dc.description.abstract |
Entrepreneurship education (EE) has been incorporated into middle-level colleges and
higher education curricula in Kenya in an attempt to inculcate entrepreneurial skills in
students. Consequently, the diploma course in Food and Beverage (F & B) curriculum
offered in public Technical and Vocational Colleges (TVCs) in Kenya incorporates a
module on EE intended to equip students with entrepreneurial skills. However, there
is limited empirical knowledge on the relationship between EE and the level of
acquisition of entrepreneurial skills. Therefore, this study examined the influence of
EE instructional elements on entrepreneurial skill acquisition among F & B students.
The specific objectives of the study include the influence of content; learning
activities; learning resources and evaluation methods on the level of entrepreneurial
skill acquisition among F & B students and the moderating effect of students’ socio-
demographic factors on the relationship between EE instructional elements and the
level of entrepreneurial skills acquisition. The study also explored the perceptions of
curriculum experts and EE trainers on the role of EE instructional elements in the
acquisition of entrepreneurial skills among students. The study was guided by the
teaching model of EE and DeKeyser’s skill acquisition theory. The study was
informed by a pragmatic paradigm that supported the use of both descriptive and
convergent research designs. A sample of 132 students was selected from a
population of 199 students using simple random sampling methods. Besides, 5 EE
trainers from the TVCs and 1 curriculum expert from the Kenya Institute of
Curriculum Development (KICD) and another from the Curriculum Development,
Assessment and Certification Council (CDACC) were purposively selected.
Questionnaires were administered to students and interviews were conducted with the
trainers and the experts. The questionnaires were analyzed using multiple regression
and Hayes Macro ‘Process’ Model 1 while the interviews were analyzed using content
analysis. The study revealed that learning resources (B=.194, p=.039); and the
evaluation methods (B=.282, p=.002) significantly influenced the level of
entrepreneurial skill acquisition as opposed to the content (B= .094, P=.257), and the
learning techniques (B= -.116, P=.190). Students’ gender (ΔR 2 = .0068, P=.3003) and
family entrepreneurial background (ΔR 2 = .0204, P=.0702) did not significantly
moderate the relationship between EE instructional elements and the level of
entrepreneurial skill acquisition. However, past entrepreneurial experience (ΔR 2 =
.0294, P=.0294) was found to be a significant moderator. The results imply that
learning resources and evaluation methods positively influence the acquisition of
entrepreneurial skills, with the moderation of students’ past entrepreneurial
experience. Qualitative findings revealed that EE's content, learning techniques, and
evaluation methods are mainly theoretical, leading to the acquisition of low-level
entrepreneurial skills, a challenge attributed to the limited learning resources. This
study concluded that TVCs offer theoretical EE that imparts entrepreneurial
knowledge to students at the expense of entrepreneurial skills. The findings provide a
framework that can be used to analyze EE and for acquisition of entrepreneurial skills
in the Kenyan TVET context. The study recommends to EE trainers and CDACC to
implement the practical-based approach of EE that aims at cultivating proficient
entrepreneurial skills among students. Besides, TVCs should mobilize resources such
as qualified trainers, equipped laboratories, ICT and reference materials to sustain the
implementation of practical-based learning of EE. |
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