Session from the International Entrepreneurship Educators' Conference (IEEC) 2016 Enterprise offers opportunities for engaging widening participation students in HE. This workshop examined student-centred, authentic problem-based learning, whilst acknowledging the barriers WP students face in HE. Through a case study and interactive activity, we explored how enterprising projects can deliver both intended and unintended learning outcomes, allowing students to develop self-efficacy and become autonomous learners, whilst enhancing their sense of belonging within their institution. Delegates considered the application of our approach to their own practice.

1. Dr Gary C Wood, University of Sheffield Enterprise
g.c.wood@sheffield.ac.uk | @GC_Wood
Lyndsey Stanton, Department for Lifelong Learning
l.stanton@sheffield.ac.uk
Widening Participation and
Engagement through Enterprise

2. Overview
● Our Module and Learners
● Our Solution
● What happened, and benefits
● Workshop:
○ Creative activity
○ Explore how our approach could work for you
○ Leave with ideas to try in your institution/
practice.
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3. Our Module
● Department for Lifelong Learning
● Working with Communities Foundation Degree
● Social Problem Solving Skills
○ Intended learning outcomes:
■ Knowledge of the role of social problem solving skills in working with
communities
■ Awareness of personal effectiveness for social problem solving
■ Demonstrate problem solving skills: designing research questions, qualitative
and quantitative data collection, data analysis and reporting, presenting
findings.
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4. Learning Benefits
● Immediate benefits that you can deliver to the student by meeting
the intended learning outcomes:
○ A sense of belonging within the University
○ Self-identification as a student
○ Self-efficacy
○ Engagement with wider University services
○ Passive learning vs. empowered learning and ownership of their own
education.
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5. Our Students
● Small cohort – 8 students
● Widening participation backgrounds
● Mostly mature learners, some of whom have
young families
● Not engaged with university life beyond
academic department
● At risk of leaving course
● Passionate
● Determined.
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6. Our Aim
● Enable students to achieve the Intended Learning Outcomes
● Increase students’ engagement with University
● Develop students’ Enterprise Capabilities:
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7. Our Solution
● Partnership with Students’ Union
“From a student perspective, what
might be potential barriers to
involvement in Students’ Union
activities and what solutions or
approaches might resolve these?”
Stella McHugh, Head of External Engagement
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8. Activities
● Introduction to the problem and overview of SU
● Qualitative data collection and analysis:
focus groups
● Quantitative data collection and analysis:
questionnaires
● Identification of barriers and suggesting
solutions
● Present recommendations back to Students’
Union and academic staff.
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9. Outcomes
Students:
● highly motivated and felt valued
● achieved ILOs
● greater sense of belonging
● more engaged with University
Students’ Union:
● received research of value.
● identified barriers to access and is currently taking forward
some student recommendations to create real change.
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10. What the Students & SU staff think
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11. What we learnt
● Enterprise offers opportunities to inspire WP learners, deepen
learning, strengthen student engagement and self-efficacy
● Focus on learning benefits as much as learning outcomes
● Involving external partners early enables projects to be developed
that are mutually beneficial
● Using external partners outside the module but within the University
can be just as effective as working independent organisations.
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12. Using enterprise to engage students
● Small groups
● You are working with first year students
● Demographics are identified by your card
● Aim is to teach students how to do a small scale research project
● Decide:
○ Who is a potential project partner and what project could they set?
○ Think about the skills your students will develop (learning benefits and
learning outcomes)
○ Construct a module using the Capability Connect board
○ Note down the skills you include on the handout.
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13. Presentation of Modules
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14. Dr Gary C Wood, University of Sheffield Enterprise
g.c.wood@sheffield.ac.uk | @GC_Wood
Lyndsey Stanton, Department for Lifelong Learning
l.stanton@sheffield.ac.uk
Widening Participation and
Engagement through Enterprise