Keywords

Business game, Learning Approach, Entrepreneurship Mindset, Business Education Students.

Introduction

The intention of including entrepreneurial education was that graduates of Nigerian higher institutions will be able to explore areas within their fields of studies and fashion out means of livelihood that will be able to sustain them without relying on anyone. was also of the view that the introduction of entrepreneurship education was to reduce the theoretical pattern of instructional delivery and the ever rising tide of unemployment, to achieve appreciable success in wealth creation and foster socio-economic development among the graduates. Furthermore, the International Labour Organization, (ILO, 2013) outlined the objectives of entrepreneurship to include:

1. Empowering the marginalized groups of the society such as youths and women to start and build successful enterprise. 2. Highlighting the link between productivity gains and improved environmental process. 3. Creating the right mindset needed for starting, growing and creating decent job opportunities.

Entrepreneurship education as the process of equipping the individual with skills, knowledge and values, that enhances his/her productivity and capacity towards wealth creation. It is a form of education that involves training and retraining geared towards making learners much more productive through improved performance. It then becomes obvious that after going through the process of both formal and non-formal education, the learner is expected to be able to contribute effectively to life activities in the society. This effective contributions surface as a result of bringing the learner’s ability to the “I-can-do” spirit into a perceived business or social opportunity of self-reliance which is the entrepreneurship mindset.

From the above assertions, one may then ask what is entrepreneurship and mindset. According to the Business Dictionary, entrepreneurship is the capacity and willingness to develop, organize and manage a business venture along with any of its risk in order to make a profit. Imhonopi & Urim (2011) opined that entrepreneurship goes beyond buying and selling or mere presence of economic activities. It involves business creations, job creations, innovation, formalization of business activities, financing, advertising among other things. Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur or one who undertakes innovations of ideas into economic goods. It is generally looked at as a process of creating something new. Doing this involves a lot of time and efforts devoted to ensure the tasks at hand and the resultant efforts include monetary and personal satisfaction as well as independence.

Entrepreneurship mindset is the ability to modify the learner’s thinking from that of a job seeker to that of a job and wealth creator. The mindset is attitude or reasoning that makes an individual believe in him/herself, believes in his/her ability to perceive a business or social opportunity, seize the opportunity and innovatively create wealth or value from there (Ezedum, 2013). Fito-Bertran et al. (2015); Hornby (2012) defined mindset as a set of attitude or fixed idea that somebody has and that are often difficult to change. It is a way of thinking; an attitude or opinion, especially a habitual one; a mentality-built capacity towards being engaged in any venture or enterprise. Nwosu (2013); Ogundele et al. (2012) explained entrepreneurial mindset as the entrepreneur’s fixed mental attitude or disposition that determines his/her responses to and interpretations of business situations. It is characterized by a positive disposition to innovation or creativity, initiative and risk-taking. He further opined that our mindset has a lot to do with who we are, what we think, beliefs and these in turn determine the result we get.

the use of active and innovative methods like business-games, web based and video chips as well as simulations are valuable learning methods that expose students to real life situations of organization’s executives who must weigh the merits and demerits of any solution before taking a decision. Jimoh-Kadire (2010) explained that business game is a new strategy used in learning business skills and entrepreneurship education whereby the assets of a company, manufactured products, overhead costs and employee development are often used as variables. Business-game like role-playing, collaborative problem-solving and other forms of simulated experiences have wider application across a broad range of disciplines and are beginning to be explore in more than classrooms. Supporting, this view Sidhu et al. (2015) penned that business-game focus around learning rather than teaching and students are pushed to be proactive to enable them develop their own understanding rather than waiting for someone to teach them what they need to know.

Business-game based learning approach exposes the students to real life situations of organization’s executives/managers who have to consider the prons and cons of any solution to issues before taking final decision. Jimoh-Kadire (2010) explained that business game is a new strategy used in learning business skills and entrepreneurship education. Here, the assets of a company, the product manufactured and overhead costs may be used as variables for playing business games. The internet is for the students to notice how the concept works through reflection for the students to demonstrate that they have comprehended by reinventing the concepts based on their own experiences.

