and had several presentations throughout the semester and a final pitch. The sessions were managed, fostering an entrepreneurial and creative spirit, attribution of responsibility and autonomy to the students in a regime of active, collaborative and cooperative teaching, seeking to follow the experiential learning approach. Digital platforms and applications such as Moodle, Zoom or Padlet were used, and students used their smartphones and laptops in class.

3.2. Analysis of the Collected Data

Using participant observation, as a professor of this CU, it was possible to verify the high motivation of students and the development of transversal skills throughout the various proposed activities, showing the effectiveness of the pedagogical approach and the instructional methods used. Students created original group projects, like “Invest in Tomorrow”, a website to mediate and invest in sustainable businesses; “Amulet of Reading”, a digital service/application for educational institutions structured in the format of a digital library, to encourage the practice of reading; or “School Monopoly”, a programme that creates its own financial system, to use as a means of exchange in a school.

From the reflections on the importance of entrepreneurship education asked of the students at the end of the semester, interesting narratives demonstrating consolidation of knowledge were obtained, for example, “being an entrepreneur is not just about having your own company; entrepreneurship goes far beyond that. The entrepreneur has a critical eye on the world, has an ability to detect needs and think in a creative and innovative way” (student A) or “attitude of not being indifferent to the world around us, is the always finding new solutions to respond to the problems of our reality, is thinking of innovative ideas plan them and manage to implement them” (student B).

In relation to the final questionnaire applied to the class in the last lesson, of the nine valid responses, most of the students were female, with only one male student and an average age of 21 years, except for two students, both 38. Of these students, 67% study only, 22% work part-time and 11% full-time. They were very satisfied with all the instructional methods used, having mentioned “expository teaching in interaction with practice”, “collaborative and cooperative teaching”, and “face-to-face formative feedback”.

The main strengths of the CU pointed out were different curricular approaches and projects; interesting contents; useful for everyday life; relevance of knowledge transmitted; use of practical situations; allowing the search for problems of reality; oral presentations in different forms as pitch; and essential learning acquired for the labour market.

The weak points and difficulties mentioned were having too many theoretical lessons; too little classroom time and lack of time to develop more subject matter; some difficulties in budgeting and tax calculations; and creating an innovative project.

When the students were questioned about the methodologies and pedagogical strategies, they considered them more adequate to develop entrepreneurial competencies; all of them mentioned Pitch Presentation, and the great majority also indicated Performing case studies and knowledge application activities, Using academic/professional social networks (e.g., LinkedIn), Performing practical work (project and/or problem-based learning), and Performing professional tasks and simulations.

Regarding the personal importance of the Entrepreneurship CU, students considered that it promoted their creativity and capacity for innovation, allowing them to acquire new skills and improve others, namely problem-solving, time management and financial literacy. They mentioned that it is important to have a critical spirit and an entrepreneurial education that contributes to creating and implementing new and creative projects or ideas. They also mentioned the fact that they acquired financial knowledge, which will be very important in the future, for example, about taxes.

Regarding the importance of this CU for their professional future, students mentioned the usefulness of testing certain skills and understanding aspects that they had never dealt with before in their schooling. It allowed them to develop skills to be more creative, to have the courage to take risks and to work better in teams. It also helped me with time management skills, in the possibility of knowing how to create a business in greater management capacity, in terms of coordination and implementation of new work mechanisms, and also taught me how to make a budget.

Finally, students were asked how entrepreneurship education can promote more active and participatory citizens in society. In summary, they considered that entrepreneurship education would make young people more likely to create social projects their own businesses and to know their financial duties towards society; on the other hand, it allows the development of knowledge and competencies, namely, stimulating creativity, critical thinking, autonomy, and innovation, allowing interest in social issues and participation in the community.

4. Discussion

Experiential learning emerges as a valid possibility in teaching entrepreneurship, especially if the teacher can use both practical experience and theory in the classroom. In other words, the teacher’s role in the teaching and learning process in the experiential approach is crucial. In this sense, it is also important for teachers to recognise his/her own learning styles in order to develop effective teaching and learning strategies that reconcile the learner’s learning style with his/her pedagogical approach.

