Experience with entrepreneurship learning using serious games

Abstract

The teaching of entrepreneurship is currently a fundamental pillar in the construction of social responsibility with strong impact on the future economic development of society. The use of serious games in the entrepreneurship field is a way of encouraging students' motivation to become entrepreneurs and develop their skills in the field. In this paper, we describe the experience of using a serious game in the entrepreneurship field in the context of the classroom. For that, we adopt a quantitative research technique based on a survey research to measure the different characteristics experienced by higher education students when using serious games in the classroom to learn entrepreneurship. The students have multidisciplinary competences, coming from courses with strong emphasis in the area of management and technology. The use of the serious game allowed students to develop skills mainly in terms of innovation, leadership, strategic thinking, problem solving, business launch and risk management. On the other side, there were no significant benefits in terms of accounting skills, compliance with regulations, interpersonal, communication, and self-control and discipline.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, serious games, higher education, game based learning, gamification.

Full text

Cypriot Journal of Educational
Sciences
Volume 12, Issue 2, (2017) 69-80
www.cjes.eu
Experience with entrepreneurship learning using serious games
Fernando Almeida*, Faculty of Engineering, Oporto University, INESC TEC, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal
Suggested Citation:
Almeida, F. (2017). Experience with entrepreneurship learning using serious games. Cypriot Journal of
Educational Science. 12(2), 69-80.
Received February 16, 2017; revised May 19, 2017; accepted June 15, 2017.
Selection and peer review under responsibility of Prof Dr. Huseyin Uzunboylu & Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cigdem Hursen,
Near East University.
©2017 SciencePark Research, Organization & Counseling. All rights reserved.
Abstract
The teaching of entrepreneurship is currently a fundamental pillar in the construction of social responsibility with strong
impact on the future economic development of society. The use of serious games in the entrepreneurship field is a way of
encouraging students' motivation to become entrepreneurs and develop their skills in the field. In this paper, we describe the
experience of using a serious game in the entrepreneurship field in the context of the classroom. For that, we adopt a
quantitative research technique based on a survey research to measure the different characteristics experienced by higher
education students when using serious games in the classroom to learn entrepreneurship. The students have
multidisciplinary competences, coming from courses with strong emphasis in the area of management and technology. The
use of the serious game allowed students to develop skills mainly in terms of innovation, leadership, strategic thinking,
problem solving, business launch and risk management. On the other side, there were no significant benefits in terms of
accounting skills, compliance with regulations, interpersonal, communication, and self-control and discipline.
Keywords: entrepreneurship, serious games, higher education, game based learning, gamification.
*ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE: Fernando Almeida, Faculty of Engineering, Oporto University, INESC TEC, 4200-
465, Porto, Portugal.E-mail address: almd@fe.up.pt