According to Verzat et al. (2009) business-game learning approach is an instance of inductive learning approach where the teacher exposes the students to instances that reflect how the concept is used. The intent is for the students to notice how the concept works through reflection for the students to demonstrate that they have comprehended by reinventing the concepts based on their own experiences. In relating business game-based to learning entrepreneurship education, it includes behavioural training as well as reflections on mindset. For this, various games in entrepreneurship education have been developed, including games that are goal-oriented, non-digital games that are easy to construct and play, social game environment, commercial games that lend themselves to refining team and group skills games developed specifically for education. Moreso, four key components of games are: Goals; a pre-set objectives aligned with the learning objective; rule limitations on how to achieve the goal; use of skills to reinforce behavior; and interaction a setting for players to interact, communicate and enjoy the process (Sidhu et al., 2015). Explaining further, they, stated that the idea is to let the games invoke a certain behavoiour or mindset in the students and compare it with that of successful entrepreneurs. The resultant effect of the games can be either an initiation for the students to confirm that the students want to become entrepreneurs or otherwise or a call that the students need to learn more about their mindset.

The business-game learning approach is very important in entrepreneurship education because it is used to simulate business activities such as general management, finance, organizational behaviour, human resources and for the training of students in business skills and for the evaluation of students’ performances. The use of this approach is popular in undergraduate courses as it is seen as instrument that allows students to learn from playful experiences that participate as central actors in the teaching-learning process. While businessgame learning approach is an innovative and a welcome change in the learning experiences as compared to the routine classroom learning, its problems shooting areas lie in the fact that it is time consuming, very expensive, especially in an attempt to purchase a reasonable number of items for class use, it also requires great classroom management.

Going by these innovative instructional approaches discussed, it will not be an overstatement to stress that entrepreneurship and business education students are those students expected to be emotionally well-balanced and actively involved in various entrepreneurial activities in the society and that was why the business education students are referred to as students who are being prepared for work in business occupations to become better citizens and consumers of goods and services. Building upon this fact, this study will assess the effectiveness of using a business game learning approach in teaching entrepreneurial education for the development of business education student’s entrepreneurial mindset.

Statement of the Problem

Trends and observations have shown that since the introduction of entrepreneurship education in the curriculum in 2012 to reduce unemployment, the issues of unemployment are even on the increasing rate. This shows that entrepreneurship training programmes seem not to be properly organized to inculcate in the youths competence and to influence their intention in setting up businesses. Again, some institutions implement the government directives on the teaching/learning of entrepreneurship by handling it as a general course with little or no period of time for practical/demonstrations of skills, using more of lecturing and theoretical approaches which do not motivate learners in learning and identifying entrepreneurial opportunities while still in the institutions. Noor (2015) observed that the major problems in the need for modern technology skills by Business Education students are psychological and sociological factors involved in the training of these students-teachers to understand, accept and work with the new equipment, adapt to new organization, human relations and assimilate needs to use modern technologies in teaching/learning business subjects. Some of the psychological factors include stress, anxiety and motivation while the sociological include, family arrangement, school arrangement/environment. The emphasis on the training of Business Education students to empower them with the important skills for the use of innovative learning approaches cannot be successfully presented without subjecting those approaches to a thorough screening. It is on these premises, that this study becomes imperative to assess learning approaches needed for the development of entrepreneurship mindset in Business Education students in colleges of education in South-East of Nigeria.

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of the study is to assess extent of utilization of business game learning approach in entrepreneurship education for development of entrepreneurial mindset among Business Education students in Colleges of Education in South-East of Nigeria.

Research Questions

To what extent is problem-based learning approach utilized for the development of entrepreneurial mindset among business education students in Colleges of Education in South East of Nigeria?

Hypotheses

The null hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance.

H₁: There is no significant difference in the mean responses of 200 level students and 300 level Business Education students on the extent problem-based learning approach is utilized for developing entrepreneurial mindset among students in Colleges of education.