It is concluded that experiential learning is distinguished by the central place that experience, reflection, evaluation, and reconstruction of that experience is given to the learner in order to make sense of it. At the same time, the learner must take shared responsibility for learning from experience, which is essential for “learning by doing” in the process of apprehension and transformation through experience that allows the creation of knowledge.

As the most recommended instructional methods in the face of the analysed studies, e.g., [38,47], it can point out the collaborative pedagogical models, problem-based learning, project-based learning, peer assessment, design thinking, formative feedback, service learning, and active methodologies that integrate digital technologies such as gamification.

The data collected in the case study corroborates the literature, with these students also mentioning pitch presentations, case studies and knowledge application activities, use of academic/professional social networks, practical work (project-based learning), and professional assignments and simulations.

In the case illustrated, students considered that the entrepreneurship classes were important both personally and for their professional future, promoting their creativity and capacity for innovation, allowing them to acquire new skills, such as problem-solving, management skills, financial literacy, knowing how to start a business, taking risks, and working better in teams, so that they can have more active participation in the community.

Once the concept of EE has been explored, experiential learning is considered to be one of the most effective pedagogical approaches for teaching and learning it. In addition, it was found that collaborative teaching methods enriched with digital technologies should be associated with the effective cultivation of global citizenship competencies.

How to teach entrepreneurship, what are the most relevant entrepreneurial competencies, how to develop them, and how to train teachers to educate for entrepreneurship will be important questions for future research. Thus, we can continue to investigate which instructional methods are best suited to teach entrepreneurship in its different aspects and how they can develop transversal skills more effectively.

A meta-competency framework was created, where from 98 entrepreneurial competencies, the 33 most common core competencies present in the literature were selected, which included four meta-competencies and nine clusters linked with these meta-competences, “as follows: learn with feedback, strategic foresight, flexible emotional stability, business passion, leadership, communication, facing innovation challenges, market forecasting, self-confidence with optimism and ambition” [6] (p. 202). The four meta-competencies were: (1) related to the ability to adopt appropriate behaviours during the creation of new ventures; (2) associated with the ability to perform different business tasks to produce effective outcomes; (3) related to having the appropriate business knowledge and the ability to apply it; and (4) associated with the possessing professional values and the ability to make sound judgments. Several studies can be carried out from this or other classifications mentioned.

It will also be important to analyse how, in the future, entrepreneurial competencies will have repercussions on the employability and even the performance of these students in their personal and professional activity and development. As well as to study new ways and formats of promoting entrepreneurship education initiatives, curricular and non-curricular, at different educational levels.

5. Conclusions

Given the importance of entrepreneurship education for the development of skills at personal, social, and professional levels and its contribution to the increase in employability, there is a growing interest and increasing integration of this subject in the curricula of higher education courses. This happens not only in business schools but also in non-business schools in an interdisciplinary perspective relevant to students in all areas of knowledge, given the contemporary socioeconomic and political challenges.

The main aim of this study was to consolidate the concept of entrepreneurship education and analyse the pedagogical approaches and instructional methods most commonly used. The method involved a literature review, illustrated with a case study of an entrepreneurship education programme in higher education.

It was possible to conclude that entrepreneurial skills can be learned, and their development can “promote better educational initiatives, improve business performance and help in new venture’s success” [6] (p. 202). We can also explore the relevance of EE to employability, demonstrating how entrepreneurial skills promote the transition from EE to working life [48].

It also emphasises the significance that entrepreneurial skills can have for the world of work and for the students’ future as active and participatory citizens in society. This justifies the development of more research along these lines to support policy decisions and curriculum management in higher education.

Thus, entrepreneurial education can be a lever for developing skills, building a better quality of life on a personal, social, and professional level, stimulating the creation of innovative economic activities, and providing a structural change in education in terms of instructional methods and pedagogical activities based on real-life experiences.

It would, therefore, be advisable to create entrepreneurship education subjects and programmes based on the studies and literature available, particularly in higher education, which will potentially contribute to global citizenship education with repercussions at a personal, social, and ultimately economic level.