Almeida, F. (2017). Experience wit h entrepreneurship learning using seriou s games. Cypriot Journal of Educational Science. 12(2), 69-80.
70
1. Introduction
The technological advances that have occurred in recent years have allowed schools to be better
equipped for this new digital era. Likewise, the production and, mainly, the consumption of digital
games have expanded, reaching a very high popularity level, and are increasingly present in our daily
life. The gamification concept, as a strategy of teaching in higher education, is based on the idea that
learning through play favors students' motivation and autonomy. The opportunities created by
gamification can originate rich and motivated experiences and, therefore, results in a learning process
more successful, since students are more involved in the action.
Gamification is gaining significant importance in environments such as business, marketing, or
corporate management. However, its application in education is still an emerging trend (Dicheva,
Dichev, Agre & Angelova, 2015). Within the education domain we can realize that the majority of
approaches are dedicated to the children instruction, while its adoption in higher education is still
quite low (Hauge, Bellotti, Berta, Carvalho, de Gloria, Lavagnino, Nadolski & Ott, 2013; Ferreira,
Gouin-Vallerand & Hotte, 2016). Some authors such as Yunyongying (2014) and Catalano, Luccini and
Mortara (2014) advocate that the integration of gamification tools in the classroom needs an
adaptation of curricular design to make it effective and maximize the learning impact. In any
circumstance, the current impact of gamification on the educational system cannot be
underestimated. Boyle, Connoly and Hainey (2011) confirm that gamification can help in learning, skill
acquisition and behavior change. Poondej and Lerdpornkulrat (2016) provide empirical support that
students clearly consider that gamified learning activities help them to engage in learning. In the same
direction, Buckley and Doyle (2016) state that gamified learning interventions may increase student
engagement and enhance learning. They also state that the students' participation in the gamified
learning process is dependent on whether the student is motivated intrinsically or extrinsically. Noemi
and Máximo (2014) show various cases of successful serious games and study their influence in the
learning process. Wilson, Calongne and Henderson (2015) present a gamification case study and
introduce two design models that employ game mechanics and incentives to encourage positive
outcomes. Cain and Piascik (2015) adopts serious games in pharmacy education; Pourabdollahian,
Taisch and Kerga (2012) uses serious games in manufacturing education; and Le Compte, Elizondo and
Watson (2015) proposes the use of serious games for cyber security.
Serious Games (SGs) are targeted at learning and education, despite the challenges in terms of
game design and their adoption in different learning, academic and interdisciplinary contexts
(Almeida, Bolaert, Dowdall, Lourenço & Milczarski, 2015). Breuer and Bente (2010) present a
classification regarding the topology of serious games and design a set of strategies to allow the
integration of commercial off-the-shelf entertainment games in embedded learning settings.
However, the inclusion of serious games in a traditional classroom environment presents some risks
and challenges. McDaniel and Telep (2009) propose a set of best practices for integrating game-based
learning into online teaching. Among them, we highlight the use of collaborative technologies and
virtual worlds, embracing interdisciplinary, and asking students to be producers instead of just
consumers. Arnab, Berta, Earp, de Freitas, Popescu, Romero, Stanescu and Usart (2012) propose
specific implementation strategies, collaboration and game building techniques that could facilitate
the use of serious games in formal education systems.
SGs can be used as simulations that intend to provide real and immersive games which offer an
enriched educational experience. They can be used in several areas, such as military, health, training
or education. Botte, Matera and Sponsiello (2009) propose a taxonomy that intends to make a
systematic schematization and classification of the different spheres and aims of the simulations.
Barjis, Sharda, Lee, Gupta, Bouzdine-Chameeva and Verbraeck (2012) describe the experience of using
simulation and virtual environments, such as Second Life and Innov8, to provide a more innovative
teaching service. The results of this study demonstrated that this approach offers positive implications
for the quality of education in the field of management science and systems engineering. Ahmed and

Almeida, F. (2017). Experience wit h entrepreneurship learning using seriou s games. Cypriot Journal of Educational Science. 12(2), 69-80.
71
Sutton (2017) state that simulations have the power to push the participant into experiencing an
immersive environment.
Entrepreneurship education is a relatively new area in all levels of education, including higher
education. However, in recent years, we have assisted to an exponential increase of the most diverse
isolated courses and curricular units within higher education institutions. Moustaghfir and Sirca (2010)
perform a scientific review in entrepreneurship and refer the high importance of entrepreneurialism in
universities and the accommodation of it in interdisciplinary learning modes. Another scientific review
was made by Neck and Greene (2011) that explores how entrepreneurship is taught in classrooms and
proposes a new approach to teach it as a method. Moses and Mosunmola (2014) examine the
relationship between entrepreneurship curriculum and pedagogical challenges in promoting student
motivation. Esmi, Marzoughi & Torkzadeh (2015) discuss the use of teaching-learning methods in the
entrepreneurship curriculum. The study proposes a set of effective methods of teaching
entrepreneurship and presents its validation. Nevertheless, the teaching of entrepreneurship does not
necessarily have to be integrated into university curriculum. As referred by Pittaway, Gazzard, Shore
and Williamson (2015), student clubs that intend to enhance entrepreneurial learning can be found in
many universities.
La Guardia, Gentile, Dal Grande, Ottaviano and Allegra (2013) developed a blended model based on
the use of a serious game within the framework of the PNPV* EU-funded project. The proposed model
proves that it is possible to build a learning space that fosters a learner's entrepreneurial mindset
through experiential learning. A similar experience was carried out by Bellotti, Berta, de Gloria,
Lavagnino, Antonaci, Dagnino, Ott, Romero, Usart and Mayer (2014) that discusses the adoption of
SGs for supporting the development of an entrepreneurial mindset in the context of eSG† project using
studies from three European countries (i.e., Italy, Spain and Netherlands). Therefore, it is possible to
conclude that the use of entrepreneurship SGs can also have an impact on the entrepreneurial intent
and the mindset of the students. Katharina (2015) also confirms it using an exploratory study based on
73 items that provided evidence that the use of a SG in a Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL)
environment influences the entrepreneurship behavior and intentions. Somewhat surprisingly, at first
glance, the study conducted by Newbery, Lean and Moizer (2016) concluded that the use of serious
games by undergraduate students has a significant negative impact on entrepreneurial intent, which is
mainly due to the experiences faced by students while playing the game that showed them the
difficulties and uncertainties that an entrepreneur feels when he intends to start and develop a new
business.
2. Method
Quantitative research techniques were adopted in order to study the performance of Oracle
relational databases. Quantitative research method is characterized as a systematic approach of
investigation during which numerical data are observed, collected, transformed and analyzed by the
researcher (Creswell, 2013; Martin & Bridgmon, 2012). This approach tries to find evidence that could
support or contradict an idea or hypothesis and, therefore, confirm or validate relationships to
develop generalizations that contribute to theory (Williams, 2007). According to Sukamolson (2010)
there are four types of quantitative research techniques; (i) survey research, (ii) correlational research,
(iii) experimental research and (iv) causal-comparative research. In our work we adopted the survey
research and we used scientific sampling and questionnaire design to measure the different
characteristics experienced by higher education students when using serious games in the classroom
to learn entrepreneurship. Additionally, the adoption of structured questionnaires are efficient tools
that easier data analysis and, at the same, maintaining the anonymity of respondents.
* https://www.up2europe.eu/european/projects/i-can-i-can-t-i-go-rev-2-pnpv2_123479.html
† https://www.openeducationeuropa.eu/en/project/esg

