Communication as an Entrepreneurial Capability in STEM Higher Education: Theory and Pedagogical Practice

IF 3.1 3区教育学 Q1 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Research in Science Education Pub Date : 2026-05-06 DOI:10.1007/s11165-026-10340-x

Louise Kuchel, Susan Rowland

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Abstract

Entrepreneurial education is emerging as valuable within STEM higher education, but a lack of clarity around the specific range of skills, behaviours and attributes that help develop entrepreneurial capability in students makes it difficult to identify how best to teach and assess it. In this article, we argue for communication practices to be core learning in development of entrepreneurial capability and highlight the synergies with existing practices in STEM higher education. We provide a theoretical rationale to support our argument and demonstrate that communication needs to be conceptualised as more than the classic outputs routinely assessed in science programs to foster entrepreneurial capability in STEM students. Drawing on a body of work by science communicator-educators on how to teach university science students to communicate (Rowland & Kuchel, 2023), we map categories of communication practice used in STEM against the functional entrepreneurial activities and characteristics provided by Filion (2011). Our results show strong alignment between the two, thus providing practical support for communication as foundational to entrepreneurial capability in STEM education. The communication practices of ‘investigating’, ‘engaging an audience’, and ‘joining the conversation’ most frequently underpin Filion’s entrepreneurial actions. Based on these findings we provide a menu of actionable, high impact pedagogies and example learning activities for teaching practitioners in higher education, distilled from relevant lesson plans in Rowland & Kuchel (2023), that can be delivered and assessed in formal education settings as foundational to entrepreneurial learning for STEM students.

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沟通作为STEM高等教育中的创业能力：理论与教学实践

创业教育在STEM高等教育中正变得越来越有价值，但由于缺乏对有助于培养学生创业能力的技能、行为和属性的具体范围的明确，因此很难确定如何最好地教授和评估创业教育。在本文中，我们认为沟通实践是创业能力发展的核心学习，并强调了与STEM高等教育中现有实践的协同作用。我们提供了一个理论基础来支持我们的论点，并证明沟通需要概念化，而不仅仅是在科学项目中常规评估的经典产出，以培养STEM学生的创业能力。根据科学传播者-教育者关于如何教大学生沟通的大量工作（Rowland &; Kuchel, 2023），我们将STEM中使用的沟通实践类别与Filion（2011）提供的功能性创业活动和特征进行了对比。我们的研究结果显示了两者之间的强烈一致性，从而为沟通作为STEM教育中创业能力的基础提供了实际支持。“调查”、“吸引听众”和“加入对话”的沟通实践是菲利昂创业行为最常见的基础。基于这些发现，我们从Rowland & Kuchel（2023）的相关课程计划中提炼出一份可操作的、高影响力的教学法和范例学习活动清单，供高等教育教学从业者参考，这些活动可以在正规教育环境中作为STEM学生创业学习的基础进行交付和评估。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Research in Science Education EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH-

CiteScore

6.40

自引率

8.70%

发文量

期刊介绍： 2020 Five-Year Impact Factor: 4.021 2020 Impact Factor: 5.439 Ranking: 107/1319 (Education) – Scopus 2020 CiteScore 34.7 – Scopus Research in Science Education (RISE ) is highly regarded and widely recognised as a leading international journal for the promotion of scholarly science education research that is of interest to a wide readership. RISE publishes scholarly work that promotes science education research in all contexts and at all levels of education. This intention is aligned with the goals of Australasian Science Education Research Association (ASERA), the association connected with the journal. You should consider submitting your manscript to RISE if your research: Examines contexts such as early childhood, primary, secondary, tertiary, workplace, and informal learning as they relate to science education; and Advances our knowledge in science education research rather than reproducing what we already know. RISE will consider scholarly works that explore areas such as STEM, health, environment, cognitive science, neuroscience, psychology and higher education where science education is forefronted. The scholarly works of interest published within RISE reflect and speak to a diversity of opinions, approaches and contexts. Additionally, the journal’s editorial team welcomes a diversity of form in relation to science education-focused submissions. With this in mind, RISE seeks to publish empirical research papers. Empircal contributions are: Theoretically or conceptually grounded; Relevant to science education theory and practice; Highlight limitations of the study; and Identify possible future research opportunities. From time to time, we commission independent reviewers to undertake book reviews of recent monographs, edited collections and/or textbooks. Before you submit your manuscript to RISE, please consider the following checklist. Your paper is: No longer than 6000 words, including references. Sufficiently proof read to ensure strong grammar, syntax, coherence and good readability; Explicitly stating the significant and/or innovative contribution to the body of knowledge in your field in science education; Internationalised in the sense that your work has relevance beyond your context to a broader audience; and Making a contribution to the ongoing conversation by engaging substantively with prior research published in RISE. While we encourage authors to submit papers to a maximum length of 6000 words, in rare cases where the authors make a persuasive case that a work makes a highly significant original contribution to knowledge in science education, the editors may choose to publish longer works.