Methodology

The study adopted a survey research design. The study was carried out in both Federal and State Colleges of Education in South-East zone of Nigeria. This zone is made up of five States which are: Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States. The population of the study consists of 396 Business Education Students in 200 Level and 300 Level of 2018/2019 academic session in the five Colleges of Education in the South East. The sample size used in the study was is 237 of 200 and 300 levels of Business Education students of 2018/2019 academic session. The instrument used for the collection of data in this study was a wellstructured questionnaire titled: Business Game Learning Approach for the Development of Entrepreneurial Mindset Questionnaire (LAF-DOEMQ). The instrument was constructed using a 4-point scale with numerical values thus: Very High Extent (VHE=4); High Extent (HE=3); Low Extent (LE=2) and Very Low Extent (VLE=1). The instrument- was validated by three experts. Data collected were analyzed with Cronbach Alpha approach which yielded reliability co-efficient of 0.97. The questionnaire was administered to the respondents by the researcher and five research assistants drawn from the five selected Colleges of Education in South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test at 0.05 level of significance. For the decision purpose, the boundary limit of 2.50 was used. This Implies that each item was interpreted based on the real limits of the codes assigned to the various response categories with their boundary limits as follows: VHE–3.50-4.00, HE–2.50-.3.49 LE–1.5-2.49 and VLE–0.01-1.00 respectively. The result of hypothesis tested with t-test was accepted when the t-calculated value was less than the t.critical value at 0.05 level of significance and rejected when the t-calculated value was greater than or equal to the t.critical value at 0.05 level of significance.

Results

To what extent is problem-based learning approach utilized for the development of entrepreneurial mindset among Business Education students in colleges of education in South East Zone of Nigeria?

The result in Table 1 shows that the mean scores of the respondents ranged from 3.18 to 3.47 with grand mean of 3.29. This reveals that all the items, 1-10 on extent of use of problem-based learning approach for development of entrepreneurial mindset received mean scores above 2.50. This implies that the respondents were of the opinion that problem-based learning approach is utilized to a high extent for developing students’ entrepreneurial mindset in Colleges of Education in South East Nigeria.

Table 1 Mean Results On Extent Problem-Based Learning Approach Is Utilized For The Development Of Entrepreneurial Mindset Among Business Education Students In Colleges Of Education In South East, Nigeria
S/N	Items	Mean	SD	Decision
1	Provide direct experiences to students through the problem context	3.18	0.68	HE
2	Develops social interaction skills in the students as they strive to solve problems	3.25	0.64	HE
3	Stimulates imaginative and conceptual thinking in students as they learn real life situation	3.32	0.64	HE
4	Presenting real world challenges similar to what students might encounter when they become practitioners of their discipline	3.33	0.64	HE
5	Students learning how to solve problems that are ambiguous and ill-structured	3.27	0.68	HE
6	Exposes students to higher order thinking skills and information mining skills	3.23	0.74	HE
7	Gives the students the opportunity to apply the principles of solving problems as presented by the teacher	3.18	0.75	HE
8	Trains students on management and decision making skills	3.26	0.73	HE
9	Develops students ability to carry out independent thinking and analysis	3.43	0.62	HE
10	Encourages the art of continuous practice to ensure perfection	3.47	0.63	HE
	Grand Mean	3.29		HE

Test of Hypothesis

There is no significant difference in the mean responses of 200 level and 300 level students on extent to which problem-based learning approach is utilize for the development of entrepreneurial mindset among Business Education students in Colleges of Education in South East Nigeria.

Table 2 result revealed that items 1 to 10 above recorded calculated t-values ranged from 0.24-1.40, which is less than t-critical value of 1.96. Hence, they were accepted. This means that significant difference does not exist between the mean ratings of 200 level and 300 level students of Business Education in Colleges of Education, South East, Nigeria on the use of problem-based learning approach for the development of entrepreneurial mindset among the students.

Table 2 Summary Of T-Test Of Difference In The Mean Responses Of 200 Level And 300 Level Students On Extent To Which Problem-Based Learning Approach Is Utilized For The Development Of Entrepreneurial Mindset Among Business Education Students In Colleges Of Education
S/N	Levels of Students	No	Mean	SD	Df	t-cal	t-crit	Decision	Significance
1	200 level 300 level	81 133	3.16 3.19	0.72 0.67	212	0.28	1.96	Accept Ho	NS
2	200 level 300 level	81 133	3.23 3.26	0.62 0.65	212	0.24	1.96	Accept Ho	NS
3	200 level 300 level	81 133	3.40 3.27	0.61 0.66	212	1.40	1.96	Accept Ho	NS
4	200 level 300 level	81 133	3.37 3.31	0.58 0.68	212	0.71	1.96	Accept Ho	NS
5	200 level 300 level	81 133	3.25 3.28	0.66 0.69	212	0.33	1.96	Accept Ho	NS
6	200 level 300 level	81 133	3.25 3.22	0.70 0.77	212	0.28	1.96	Accept Ho	NS
7	200 level 300 level	81 133	3.17 3.18	0.76 0.75	212	0.07	1.96	Accept Ho	NS
8	200 level 300 level	81 133	3.21 3.29	0.80 0.69	212	0.71	1.96	Accept Ho	NS
9	200 level 300 level	81 133	3.40 3.46	0.63 0.61	212	0.73	1.96	Accept Ho	NS
10	200 level 300 level	81 133	3.44 3.48	0.59 0.65	212	0.43	1.96	Accept Ho	NS

