Experiencing live action of business: reflections on an immersive course in entrepreneurship

Abstract

This article describes an experiential, immersive course in teaching for entrepreneurship in a business school. The course requires the students to set up and operate a business, build on their experiences, reflect upon it regularly and relate it to concepts in business and entrepreneurship. The design of the course, allowing for an immersive experience and reflection, is guided by Kolb’s experiential learning method, process philosophy and effectual thinking. Five themes of students’ learning, as generated from the weekly reflections submitted in the course, are presented. The themes primarily dwell upon attitudes, failures and experience of effectuation in operating an early-stage business. Insights on teaching for entrepreneurship, generated from the course and reflection of the instructors’ experience, are presented. Questions relevant for theory and practice on/of teaching for entrepreneurship are raised.