Almeida, F. (2017). Experience wit h entrepreneurship learning using seriou s games. Cypriot Journal of Educational Science. 12(2), 69-80.
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2.1. Sample
Our sample consists of students who attended the curricular unit of entrepreneurship during three
consecutive school years from 2014 to 2017. The students attending this curricular unit come from
four undergraduate courses; (i) Computer Science Engineering (EI), (ii) Computer Science for
Management (IG), (iii) Management (GE) and (iv) Engineering and Industrial Management (EGI).
The questionnaire is composed of 26 questions divided into three sections. The purpose of each
section is mentioned in table 1.
Table 1. Structure of the questionnaire
Section
Description
Technical competencies
Importance given to elements such as communication, environment
monitoring, problem solving, technology implementation, interpersonal and
organizational skills.
Business management
Relevance o
f the knowledge in areas such as planning and goal setting,
decision making, human resources management, marketing, finance,
accounting, customer relations, quality control, negotiation, business launch,
growth management, and compliance with regulation skills.
Personal
entrepreneurial
Importance given to personal factors such as self
-
control and discipline, risk
management, innovation, persistence, leadership, change management,
network building, and strategic thinking.
In all sections of the questionnaire, we use a multiple choice grid with the following scale; 1. not
important, 2. slightly important, 3. important, 4. very important and 5. crucial. This approach
guarantees that respondents can easily and quickly answer the questionnaire and they are restricted
to a finite set of responses. Additionally, this approach allows the inclusion of more variables in the
study, because the format enables the respondents to answer more questions at the same time
required to answer few open-ended questions.
2.2. Platform
ENTRExplorer* game was developed in the context of a European project coordinated by the
Economic Policies Research Unit from the University of Minho (Portugal). The game is a cloud-based
application where the users can simulate the process of creating a new start-up company and the daily
basis of a new business. The gameplay is performed in different scenarios that are mapped by
different floors or a building. On each floor/level the player has access to the most relevant knowledge
about the phases of creating a new business. The information provided in the game guide the player
trough the different phases in the process of writing a business plan, he can learn and apply the
lessons learned, being able to complete its own business plan, a tool provided in the game (Almeida,
2017).
The game is composed of eight levels with the following goals:
o Level 1: Market and ideas - identification and classification the economic activities by sector
(primary sector, secondary sector and tertiary sector);
o Level 2: Strategic positioning - understand and adoption of strategic positioning, attending to
the customer's expectation, competitors' position and the benefits of the new
product/service;
* http://www.entrexplorer.com/game/

