Academy Of Management Recognizes Entrepreneurship Paper

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (May 20, 2005)—A report prepared by a trio of Penn State researchers describing innovative new methods for teaching entrepreneurship has been accepted into the Best Paper Proceedings at the 2005 Academy of Management Meeting in Hawaii.

"A scalable Problem-Based Learning System for Entrepreneurship Education" outlines steps the University has taken and plans to take in the future to open entrepreneurial instruction to larger populations of students. The paper was written by Ralph Hanke, instructor in Penn State's Smeal College of Business; Liz Kisenwether, assistant professor of engineering and director of the Penn State entrepreneurship program; and Tony Warren, director of Smeal's Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

"The acquisition of entrepreneurial skills is vital for assuring the future of the U.S. economy in a changing global knowledge based environment," the authors write. "However, there is to date no system of course materials that can adequately support a broadly available entrepreneurship educational initiative at the K-12 and college levels."

After receiving a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation at the start of 2003, the Farrell Center and the Leonard Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Education in Penn State's College of Engineering, began developing a new problem-based learning course in which students interact, respond to problems, seek the advice of proven entrepreneurs, and test progress primarily through an online architecture. The initiative transforms the faculty role from lecturer into entrepreneurial mentor.

The Academy of Management Meeting will take place August 5-10 in Honolulu.