How Well Can Makerspaces Build an Entrepreneurial Mindset?

Abstract Makerspaces are often integrated into engineering courses for a variety of benefits: increased engineering identity, increased innovation and technical "tinkering" skills, and increased understanding of the engineering design process. The integration of makerspaces into first year engineering courses has shown success with increases in student interest, student technical skill development, and in some cases, student retention. Additionally, makerspaces often develop complementary skillsets in other areas such as entrepreneurship, often serving as a physical space for entrepreneurs to create their initial prototypes in order to test their ideas and collect feedback. However, there is minimal research relating to the specific student outcomes that define an entrepreneurial mindset that are developed by integrating the makerspace into required coursework. This paper explores the specific skills developed in the makerspace that contribute to an entrepreneurial mindset. A subset of the expanded KEEN student outcomes (eKSOs) were used, which assess curiosity, connections, creating value, communication, collaboration, and character. The outcomes were assessed via a pre/post survey of students enrolled in an Introduction to Engineering course that integrated the makerspace into both class activities and the final project. The assessment included Likert-scale confidence question as well as free-response questions. A small number of students were also virtually interviewed to provide more details on their experience and on their perceived skills development. The results are compared to survey results from a group of student enrolled in an Introduction to Business and Entrepreneurship course, which focuses on methodology and concepts of entrepreneurship but does not integrate any aspect of prototyping or making. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis suggests that students involved in the makerspace do experience increased gains in many of the eKSOs, but not all. Additionally, the differences between the results from the Introduction to Engineering students and the Introduction to Business and Entrepreneurship students suggest that the integration of the makerspace into coursework may improve students' outcomes in some areas of an entrepreneurial mindset that are less-often developed by traditional entrepreneurship coursework.