Almeida, F. (2017). Experience wit h entrepreneurship learning using seriou s games. Cypriot Journal of Educational Science. 12(2), 69-80.
73
o Level 3: Product strategy - classification of products according to their scope and levels. In
addition, understand the decisions that need to be taken related to the product mix;
o Level 4: Price strategy - understand the importance of the price in a product/service. In fact,
price is the only element of marketing that can generate revenue. It is also one of the most
flexible elements that can be changed quickly adapting itself according to the needs;
o Level 5: Distribution strategy - perceive the types of distribution channels available (e.g.,
intensive, selective and exclusive) and the functions of the distribution channels;
o Level 6: Communication strategy - explain how the communication process works and how
we can formulate a communication strategy attending to the audience, message and
objectives;
o Level 7: SWOT analysis - present the SWOT technique, which is an important tool used for
strategic management. It consists of collection important data elements from the internal
environment (strengths and weaknesses) and external (opportunities and threats) of the
company;
o Level 8: Financial viability - present the main financial maps, such as balance sheet and
income statement. Besides that, it presents key financial analysis indicators (e.g., net present
value, internal rate of return and payback) to realize the viability of a new business.
Finally, the player is able to experiment a simulation on the virtual market, which is linked to the
previous learning levels, so a good score and performance throughout the learning levels, gives more
chance of being successful. A typical badly prepared entrepreneur will have a lower probability of
being successful, in the contrary, a well prepared and informed entrepreneur will have a better chance
of being successful in the business. Besides that, the virtual market is multiplayer and allows several
online players to interact between them, which will turn this experience more immersive and enriched
for the players.
Figure 1. Lobby of ENTRExplorer game

Almeida, F. (2017). Experience wit h entrepreneurship learning using seriou s games. Cypriot Journal of Educational Science. 12(2), 69-80.
74
Figure 2. The virtual marketplace of ENTRExplorer game
2.3. Data Collection Tools and Data Analysis
The questionnaire was created using the Google Drive and the responses were recorded in a
spreadsheet. It was available for the students between 10th of April 2017 and 30th of April 2017. For
the analysis of the data the Stata software v13.0 was used. Stata is a complete, integrated statistical
software package that provides a high level of statistical methods for descriptive and inferential
statistics. In order to have an idea of the data distribution, we used elementary techniques of
descriptive statistics, such as the calculation of the mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum
values. Besides that, a hypothesis test was conducted to determine whether there is enough evidence
that the impact of serious games in students' learning is different for each course. For that, we
compute the p-value, which is the probability that a test statistic at least as significant as the one
observed would be obtained assuming that the null hypothesis were true. The smaller the p-value, the
stronger the evidence against the null hypothesis. Finally, a α value equal to 0,05 was used.
3. Results
We obtained a total of 83 valid answers, respectively: 30 answers from students of the
Management course (GE), 26 from Computer Science Engineering (EI), 14 from Engineering and
Industrial Management (EGI) and 13 from Computer Science for Management (IG). Around 67% of our
respondents come from the courses of GE and EI. Looking to the technical competency dimension
(Table 2), the students consider the most important benefits of the adoption of ENTRExplorer in the
classroom is in terms of problem solving, followed by the environment monitoring. The amplitude is
highest for the organizational skills and lowest for problem solving, where all students consider that
the impact in terms of problem solving is at least equal to 3 (important). The standard deviation is
highest for the technology implementation.
Table 2. Descriptive statistical analysis of technical competency dimension
Variable
Obs
Mean
Std. Dev.
Min
Max
Communication
83
2
0,796
1
4
Environment monitoring
83
3,337
0,703
2
5
Problem solving
83
4,289
0,672
3
5
Technology implementation
83
2,735
0,951
1
4
Interpersonal
83
2,205
0,823
1
4
Organizational
skills
83
2,892
0,870
1
5

