How to educate entrepreneurial OT's? Thinking out and in the box

Background: As an OT we need to contribute to new developments in our society, which asks for an entrepreneurial attitude. OT education is not always accustomed to practice with entrepreneurship, but in Rotterdam we found a... [ view full abstract ]

Background:
As an OT we need to contribute to new developments in our society, which asks for an entrepreneurial attitude. OT education is not always accustomed to practice with entrepreneurship, but in Rotterdam we found a way.

Educational Philosophy or theory:
For entrepreneurship students need to learn how to be innovative and think out-of-the-box. In this presentation we share our experiences and results.

Pedagogy / educational approach(es) used:
Using the scrum method, students participated in an experiment: starting a course without any frameworks, instructions or guidelines other than "make a new product/intervention/service". Teachers worked on demand and stimulated entrepreneurship. Guest lecturers not connected to the University served as role models. They guided the students during the process.
The first ten weeks students had to come up with an idea and were evaluated in a one-minute -pitch. The best ideas were selected. After that group formation started and groups worked to a final product.

Evaluation:
Students learned to work without a framework and to think out-of-the-box. Students went from reactive to proactive. They showed more internal motivation, investing more than the recommended hours and coming-up with better results.

Application to Education and /or practice:
Students worked on the competence "Entrepreneurship". They gained skills like taking initiative, market analysis, identifying questions/ needs and creation of final products. The success factor is mainly the didactic concept and the freedom students have to shape their own ideas.
For the future we will continue this course and keep on listening to the needs of students.