Are you tired of creating new projects for your students? If your students are falling asleep in class or zoning out because they're not able to use classroom skills in ways that are interesting to them, these entrepreneurship projects will help fix that! They are best used as project milestones and capstones to help students demonstrate knowledge in creative ways!
If these entrepreneurship project ideas are interesting to you, you can access a free copy to bring into your classroom. Read on, to find out more!
What You'll Learn Throughout this Blog:
The Importance of Project-Based Learning
So much of education is theory-based and does not allow students to apply their skills in a real-world context. Students are accustomed to cramming in as much information as possible for their next test. Rather than learning for knowledge and experience, they are learning for memorization, which they will likely forget a week later. Entrepreneurship projects offer hands-on experiences that your students won’t forget, and will serve them through the rest of their lives.
This is not to say that traditional theoretical frameworks are not important, because they are! BUT, the coupling of theoretical and experiential learning will make your teaching practices even more effective.
You might be wondering what constitutes something as being a hands-on project… the beauty is that it can encompass so many different things! Here are a few different experiential teaching techniques that allow students the space to actively participate and collaborate with both their peers and their teacher: Socratic seminar circles, role-play scenarios, case studies, brainstorming sessions, expert interviews, group work, art education, or even class debates.
Experiential learning is…
- Memorable
- Learning by doing provides a better understanding of course material which in turn makes a lasting impact on retention rates. When students are able to put their skills into action and engage with content more deeply, they will likely have an easier time remembering new concepts.
- Personal
- This kind of project-based learning is personal. It feels more relevant to a student’s life and mirrors reality in a way that allows students to make mistakes without fear of failure.
- Has wide-spread application
- Entrepreneurship projects can take many forms and allow students to engage with any sector that they find interesting. Ranging from the food industry to technology, to the medical field, students can explore numerous topics in a way that will provide them with tangible skills to prepare for those industries.
- Encourages community building
- Students are asked to work together in a way that facilitates meaningful communication. It also allows students to engage with real-world issues, and interact with their communities in order to discover solutions to the problems they see.
Experiential learning is not only beneficial in the classroom but also in the workplace... check out this article from Entrepreneur about the benefits of experiential learning in the workplace! This is a quick read that will hopefully show you the value of teaching your students through hands-on entrepreneurship projects early on, as it will serve them as they enter the workplace too!
Entrepreneurship Project Ideas for Your Classroom
#1: Problem Blog Post
- Create a 750-1000 word blog article about a problem you are interested in, that helps a customer understand why it's important
- Include data and statistics to back up major points, as well as cite at least 5 key sources during the research stage
- Students should use interesting graphics and images to break up the text and further explain the topic
#2: Entrepreneur Presentation
- Create a 3-5 minute presentation about an entrepreneur of your choosing that inspires you and/or you’d like to learn more about
- Research the journey of the entrepreneur and how they became successful
- Develop discussion questions for the class to think about, relating to the entrepreneur that was chosen
#3: Ask “Why?” Poster
- Create a thought map that outlines the key components of your business idea, including the problem and solution, revenue, costs, and profits
- Get creative with how you present this information, in a way that makes the most sense to you
- Once you determine the problem you are trying to solve, ask “why” questions to understand why the problem exists and why your solution is necessary
#4: Five Years From Now Letter
- This one is exactly as it sounds… students will spend time thinking about where they see themselves 5 years from now and what they hope to accomplish
- They can write or record this and have the creative freedom to add any elements to this time capsule
With the help of these 4 entrepreneurship projects, you will have your students thinking outside of the box, and engaging with classroom content in a deeper way. These projects are not only going to make things fun and engaging for your students, but they're also going to make your life easier as an educator because these projects are completely plug-and-play. So, if these entrepreneurship project ideas sound interesting to you, you can access free downloads of each project to bring into your classroom.
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