Almeida, F. (2017). Experience wit h entrepreneurship learning using seriou s games. Cypriot Journal of Educational Science. 12(2), 69-80.
75
Considering the business management dimension (Table 3), the students state that there are clearly
two most important variables; (i) business launch and (ii) decision making. The standard deviation has
its highest value for "compliance with regulation skills" and the lowest for "business launch". The
amplitude is lower for "business launch" and "growth management" variables.
Table 3. Descriptive statistical analysis of business management dimension
Variable
Obs
Mean
Std. Dev.
Min
Max
Planning and goal setting
83
3,036
0,689
1
5
Decision making
83
3,904
0,674
1
5
Human resources ma
nagement
83
2,542
0,686
1
5
Marketing
83
3,157
0,788
1
4
Finance
83
2,771
0,874
1
5
Accounting
83
1,976
0,800
1
4
Customer relations
83
2,831
0,778
1
4
Quality control
83
2,904
0,919
1
4
Negotiation
83
2,916
0,815
1
5
Business launch
83
4,193
0,594
3
5
Growth management
83
2,940
0,651
2
4
Compliance with
regulation
skills
83
2,349
0,981
1
4
The dimension "personal entrepreneurship" is composed of eight questions (Table 4). The students
state that the top three most important benefits of serious games in this dimension are in terms of
innovation, leadership and strategic thinking. The standard deviation is similar across all variables, but
it is possible to realize that the "innovation" variable has the lowest value. Furthermore, the amplitude
is lower for the "leadership" and "network building" variables.
Table 4. Descriptive statistical analysis of personal entrepreneurial dimension
Variable
Obs
Mean
Std. Dev.
Min
Max
Self
-
control and discipline
83
2,193
0,788
1
4
Risk management
83
4,012
0,653
2
5
Innovation
83
4,639
0,596
2
5
Persistence
83
3,711
0,804
2
5
Leadership
83
4,590
0,606
3
5
Change management
83
3,614
0,730
2
5
Network building
83
2,892
0,699
2
4
Strategic thinking
83
4,337
0,668
2
5

Almeida, F. (2017). Experience wit h entrepreneurship learning using seriou s games. Cypriot Journal of Educational Science. 12(2), 69-80.
76
After that, we analyze in more detail the behavior of the most important benefits considered by
students. We start by drawing the boxplot for all variables that have a mean higher than 4 (very
important) like it is shown in Figure 3. Three variables "innovation", "strategic thinking" and "risk
management" present outliers. A curious situation happens to the "risk management" variable where
quartile 1, median and quartile 3 are equal.
Figure 3. Representation of most relevant benefits in a boxplot
Additionally, we consider a hypothesis test (one-tailed t-test, α = 0,05) for the most important
group of variables. We intend to test if the benefits brought by the introduction of serious games in
the area of entrepreneurship are higher for some of the courses attended by students. Looking to
table 5 it is possible to conclude that students from the courses of GE, EI and IG don't consider that
the benefits brought by the introduction of the game in the classroom are above the average. In fact,
the students from IG course consider that the benefits are inferior to the average in all variables
considered. Statistical significance can only be found in the students from the EGI course in the
following variables; (i) problem solving; and (ii) risk management.

Almeida, F. (2017). Experience wit h entrepreneurship learning using seriou s games. Cypriot Journal of Educational Science. 12(2), 69-80.
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Table 5. Hypothesis test for the most important variables
Variab
le
Mean of
all
answers
GE
EI
EGI
IG
Mean
Pr(|T|>
|t|)
Mean
Pr(|T|>
|t|)
Mean
Pr(|T|>
|t|)
Mean
Pr(|T|>
|t|)
Innovation
4,639
4,633
-
0,5221
4,654
0,4469
4,714
0,2791
4,538
-
0,6567
Leadership
4,590
4,667
0,1942
4,423
-
0,8641
4,786
0,0546
4,538
-
0,6084
Strategic thinking
4,337
4,133
-
0,9438
4,5
0,1255
4,571
0,0557
4,231
-
0,7327
Problem solving
4,289
4,133
-
0,8737
4,269
-
0,5595
4,786
0,0004
4,154
-
0,8015
Business launch
4,193
4,233
0,3322
4,192
-
0,5020
4,286
0,2900
4
-
0,8743
Risk management
4,012
4,1
0
,1930
3,885
-
0,7832
4,357
0,0111
3,692
-
0,9832
4. Discussion
The impact of the adoption of an entrepreneurship game in the classroom context is not uniform
for all analysis dimensions. Looking to the average of all questions involved in each section, it is
possible to realize that the impact is higher for the personal entrepreneurial. This finding is aligned
with the current literature in the field, where Kuratko (2016) states that fundamental entrepreneurial
characteristics are inner control, planning and goal setting, risk taking and problem-solver. On the
other side, serious games in the field of entrepreneurship don't appear to have so much impact on the
development of technical competencies and business management knowledge. Exceptions to this
conclusion are in terms of problem solving, decision making and business launch features.
The most important benefits of the adoption of serious games are; (i) innovation, (ii) leadership, (iii)
strategic thinking, (iv) problem solving, (v) business launch and (vi) risk management. These elements
are considered as having very important benefits by our students’ sample. The use of serious games
makes it possible for students to access an innovative and different environment that they typically
don't find in a traditional classroom, where the acquisition of knowledge follows a more expository
approach. Leadership is another competence that can be developed through the use of serious games,
as demonstrated in the study developed by Buzady (2017) where the concepts of flow, leadership and
serious games are analyzed together. Strategic thinking and problem solving are two concepts that are
interconnected and in which the real experience of playing a game helps to be developed. The
students also mentioned that the use of the ENTRExplorer helped them to have a more precise notion
of the difficulties that they may feel in the market, particularly when they played the business
simulation level. Apparently, this situation could result in an inhibition, since the students felt
difficulties in reaching a high score in the game. However, students feel that having a real sense of
these difficulties before launching their own business is clearly preferable to embarking on an
entrepreneurship project in which the unknown is seen as a threat.
On the other side, the least important elements can be divided into two groups; (i) associated with
the characteristics of a serious game, (ii) associated with the features of the ENTRExplorer. In the first
group we may find the following elements; (i) communication, (ii) self-control and discipline and (iii)
interpersonal. The students considered that the use of the game does not promote debate and oral
communication, which decreases their perception about the importance of communication. In order
to mitigate this situation, it was proposed the organization in groups of 2 students. Likewise, some
difficulties were also experienced in the articulation of the syllabus contents of the curricular unit with
the themes addressed in the game. These difficulties were different according to the students'
background. As a consequence, students felt more difficulties to get well prepared for a written
evaluation exam. This discomfort was lower when the knowledge obtained by playing the game is
applied in the development of their own project of entrepreneurship. In the second group appear the
following elements; (i) accounting and (ii) compliance with regulation skills. The area of accounting is
little discussed in the game, because it is essentially seen as an activity that appears in the daily