Discussion

The research question on the extent of use of business-game learning approach for the development of Business Education students entrepreneurial mindset in Colleges of Education in South East in Table 1, revealed that business-game learning approach are utilized to a high extent for developing students’ entrepreneurial mindset in Colleges of Education in South East Nigeria. This is because all the items 1-10 yielded a mean that ranged from 3.32 to 3.42 with grand mean of 3.37. This implies that respondents are in affirmative that the use of business game makes students to be proactive, encourage them to be independent, expose students to utilize time efficiently, allow students demonstrate understanding by re-inventing concepts based on their own experience, stimulates business activities, enforce behavioural pattern of learning that helps students to identify problems from the game outcome and allow learning from playful experiences by participating as actors in the learning process. The findings of this study are in consonance with the views of Sidhu et al. (2015). They reported that business game focus around learning rather than teaching and students are pushed to be proactive to enable them develop their own understanding rather than waiting for someone to teach them what they need to know. Sidhu et al. (2015) further explained that the idea of the business is to let the games invoke certain behaviour or mindset in the students as they compare their views/findings with that of successful entrepreneurs they know or may have read about. Furthermore, the result of null hypothesis in the table 2 showed that the t-cal value of items 1-10, that range from 0.01 to 1.56, less than the t-crit value of 1.96, hence the null hypothesis was uphold. This implied that there is consensus among the respondent that family business background had little or no effect on their learning activities rather methods/approaches used in imparting knowledge plays a very significant role. These findings agreed with that of whose research results reviewed a non-significant effect of prior family business in influencing perceived positive entrepreneurial self efficiency perceived positive entrepreneurial self-efficiency, attitude and intention. The researcher therefore, is of the opinion that business perceptions of venture cannot on its own positively influence entrepreneurial intention but with the inclusion of other internal and external factors acting as supporting facilities either from the learning environment, government, and society could influence entrepreneurial start up intentions of an individual or group of persons.

Ordinarily, one might think or believe that family experiences constitute a strategic force of social influence on the values and behaviour of individual over the course of their live and also a powerful source of both human and financial capital development but this study and probably other studies have shown different roles family play in decision making towards venture and wealth creation.

Conclusion

The study assessed the extent of utilization of business game learning approach for development of entrepreneurial mindset among Business Education students in Colleges of Education in the South East Nigeria. The study found that business-game learning approach is utilized to high extent for development of entrepreneurial mindset among Business Education students in College of Education in South East Zone of Nigeria. Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded the use of learning approaches in teaching entrepreneurship education are vital tools for impacting knowledge to Business Education for their entrepreneurship development and effective utilization of learning approaches can transform the life of the recipient of instructions from the use of those approaches.

Recommendations

Sequel to the findings of this study, the following recommendations were proffered which will be beneficial to all and sundry especially to educational field if implemented.

1. College management and lecturers in business/entrepreneurship education should endeavour to objectively use all these learning approaches and also others not assessed in this study.

2. Since entrepreneurship studies contents require more practical, the colleges management should build enough entrepreneurship centers with fitted spaces for demonstrations during practical.

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Received: 14-Mar-2022, Manuscript No. AJEE-22-11523; Editor assigned: 16-Mar-2022, PreQC No. AJEE-22-11523(PQ); Reviewed: 31-Mar-2022, QC No. AJEE-22-11523; Revised: 20-Apr-2022, Manuscript No. AJEE-22-11523(R); Published: 27-Apr-2022