Playing in the Sandbox: Developing Entrepreneurial Mindset Communication Skills in Introductory Programming Students

As one of the charter institutions of the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN), the College of Engineering has been at the forefront of incorporating elements of the entrepreneurial mindset (EM) into all of its programs' curricula. EM is a multi-faceted concept comprising a wide range of attitudes, characteristics, skills, and traits such as adaptability, creativity, critical thinking, curiosity, empathy, innovation, risk-taking, and value creation. As with other competencies, EM is most likely to accumulate if encountered throughout the curriculum instead of presented as a single activity in a single course. Accordingly, multiple first-year courses were selected for introducing various EM competencies, including the second introductory programming course (CS2) taken by both computer engineering and computer science majors. For many years, CS2 has had a culminating design experience focused on educational software application development. When the decision was made to incorporate EM-based learning, this term project was modified to include real-world clients with educational outreach needs. This incorporated three critical aspects of EM: the curiosity associated with an open-ended problem, making connections through a variety of informational sources, and creating value for others. However, this course modification exposed an unexpected complication: students experiencing significant discomfort when communicating with clients. To address this, a series of communicative tools were added, being introduced to the students before any meaningful client interactions by using a "sandbox" approach. Among the tools are two models originally developed for use by entrepreneurs. The NABC (an acronym for Needs, Approach, Benefits, and Competition) model is used for identifying important needs and proposing methods of value creation, and can be used as the basis for forming elevator pitches. The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) model is used as a visual form of engagement where the bare essentials of an early prototype are shown to clients for soliciting feedback, allowing for design misconceptions to be caught and corrected early on in the development process. By "playing in the sandbox," students can apply these EM models along with other tools in a judgment-free environment, having the freedom to fail gracefully and in private before meeting with their clients. The paper associated with this abstract will first provide background on competency-based education and the incorporation of EM into undergraduate engineering curricula. Following an overview of the CS2 course, the various communication tools will be presented along with how they are utilized in the sandbox through means of a project case study where instructors play the role of clients. Results in the form of both quantitative and qualitative assessment data will be provided, including student comments and instructor reflection. Finally, a materials repository will be made available for those readers interested in adopting developed materials.