Almeida, F. (2017). Experience wit h entrepreneurship learning using seriou s games. Cypriot Journal of Educational Science. 12(2), 69-80.
78
management of a business. Knowledge of legislation is also another aspect that is not addressed in
detail in the game, since fundamentally the norms, rules and regulations are different according to
each country. In addition, the fact that regulatory standards change frequently makes it difficult to
include them in the game.
Finally, the benefits faced by the students are not totally uniform for all courses. The hypothesis
test formulated reveals that students of EGI course feel that the use of ENTRExplorer helped them in
the acquisition of more competencies in terms of problem solving and risk management. A
fundamental competency of an EGI student is identifying and analyzing problems in professional
practice and developing effective solutions to solve them, in order to optimize and continually
improve the various systems in the engineering field. This is precisely one of the most important
benefits brought by the use of serious games in the entrepreneurship field, so that its adoption allows
these students to improve this competence. One consequence of this situation is that EGI students,
through practice feel more receptive to taking risks, as evidenced in this study.
5. Conclusion
Fun and entertainment are not the only benefits of online games. There is a new class of games,
called serious games, that arise with specific purpose and contents that allows to present new
situations, discuss solutions, built knowledge and practice particular activities. Serious games can be
applied to the area of creating new businesses in the context of a curricular unit of entrepreneurship,
which will enable students to experience the typical decision and the difficulties faced by future
entrepreneurs in the business market.
Through this study it was possible to identify the most important and the least relevant benefits of
an entrepreneurship serious game. The most important benefits, ordered by its priority are; (i)
innovation, (ii) leadership, (iii) strategic thinking, (iv) problem solving, (v) business launch, and (vi) risk
management. On the other side, the least relevant elements are; (i) communication, (ii) self-control
and discipline, (iii) interpersonal, (iv) accounting and (v) compliance with regulation skills.
Finally, it should be noted that the importance given to each of these benefits is slightly changed
according to the background of students. The students coming from the EGI course appear to have
more ability and motivation to develop their competencies in terms of problem solving and risk
management through the use of the ENTRExplorer game.
6. Recommendations
The adoption of serious games in the teaching of entrepreneurship must be accompanied by its
respective curricular framework. This implies that since the beginning there should be a concern to
adjust the serious game to the content taught in the curricular unit. Furthermore, since
entrepreneurship is a multidisciplinary topic, it is important to ensure that all students have a
minimum set of competencies and knowledge to follow the evolution of the game, to avoid eventual
phenomena of demotivation. The benefits brought by the introduction of the serious game may be
slightly different according to the students' background.
As future work it would be interesting to study if the introduction of an entrepreneurship serious
game will have an impact on the academic success of students in the curricular unit of
entrepreneurship. Finally, it would also be relevant to analyze its impact on the appearance of new
university spin-offs, which can be founded by its students.
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