The efficacy of the elementary level Entrepreneurs in Action curriculum

This study focused upon the effectiveness of a technology-based entrepreneurship curriculum at the elementary school level. The study assessed the efficacy of a web-based entrepreneurial curriculum in the promotion of fifth grade students' improved entrepreneurial behaviors, attitudes, and problem-solving skills. Developed as a problem-based learning (PBL) type model using "just-in-time" teaching and "whole-part-whole" instruction, the core academic areas were conjoined into a business-oriented, interdisciplinary experience. Participants engaged in a "cyberspace entrepreneurship project" where they became young entrepreneurs who cooperatively worked to solve a "real life" business problem scenario named the "Case of the Neighborhood Market Renaissance." This Entrepreneurs in Action! (EIA) study design was developed by the Entrepreneurship Education Forum at Vanderbilt University under the direction of its founder, R. Wilburn Clouse.;This project utilized a mixed methodology design which combined a two-group, quasi-experimental methodology with qualitative research methods. Sixty-eight fifth grade students from two schools participated in this intervention in a small city in the northeastern part of the United States. Data were collected and analyzed through the lens of the study's four research questions. Online experts provided real-world advice to the student participants and a final capstone presentation anchored the students' learning in a real life application. An EIA scoring rubric was used to analyze the pretest and posttest results of the student groups which demonstrated differences in their entrepreneurial thinking and creativity.;The study's results suggest that a web-based entrepreneurial curriculum is an effective way to teach fifth grade students. The experimental group students showed statistically significant improvements in all areas of the EIA entrepreneurial rubric. These findings may be of interest to entrepreneurial researchers who study the instructional benefits of entrepreneurship education for K--12 students and it may also prove helpful to educational leaders who develop creative entrepreneurial activities to better prepare students for the competition of the 21st century global marketplace.